How to acquire new customers with co-selling?

The rapid shift to remote work and the accelerated adoption of cloud technologies have profoundly reshaped the business landscape. At the heart of this digital transformation lies a critical shift: the move from transactional business models to consumption-based ones. This evolution highlights the importance of acquiring new customers, especially in today’s subscription-driven economy. While the tech landscape offers abundant opportunities to engage with potential customers, collaborative selling—or co-selling—has emerged as a strategic approach to unlock these opportunities effectively.

What is co-selling?

Co-selling is a collaborative approach that involves partnering with technology providers such as Microsoft, its extensive partner ecosystem, or other vendors to build demand, share sales leads, and deliver solutions that meet customer needs. Through co-selling, businesses can leverage combined resources to create greater value for customers, improve operational efficiencies, and accelerate growth.

For example, Microsoft’s co-sell initiative fosters collaboration between Microsoft and its partners to drive customer transformation. This partnership enables demand generation, joint sales planning, partner-to-partner engagements, and marketplace-led commerce. Actively pursuing co-sell opportunities can position your organization for rapid and sustainable growth.

Three primary channels to co-sell Microsoft

To integrate co-selling into your sales strategy effectively, it is essential to understand Microsoft’s three primary co-sell channels. Each channel offers unique opportunities to connect with customers and partners:

• Direct Customer Engagement: Selling directly to customers allows your organization to reach over 4 million monthly active users across 140 geographies. Through Microsoft’s commercial marketplace, customers can discover, try, and purchase your solutions seamlessly.
• Microsoft Partner Ecosystem: Collaborating with Microsoft’s partner network is another valuable avenue. By publishing your offers in Partner Center, you can invite other partners to co-sell with you. If your organization is part of the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program, you can extend your reach by making offers available to other CSP partners.
• Microsoft Sellers: Microsoft’s sales team can facilitate engagements between your organization and customers, creating new opportunities to showcase your solutions and drive sales.

By strategically leveraging these channels, you can establish meaningful relationships across the network, ensuring no potential opportunity is overlooked.

Eight tips to acquire new customers through co-selling

To maximize the benefits of co-selling, it’s crucial to adopt best practices. Here are eight actionable tips to help you acquire new customers:

1. Define Your Value Proposition and Target Audience: Clearly articulate what sets your solution apart. Highlight its unique value and how it addresses customer challenges better than competitors. Start with a focused industry segment to define your target audience, then expand to other industries as you achieve success.
2. Include a Microsoft Category in Your Solution Name: Incorporating a Microsoft-related category into your solution name improves visibility and helps sellers understand the specific customer scenarios your solution addresses.
3. Keep Materials and Contacts Updated: Provide Microsoft sellers and partners with up-to-date, customer-facing materials that reflect your solution’s current capabilities. Ensure contact details are accurate to facilitate seamless communication.
4. Showcase Customer Success Stories: Real-world examples of successful engagements with your solution resonate with customers and sellers alike. Aligning these stories with specific industries, decision-maker personas, or technology domains can yield faster results.
5. Offer Transactable Solutions: Transactable offers streamline procurement processes, align with existing consumption commitments, and may reduce fees—all of which improve the customer experience and drive adoption.
6. Respond Quickly to Referrals: Establish a process to respond promptly to referrals from Microsoft or partners. Speedy responses demonstrate your commitment and professionalism, increasing the likelihood of closing deals.
7. Utilize Partner Center Resources: Partner Center provides always-on support, self-service articles, and resources to resolve common issues. Use these tools to unblock your sellers and access additional assistance when needed.
8. Maximize Go-To-Market (GTM) Benefits: Develop a GTM strategy that combines direct tactics with partner-led initiatives. By leveraging Microsoft Partner Network resources and co-selling motions, you can amplify your reach and effectiveness.

Steps to begin your Microsoft co-selling journey

If you’re ready to integrate co-selling into your business model, here’s how to get started:

• Join the Microsoft Partner Network: Signing up for the Microsoft Partner Network is the first step. Your MPN ID will be required when publishing your solution.
• Familiarize Yourself with Partner Center: Partner Center is the hub for managing your co-sell activities. Use it to publish your solutions, manage referrals, and engage with partners.
• Publish Your Solution in the Commercial Marketplace: Create a compelling listing for your solution in the Microsoft commercial marketplace. Consider which channels—direct customers, partners, or sellers—you want to target.
• Actively Manage Referrals: Monitor and act on referrals promptly. Collaborate with partners or Microsoft sellers to identify next steps and provide background information to streamline the process.
• Share Co-Sell Opportunities: Register deals and share co-sell opportunities with Microsoft to foster collaboration and drive mutual success.

How RackNap simplifies co-selling Microsoft

Navigating the complexities of co-selling can be challenging, but RackNap can simplify the process. RackNap is an end-to-end automation and management platform designed for Microsoft 365 services. It streamlines billing, subscription management, and other operational tasks in compliance with the New Commerce Experience (NCE) model.

With RackNap, you can:

• Automate billing and subscription management.
• Simplify the co-sell process with intuitive tools.
• Enhance customer satisfaction through efficient service delivery.

Co-selling is more than just a sales strategy—it’s a partnership-driven approach that leverages collaboration to create mutual value. By adopting RackNap, you can co-sell Microsoft services with greater efficiency, reduce administrative burdens, and focus on driving customer success.

Start your Microsoft co-selling journey today and harness the power of collaborative selling to stay ahead in the competitive digital landscape. Take a demo to learn more about RackNap.

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