Before you call, here is some of the work.

Adept ICT · Microsoft Solutions Partner

When the partners you sell through have gone quiet.

What they faced

Some of the partners Adept ICT sold through had gone quiet, and conversations with them about Azure had stalled.

What we did

We started with the conversation. What should you say to a partner that has gone quiet, and why would a meeting be worth their time? Then we ran the campaign with the Adept team and sat in the introduction meetings ourselves.

What we learned

A partner that has gone quiet has usually not said no. They have run out of reasons to call. The meeting goes better when the person leading it knows the product and the partner's business well enough to talk about both. And we still stay in the room after the point where most agencies leave.

Crayon · Microsoft cloud distributor · Sub-Saharan Africa

When the channel has to grow across borders.

What they faced

Crayon, a distributor that sells Microsoft cloud through partners (an indirect CSP provider), was expanding across Sub-Saharan Africa. It needed its partners in every country to keep finding and winning customers at the same time.

What we did

We ran a 48-week campaign that took buyers from first hearing of Crayon to becoming a qualified lead. It used five landing pages, banners, mailers, a press release, and paid search and social advertising. We followed up with every partner daily and called and qualified every lead ourselves. For each lead we recorded a short briefing video and put it in the partner portal with the handover, so the partner's first call picked up where ours ended.

What we learned

The briefing video was the simplest thing we made and the most useful. By the time a lead reached the portal, we had already spoken to the buyer, and the video passed that conversation on to a partner in another country. We also learned that the daily follow-up with partners mattered more than anything we launched.

Liquid Telecom · Telecoms provider becoming a Microsoft cloud distributor

When a telecoms company becomes a cloud provider.

What they faced

Liquid Telecom, a telecoms provider, decided to become a distributor selling Microsoft cloud through partners (an indirect CSP provider). Its partners had to learn to sell cloud, and it wanted results within weeks.

What we did

We ran a four-week campaign. We helped choose the partners, then trained them region by region on a national roadshow. As leads came in, we qualified each one by phone before passing it to a partner, so every partner's first call was with a buyer we had already spoken to.

What we learned

Four weeks is enough to create interest. Teaching a partner to sell cloud well takes longer, which is why the roadshow mattered more than anything else we did. And the qualifying call is the last time anyone listens properly to the buyer before the lead changes hands, so we made those calls ourselves.

Westcon-Comstor · Global Microsoft distributor

When the partners you need are not in your channel yet.

What they faced

Westcon-Comstor, a global Microsoft distributor, wanted more partners selling Microsoft Dynamics through it. The partners it wanted were not in its channel yet, and a partner is slow to take on a new product line unless customers are already asking for it.

What we did

We ran two campaigns side by side. One found leads among end customers, so there was demand waiting for new partners. The other took the same message to partners directly to recruit them. Both were built on productivity, so customers and partners heard the same thing. We also ran a webinar for customers and partners together.

What we learned

Recruiting partners is easier when you can show them customers who are already asking for the product. And the joint webinar is the part we would repeat, because a partner learns more from a customer than from a distributor. It is close to how we work now.