How to Build a Winning Microsoft CSP Business Partner Profile to Increase Sales

Increasing sales and revenue are the goals every business wishes to achieve. An increase in sales translates into rising profits and ultimately business growth. Sales lead generation and conversion is a challenging task for almost all businesses, and it becomes even more challenging for Microsoft CSPs due to the competitive business environment. Every business face obstacle when trying to reach out to prospective buyers and closing the sale.

These challenges include finding qualified leads, getting a response from prospective customers, building a buyer relationship, effective communication, differentiating yourself from the competition, etc. To overcome these challenges the sales, marketing, and other business functions need to work in tandem toward achieving shared goals. You can read our earlier blog, on avoiding common pitfalls during sales and successfully navigating sales conversations.

How can Microsoft help in getting leads?

The first challenge a Microsoft CSP faces in sales is finding credible and qualified leads. Offline and online promotion of your CSP business is an effective way to generate interest in your business which can ultimately lead to potential leads. Marketing campaigns can be expensive and do not guarantee a 100% surety of getting qualified leads for your CSP business. Chasing potential customers who are not really interested in buying your product/services but merely browsing through solutions makes you lose time and effort which could be focused on nurturing relationships with genuine customers.

This does not mean that you need to put a stop to your marketing activities or stop pursuing leads. You should continue with your promotional campaigns and at the same time focus more of your energy and time on leads that have higher chances of conversion. Microsoft can help you in getting sales leads who are genuinely looking for a solution. Microsoft runs its own marketing campaigns and promotions; these have the potential of reaching millions of customers. Microsoft can help provide its CSP partners with sales leads by referring them to potential customers. Once you have created your business profile, Microsoft maintains a public partner directory  with partner profile to showcase to interested to customers based on your solutions and expertise.

There are two ways by which Microsoft can refer you to customers looking to deploy solutions for their business:

1. Through the partner directory–  the customers can use the Connect with partners feature to search for partners themselves based on the search criteria set by them. They can filter partners based on their location, industry, organization size, partner capabilities, focus areas, products,  and services.
2. Through the Microsoft sales and service team– Instead of using the search feature themselves, the customers also contact Microsoft directly looking for solutions to fulfill their business needs the sales and service teams at Microsoft can direct potential leads to its CSP partners based on the needs and preferences of the customers.

Building a Winning Microsoft CSP Business Partner Profile to Increase Sales

With thousands of Microsoft CSP business partner profiles available with Microsoft for referring customers, you have to create a business profile that stands out from the rest and helps you increase sales. Here are a few points to keep in mind when creating your Microsoft CSP business partner profile.

Briefly introduce your company

Be concise in introducing your business by stating your specialty and customer-specific benefits.  The first two lines should contain information that is relevant to the costumes and can grab their attention. The introduction should be written in a simple manner so that customers find it easy to understand. List down all the advantages of collaborating with you as a CSP partner. Upload a high-resolution logo of your company and add the URL of your company website as well as your company’s LinkedIn page. This will allow customers to learn more about your offerings and business.

Set your preferences

You can set your customer preferences based on the size of the organization you wish to work with. This will help you get referrals that are better suited for your business model. Being accurate when setting your customer preferences will eliminate referrals to organizations you do not wish to cater to. This will allow you more time to pursue leads that are your target customers.

Focus on your capabilities

Customers who search for partners through the Microsoft partner directory or reach out to Microsoft for partner referrals are looking for specific solutions to solve business problems. List down industries where your company has proven expertise especially related to Microsoft products. Focus on what you do and the problems you can solve and why should customers choose you over your competitors. Apart from listing down the industry-specific expertise, you can also mention the customer segments you serve.

Use tags to gain visibility

Using the correct tags that accurately identify your specific areas of expertise help increase the visibility of your business profile. These tags can be related to industry focus, solutions, capabilities, competencies, products, services, etc. Being authentic in adding tags will help you connect with customers who are specifically looking for CSP partners having expertise such as yours.

Update your profile regularly

Any new product or offering released should reflect on your profile. Merely updating your website with added information about your solutions will not be enough. Potential customers will visit your website only when they find the solutions, they are looking for on your business profile.

Highlight customer-centric features

With so many choices of CSP partners available you can catch the eye of the customers by highlighting the customer-centricity offered. Customers are not just looking for products and services, they want solutions that can make their lives simpler. A customer-centric buying experience is vital for attracting new customers. Having a CSP automation platform to manage customer data, billing, provisioning, and other processes enhances the customer experience. A customer self-service portal gives the customers control over managing their orders and billing. This empowers the customers and leads to a positive experience.

Build a successful business partner profile and increase sales with C3

The success of a Microsoft business partner profile depends upon the value a customer sees in your solutions and services. Having a differentiator such as automating billing, usage reconciliation, order management, bundling of services, and a self-service marketplace for customers increases the chances of getting sales leads. Partner with C3 for end-to-end automation of your CSP business.