Sue Swenson is nearly done with two years of reworking Irvine-based Sage Software Inc.
Since arriving at the software maker for small and midsize companies in 2008, Swenson has realigned products, cuts jobs, brought in executives and sought to make the Sage name as well known as some of its products.
“I know a lot more than I did two years ago,” she said. “We really have made quite a bit of progress.”
Sage, the North American unit of Britain’s Sage Group PLC, makes software that does accounting, tracks customers, payroll and other functions.
Rivals include Intuit Inc. and big players such as Microsoft Corp., Oracle Corp. and SAP AG, which focus on larger companies but also go after smaller businesses.
For the 12 months through September, the most recent data available, Sage saw North American sales of $889 million, down 10% from a year earlier.
Swenson has been cleaning up after years of acquisitions and heady growth a few years back. Sales have slumped in the past couple of years as smaller businesses delayed or halted software buying.
The slump and Sage’s earlier buying binge led Swenson to cut about 650 jobs last year and in 2008.
But her biggest task has been to create a unified front for Sage’s resellers—technology consultants that sell and service Sage software for businesses.
Sage had “no common culture,” Swenson said, and operated “like a group of federated states.”
“That system had worked for a long time but eventually fell apart,” she said. “We wanted to provide a continuous and common experience for our customers.”
So Swenson reworked Sage along industry lines rather than by products. Now a healthcare company deals with Sage’s healthcare unit, instead of being shuffled around depending on which software it uses.
Sage has operations spread across the country. Its biggest site is in Irvine, where 400 of its 4,100 North American workers are.
“We have really simplified how we look at the business,” Swenson said. “It’s much better this way for our customers.”
Swenson, who hails from the cutthroat telecommunications industry, has brought on board nearly a dozen executives with big-company experience.
She’s also made a push to set goals for the entire company and to make sure that different parts of the business share information better.
“Collaboration was not part of our DNA before,” Swenson said.
Swenson also has sought to bolster Sage as a brand.
Most people know the company’s software—which includes Peachtree accounting software and contact manager Act—better than Sage itself.
“It is pretty hard telling the story of the brand if they only connect the product,” said Dennis Frahmann, Sage’s executive vice president of marketing. “We really need to have Sage mean something to them.”
The company has run targeted TV spots and taken out advertisements in national newspapers and magazines with the tagline “experience Sage.”
It’s even reaching out via Twitter and other social media sites.
The idea is to capture a customer with a single product, and then sell them other products as their business grows.
“People want to do business with a stable and reputable company,” Swenson said. “If they had a good experience with one product they might be inclined to buy another product from the portfolio. We want that brand name of Sage to be the umbrella that puts all the pieces together.”
With most of her internal work done, Swenson said she sees slow, steady growth ahead for Sage as the economy starts to rebound.
“2009 was a year of rebuilding and restructuring,” she said. “We now have a great foundation.”
The Tao of Sue
“I’ve never conformed,” Sue Swenson told students and others at the University of California, Irvine’s Merage School of Business last month.
As part of a series of executive talks at the business school, Sage Software Inc.’s chief executive offered up her take on leadership.
Swenson, known as a straight shooter, talked about her varied background—she literally had 20 jobs in 15 years.
“Every 12 to 18 months, I got the opportunity to fail,” Swenson said.
Some other Swenson insights:
• “The goal that you are trying to reach is not always a direct line. Sometimes you have to take a circuitous route to your destination. And that’s OK. It allows you to have a lot more flexibility.”
• “My attitude has always been, ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained.’ You might as well go see what the opportunity is.”
• “When I think about my background, people gave me chances that I’m not sure I would have given. I wasn’t specifically ready for the jobs that they gave me. But what people saw was the potential, the desire and the aptitude to learn. I will put people in jobs where it’s a bit of a stretch, because I had that experience.”
• “I learned that you need to be really clear with people in what you expect. It’s not always as clear as you think it is.”
• “Communicate, communicate, communicate. We don’t ever communicate enough. I’m pretty obsessed about that.”
• “Let people be who they are. I will tell you that I’ve never conformed. I’m actually kind of surprised that I’ve had the success that I did.”
• “In today’s environment, people want authenticity in their leaders.”
• “Forget about your title. Forget about your status. Just be a person in the environment. Involve people regardless of their level. It makes you approachable, real and authentic.”
—Sarah Tolkoff
