Carol J. Kurimsky

Interview with

Carol Kurimsky

VP of Marketing

Best Software
By J. Carlton Collins, CPA

Carol Kurimsky, Vice President of Marketing for Best Software, is arguably the most successful marketing director in all of accounting software. That’s a rather bold statement, but Best Software’s results speak for themselves. With more than 85,000 customers, MAS 90 is the most popular and widely used product in the middle market. On January 30, 2002, I spoke with Carol to learn a little about the strategy behind the success of Best Software. Here’s what she had to say:

CPAs Love MAS 90’s

I started out by asking Carol why is MAS 90 so amazingly popular? I knew this would be a great lead off question because this is Carol’s favorite subject. She replied:

MAS 90’s success can be attributed to its’ immense support by the CPA community. More CPAs recommend MAS 90 than any other product. Also, the product is well designed to meet the needs of companies with 10 to 500 employees across a multitude of industries.

I think that Carol is absolutely correct on all points. Over the years I have found that the CPA community is the most influential force when it comes to selecting an accounting software package. While CPAs aren’t necessarily the most knowledgeable people on the subject of accounting software, they are the most trusted.

Reseller Market Efforts

Carol continues her discussion of CPAs:

The most successful activity our resellers have taken on over the years has been to pursue building strong relationships with local area CPAs. Typically, these CPAs do not sell software themselves, but they work closely with the reseller by sponsoring client breakfasts and seminars, which feature the reseller and products. In effect, the CPA endorses both the reseller and the product – a very powerful force. The key for the reseller is to build trust with the CPA.

Building trust is not an easy task. It takes desire and commitment from both parties in order to build a trusting relationship. It is obvious how the reseller benefits from such a relationship, but the CPA needs to see value in the relationship as well. To some CPAs, this relationship means that their clients won’t be running off to competing CPA firms to investigate their software needs. Other CPAs may expect referrals back from the reseller.

I asked Carol to describe other marketing activities that work well for resellers. Here is her reply:

Best Software provides a turnkey telemarketing program for the resellers. For a fee, the reseller is guaranteed a specific number of highly qualified leads. These are qualified top-notch leads which, Carol explains, result in a rather high percentage of sales. I asked Carol to estimate the approximate pricing to participate in this program to which she replied - ten highly qualified leads would cost about $4,000.

Attributes of Good Resellers

Next we focused on the process of finding a good reseller. I asked Carol to describe the attributes that end users should look for when evaluating prospective resellers. Carol’s reply:

The most important elements to seek out in a reseller are deep experience with the product and a commitment to help you get the product up and running properly.

Carol’s reply sounds nice, but just how does one go about determining the level of experience, and especially the level of commitment. This is the million-dollar question. The most frequent complaint in all of accounting software seems to be poor resellers, yet there seems to be no good strategy for separating the good from the bad. In my opinion, the only way to know for sure is to contact customer references that have previously used the reseller. I think that if you can find three references that say good things about the reseller, then you are in good shape. If they can’t provide you with this bare minimum level of substantiation, then there is something definitely wrong. Either the reseller has no experience, or no satisfied customers. Take your pick – they both mean that it is time to bail (or negotiate a lower price that accommodates the reseller’s learning curve.) Carol also offered the following:

Best Software provides the following toll-free number, which end users can call to obtain a referral to a good reseller: 800-XXX-XXXX. We refer customers only to those resellers who have achieved and maintained a certain threshold of customer satisfaction. Each year, Best Software performs extensive surveys of their customer base to obtain feedback related to the quality of their resellers. Best also gets feedback from their customer support team who directly works with the end user and is able to determine if the client is satisfied with the product and reseller. The results are tabulated and become the basis for Best Software’s referrals.

Common Mistakes End Users Make

I asked Carol to describe the most common mistakes made by end users when implementing a new accounting software package. To Carol, it is no contest:

Customers cut corners on product and implementation. They have already outgrown the product they select, but try to save money by buying less product than they need. They become dissatisfied and have to replace the product in one year. They also do not budget for proper implementation so that they can fully learn and utilize the product.

I agree. Over the years I have found that many end users simply do not seem to appreciate the vast differences between the top middle market products such as MAS 90 and other low-end products. For example, according to the Spring 2002 version of the Accounting Library, MAS 90’s inventory modules contain 308 features compared to:

· · 210 inventory features in BusinessVision 32

· · 72 inventory features in Peachtree Complete Accounting 2002

· · 45 inventory features in QuickBooks Premier 2002

Often higher-end customers opt for these less expensive alternatives only to suffer the consequences of implementing an inferior product with lesser features.

Likewise, many customers skimp on implementation costs as well. The frequent result is that the system is not configured properly, defaults are not set properly, staff lack the knowledge to adequately operate and/or troubleshoot the system, and executives lack a clear understanding of how to obtain the reports and information they need. These problems lead to inefficiency and lower customer satisfaction. Most resellers will tell you that almost half of their new customers represent companies that purchased an accounting software product and could not make it work properly.

