How Metanet Used Industry-Specific Messaging to Close New Deals

What happens when a partner business learns to explain technical solutions in a way that customers actually understand?

That is exactly what happened for Metanet Tplatform. By improving how they communicated value, reducing technical jargon, and creating industry-specific messaging, they were able to make their offer clearer and help sales close new deals.

Established in 2000, Metanet is now Korea’s largest independent business services firm. With 1,200 employees across 8 companies, Metanet reported revenue of USD $735M in 2019, with plans to continue growing. To support that growth, Metanet Tplatform began its journey to becoming an Investible Partner™ through Microsoft APAC’s Offer Design as a Service offering, delivered through Partner Elevate’s Investible Partner™ program. We sat down with Aedric Kim, Assistant Manager of the Public Cloud Strategy Team, to talk about the journey so far. 

What Challenges Did Metanet Face Before Starting the Investible Partner™ Journey? 

During the program, Metanet focused on Application Modernization.

Before joining, they did not have a clear view of what they were actually offering as Application Modernization solutions. They had opportunities in the pipeline, projects already in flight, and successful references from previous Apps Modernization work. But the solution was not well known enough for new clients to connect it with the problem they needed to solve.

Their messaging was too technical and was not generating enough new business from their c-level target market. They needed a clearer way to explain the value and benefit of their solutions so the message would resonate from engineers all the way through to the end customer.

Our proposals were full of technical jargon but didn’t explain the benefits of engaging with us.

Their goal was to make the offer more appealing through stronger marketing messages so the right clients would begin coming to them. 

What Was the Initial Reaction to Partner Elevate? 

At first, the reaction was hesitation.

The concern was time. With many projects already in flight and customers needing urgent solutions, it felt difficult to commit to another program. But after speaking with the Partner Development Manager at Microsoft, it became clear that the weekly time commitment was lower than expected.

What Happened in the First Few Weeks?

Like many busy partner teams, Metanet started while already stretched.

Because the program includes coaching calls and momentum calls to move through the Building the Pathway, Market Readiness, and Customer Win units, progress was slow at first. But after additional support and direct guidance, the work became easier to focus on, and the program was completed in just two days.

What Changed During the Journey? 

One of the biggest shifts was how Metanet thought about messaging.

Before this, they had never really considered building a solution offer around a specific industry. The assumption was that cloud could be adopted in any industry, so there was no real focus on industry-specific messaging. But what became clear was that even when the solution stays the same, customers in industries such as construction, financial services, and education all have different wants, needs, frustrations, and requirements.

That meant the team needed to unpack those customer environments and create messages that spoke directly to what mattered in each industry.

What Business Processes Improved? 

The biggest improvement was the ability to communicate value without sounding overly technical.

Metanet created outcome-focused messages that helped customers see that the business understood their challenges and could help solve them.

We will definitely be adopting the Partner Elevate framework to unpack our customer, communicate our value and generate market messages for other solutions and industries within the business.

This is what strong customer value messaging looks like in practice: clearer language, stronger relevance, and better alignment with the customer’s real situation. 

What Results Came From the Program?

The clearest outcome showed up inside the sales cycle.

Before starting the program, the team already had an opportunity in the pipeline, but the sales representative was struggling to sell the solution. After discussing how to communicate the value of the solution specifically for the construction industry, the new learning was shared with the sales representative.

I shared the learning with our sales representative who went on the close the deal … for a great price, too!

 That result captured the real impact of industry-specific, outcome-focused messaging: better communication, stronger positioning, and a more compelling offer. 

Final Takeaway

Metanet’s story shows that the challenge is not always the solution itself. Sometimes the real problem is how the solution is explained.

When technical messaging becomes clearer, more outcome-focused, and more specific to the customer’s industry, it becomes much easier for buyers to connect the offer to the problem they need to solve. And when that happens, sales conversations become easier to move forward and new deals become easier to close.