Do You Have the Right Stuff to Partner with Microsoft HP or IBM
Do You Have the Right Stuff to Partner with Microsoft HP or IBM
The easiest characteristic they need to see is a natural synergy between the two companies. This means that when you make a sale, you have to sell more than just a few licenses. You must be able to sell enough of their product to put a nice dent into an account manager’s multi-million dollar quota. Your sales opportunities will need to have at least $50,000 - $75,000 worth of business for your partner.
The next thing they look for: how well you understand their business. A lot of people purely focus on the product synergies. But, identifying opportunities is not as straight forward as many people think. Large companies have discovered ways to get customers to pay for products and services in advance. So, you need to learn how to accurately qualify opportunities for your partner.
Sales teams from these industry leaders demand a willingness to develop a fair partnership. You have to show them you are willing to roll up your sleeves and do an amount of work proportional to the amount of money each partner gets in the deal. Usually, for these technology giants, your ratio will be much higher. They will expect you to do much of the work required to close the deal.
Finally, every sales associate wants to introduce partners that are as high a caliber or higher than their own. That can be a pretty tall order for leaders like Microsoft and IBM. None the less, they consider how credible you are in the industry and look for a history of success. Additionally, they will have concerns about how to address areas of competition between your customers. These and other considerations allow sales teams to calculate the odds of closing business with you.
There are several methodologies to engaging these giant technology companies. But, if you are unable to pass this basic litmus test, your efforts are not likely to be successful. You may want to consider partnering with another company that is a better match. On the other hand, if you have a solid understanding of how to partner with Microsoft, HP or IBM and are willing to make the investment, then developing a long-term partnership with these companies and reaping the financial rewards makes a worthwhile business goal for the upcoming year.
Do You Have the Right Stuff to Partner with Microsoft HP or IBM - To learn more about this author, visit Andy Piper's Website.
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Small technology companies want to partner with giant companies like Microsoft, HP or IBM for different reasons. Some see dollar signs by getting these highly credible and highly connected sales teams to introduce their products to large customers; other companies see it as a necessary defensive measure in order to keep these giant companies from making decisions that could easily drive them out of business. Whatever your motivation, partnering with these companies is a serious undertaking. The path toward achieving success is filled with lots of challenges needing to be met. Before you set out and try to build a relationship with one of these technology giants, there are certain characteristics that sales teams need to see before they see you as a partner worthy of more than their standard partner program.
The easiest characteristic they need to see is a natural synergy between the two companies. This means that when you make a sale, you have to sell more than just a few licenses. You must be able to sell enough of their product to put a nice dent into an account manager’s multi-million dollar quota. Your sales opportunities will need to have at least $50,000 - $75,000 worth of business for your partner.
The next thing they look for: how well you understand their business. A lot of people purely focus on the product synergies. But, identifying opportunities is not as straight forward as many people think. Large companies have discovered ways to get customers to pay for products and services in advance. So, you need to learn how to accurately qualify opportunities for your partner.
Sales teams from these industry leaders demand a willingness to develop a fair partnership. You have to show them you are willing to roll up your sleeves and do an amount of work proportional to the amount of money each partner gets in the deal. Usually, for these technology giants, your ratio will be much higher. They will expect you to do much of the work required to close the deal.
Finally, every sales associate wants to introduce partners that are as high a caliber or higher than their own. That can be a pretty tall order for leaders like Microsoft and IBM. None the less, they consider how credible you are in the industry and look for a history of success. Additionally, they will have concerns about how to address areas of competition between your customers. These and other considerations allow sales teams to calculate the odds of closing business with you.
There are several methodologies to engaging these giant technology companies. But, if you are unable to pass this basic litmus test, your efforts are not likely to be successful. You may want to consider partnering with another company that is a better match. On the other hand, if you have a solid understanding of how to partner with Microsoft, HP or IBM and are willing to make the investment, then developing a long-term partnership with these companies and reaping the financial rewards makes a worthwhile business goal for the upcoming year.
Do You Have the Right Stuff to Partner with Microsoft HP or IBM - To learn more about this author, visit Andy Piper's Website.
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
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