Branding The Company Name

I asked Carol to give an idea as to what we can expect in terms of branding the new company name in 2002.

For 2002, Best Software has launched an extensive advertising campaign in many print publications such as Inc., BusinessWeek, CFO Magazine, and Accounting Today.

Over the years I have found that in general, branding a new company or product name is an expensive and drawn out proposition. The old names and logos permeate virtually everywhere. Brochures, product packaging, CDs, and manuals are just the start. The name on the building must be changed, business cards, letterhead, envelopes, and even web sites require a great deal of attention. Company officials must prod resellers and industry analysts to adopt the new names and logos. Even still, old names and logos pop up everywhere. The software application itself often splashes the old names across the screen. Employees, resellers, and even customers still employ old logo shirts, jackets, pencils, pens, umbrellas, book bags, folders, toys, and even golf balls. The task is daunting. Carol makes the new branding effort sound like a typical walk in the park. Believe me, there is a great deal more going behind the scenes – and I am sure that Carol has all she can say grace over.

Reseller Marketing Personnel

I asked Carol her opinion regarding the staffing of a full time person specifically dedicated to marketing? Carol explains:

Hardly any resellers do this, however it definitely makes a huge difference. The ability to support a full time marketing staff is usually a matter of scale [the size of your organization]. This is the number one area where resellers struggle, which results in missing a lot of opportunities.

In my travels, I have found almost no reseller who has staffed a full time marketing position, and later regretted it. Almost always I am told that these people pay for themselves – especially when you select the right person for the job. (Based on my experience this usually means a knowledgeable and motivated person with an attractive smile.)

One Or More Products?

I asked Carol if she thought it to be more advantageous for the reseller to work with multiple Best Software product solutions, or should they simply concentrate on a single product? Carol’s reaction:

The most successful resellers carry a full array of products. This allows them to migrate customers within their own customer base. When the client outgrows the current product they can simply move them up to the next suitable product. It definitely takes time and resources for the reseller to be deep in several products, but it seems to be well worth it. As an example, over half of our MAS 90 resellers also carry the BusinessWorks product line. The larger resellers sometimes maintain training centers, which feature end- user training on a wide variety of products.

I agree with Carol. I believe that there is great value in supporting more than one product. Specifically, I recommend that a reseller carry three products – two high-end and one low-end solution. The benefits of this strategy include:

· · Supporting more than one product often conveys the appearance of objectivity – end users appreciate this aspect.

· · The reseller's marketing efforts towards mid-range customers will naturally flush out entry level prospects as well. Supporting a low-end product makes it possible to meet the needs of these smaller companies as well, rather than turning them away.

· · Entry-level installation engagements are not as profitable, however they are usually of much shorter duration and can keep the staff billable in between the bigger jobs.

· · Eventually, many smaller companies outgrow their products and will need to migrate to a higher end solution. The payoff takes a long time, but in seven years you won’t regret it.

Other Best Software Products

I asked Carol about the success and penetration of some of Best Software’s various product lines. Her response:

We have found that the SalesLogix product is more suited to the Enterprise space, and the product has achieved good penetration in this space. Many of our higher-end MAS 90 and MAS 200 customers have embraced SalesLogix as well. We have also had huge success with the ACT! product, particularly in the MAS 90 customer base (Carlton—I’ll let the Interact folks talk about their overall product line trends.)

Last year sales were increasing for both Best Fixed Assets and Abra Payroll and Human Resources as well. The Abra product line is better suited for larger companies such as our higher-end MAS 200 customers and our MAS 500 customers.

Best Software practically invented the cradle to grave family of products approach to accounting software. Consider this wide breadth of product offerings (organized by its approximate target market – however there is much overlap). (This is not a complete listing.)

Entry	Mid-Range	High-End	Enterprise
DAC-Easy	BusinessWorks	MAS 90	MAS 500
One Write Plus	MIP	MAS 200	SalesLogix
Peachtree Complete	Peachtree 2002	Platinum for Windows by Best	Abra Payroll & HR
ePeachtree	ACT!	Best Fixed Assets

The only accounting software companies that come close to competing with this strategy are ACCPAC (with Simply Accounting, ProSeries, Advantage Series, and Executive Series) and Microsoft / Great Plains (with Small Business Manager, Dynamics, Solomon, and eEnterprise). Even these two companies trail behind Best Software in this family of products concept.

The 9/11 Economy

I asked Carol whether the 9/11 economy had affected Best Software much. She replied:

We definitely saw a dip in the amount of phone calls we received the week after 9/11. The phones were definitely dead. However, sales have picked up nicely and our first fiscal quarter looks excellent.

Conclusion

Best Software seems to be doing everything right. From products and employees to resellers and marketing, the company simply is a pillar of stability and a model of good decision-making. Carol Kurimsky is a big part of that success. We all could learn a lot by studying this company and thank Carol Kurimsky for her time.

Respectfully,