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Wesgro invests in Sage CRM with e-marketing

Wesgro, the official destination marketing, investment and trade promotion agency for the Western Cape, has invested in Sage CRM with e-marketing. The preferred vendor is AWCape, an official supplier of Sage CRM solutions.

This investment follows the successful implementation of Sage 300 ERP with Procurement eWorkflow at Wesgro. "We have experienced exceptional growth in the last year, and Sage CRM, with full e-marketing functionality, was the next step to support this growth," says Ian Blackie, Chief Financial Officer of Wesgro.

"AWCape's ability to deliver on time and within budget, together with their high levels of support, gave us the confidence to embark on this major CRM and e-marketing project. Further to this, they have a successful track-record with our company and have the ability to deliver solutions that will support Wesgro's changing and challenging business processes," says Blackie.

"Our ability to effectively project manage major implementations through our formal structures of services management, supported by a customer support system hosted on SharePoint, provides our customers with peace of mind," says Henry Hattingh, Chief Executive Officer at AWCape.

Wesgro effectively keeps a firm finger on the pulse of business and tourism in the Western Cape region, being the first point of contact for foreign buyers, local exporters and investors who wish to take advantage of the unlimited business potential in the region.

One of the critical success factors in the brief to AWCape was a need to fully capitalise on the marketing opportunities that arise and to successfully manage these opportunities to ensure efficient business growth in the Western Cape. "Successful retention of business opportunities and follow-through to ensure 100% completion was high on our agenda, as previous attempts to install CRM systems were not successful," said Blackie.

AWCape embarked on the project to install Sage CRM with opportunity workflow for seven divisions in Wesgro. Sage CRM will also be integrated with Wesgro's Web site and Sage's Swiftpage will be utilised to launch and manage marketing campaigns. "Full integration of the CRM system to the ERP system was a key requirement, and this is one area where Sage CRM and Sage 300 ERP work extremely well together," commented Hattingh.

"Sage CRM is a powerful, easy-to-use customer relationship management solution that integrates directly with Sage 300 ERP. It is designed to improve business relationships with every interaction and uses industry-leading technology to facilitate efficient information exchange between an organisation and its customers. It further integrates with other business applications through an intuitive Web services interface, and therefore businesses are no longer limited by incompatible applications," says Keith Fenner, senior vice-president for sales at Sage ERP Africa and Middle East.

Wesgro's CRM implementation and development is expected to be completed by the end of 2013.

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AWCape

AWCape is a professional services group that partners with customers to run their enterprises efficiently and effectively through the deployment of Sage 300 ERP, Sage ERP X3 and Sage CRM, and the supply of hosted managed servers. AWCape's head office is based in Cape Town and it has a number of blue-chip companies on its impressive list of customers. AWCape's drive to deliver outstanding services has resulted in a growing footprint into Africa.

For more information, please visit www.awcape.co.za.

Sage ERP Africa

Sage ERP Africa is a provider of business management solutions, including financial, distribution, service management, retail, warehouse management, project costing, manufacturing and CRM, to the mid-range market. Sage ERP solutions are delivered to 130 countries exclusively through a global network of solutions providers, including over 150 throughout Africa. The Sage ERP Africa product line includes: Sage ERP X3, Sage 300 ERP (formerly Sage ERP Accpac), Sage ERP 1000, Sage CRM and Sage RMS, as well as Sage third-party partner solutions. With a choice of languages, currencies, locations and legislations - Sage ERP offers efficient multi-company and multinational solutions.

For more information, please visit www.sageerp.co.za.

The Sage Group

Sage Group is a leading global provider of business management software to small and medium-sized companies, creating greater freedom for them to succeed. Sage understands how and why each business is unique. It provides products and services that suit varying needs, are a pleasure to use and are secure and efficient. Formed in 1981, Sage was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1989 and entered the FTSE 100 in 1999. Sage has over 6 million customers and more than 13 380 employees in 24 countries covering the UK and Ireland, mainland Europe, North America, South Africa, Australia, Asia and Brazil. For further information, please visit www.sage.com.

Editorial contacts

Aloma Swanepoel
Watt Communications
(011) 425 6290
Aloma@wattcommunications.co.za