Peachtree 2013 Annual Report Download - page 55

Industry
We pride ourselves on really understanding our customers,
both their common needs as well as their unique
requirements, and we look to deploy that empathy and
insight in our CR activities
Understanding the issues small and medium sized
businesses face
Having a clear understanding of the challenges and
opportunities our customers face is a vital part of
ensuring we deliver software and services that meet
these needs and ambitions. Beyond the over 35,000
customer conversations we have each day, we conduct
regular research surveys, locally and globally, to ensure
we have as much insight and information as we can.
Our global Sage Business Index is one of the largest
surveys of small and medium sized businesses in
the world. It polls over 11,700 businesses across
17 countries and provides a comprehensive study
of business confidence and the pressures faced by
decision makers within companies around the world.
For more information on The Sage Business
Index go to businessindex.sage.com.
We also replicate this kind of effort face to face in local
markets. For instance, during the Sage Listens 2013 RV
Relay Tour in North America, Sage executives travelled
more than 6,300 miles over 50 days, visiting 17 cities.
They personally met and spoke in detail with more than
75 customers to listen and gain insights into the issues
and opportunities they face with a view to improving
how we can support them in future.
Supporting local businesses and organisations
Helping non-profit organisations with business software
is an important part of what we do in the CR agenda.
In North America, Sage has continued a partnership with
TechSoup, an organisation that provides free business
software to non-profit organisations. Since 2008 Sage
North America has supported nearly 2,000 organisations
with software valued at US$1.3m. This year we donated
software to over 250 non-profit organisations.
Our vision of being the most valuable supporter
of small and medium sized companies by creating
greater freedom for them to succeed extends further
than giving our customers the right technology. It also
means helping them understand and navigate through
the business challenges they face. In the UK, Sage
launched a “Love your accountant” campaign and
teamed up with Yahoo! Finance to launch a small
business hub. Both are focused on providing original
content on news, advice and practical tips that will
help small businesses understand the issues they face
every day – from navigating the complexities of VAT,
to working with mentors and their accountants.
Developing the entrepreneurs of tomorrow
We believe passionately in the value of developing future talent, both within Sage and
in the wider business community.
We work with a number of organisations to help nurture the entrepreneurs of tomorrow,
such as Young Enterprise in the UK, its affiliate Junior Achievement in North America,
and Ashoka in Germany and France. All of these organisations are involved in social
entrepreneurship. They equip the workforce of the future with the skills they will need to
succeed through, for example, the provision of entrepreneurship education programmes.
Our support includes sponsorship of the Financial Management in Business Award at
the Junior Achievement Young Enterprise Europe, Company of the Year Competition,
and donations as a result of a global Sage Day competition in which our employees
selected Ashoka and Junior Achievement as recipients of the money raised. Through
our Sage Cares programme, employees from all of our North American offices
partnered with Junior Achievement in a variety of activities, which included hosting
Job Shadow days, attending Career Fairs and providing job readiness training as part
of school education days. In total, nearly 1,400 students benefited from this activity.
In South Africa we have continued our long-standing relationship with the Life College,
a non-profit organisation that develops entrepreneurship in students across the country.
We also sponsor The Life College Xchange annual competition in which students pitch
business ideas to established business leaders in South Africa. The winners are
awarded funding to start their new business. Sage South Africa also supports Enactus,
a global non-profit organisation which targets students in tertiary education to make
a meaningful contribution towards developing entrepreneurs and business leaders.
In Portugal we support Energia de Portugal, which helps entrepreneurs set up companies
and demystifies the difficulties inherent in the process of launching a business. At its
annual event, the CEO of Sage Portugal spoke about his experiences in business.
Sage provides work experience opportunities to young people.
53The Sage Group plc | Annual Report & Accounts 2013
Financial statementsGovernanceStrategic report