Microsoft Sales Play: Understanding the Technical and Go-to-Market Approach

In our previous two articles in this series, we talked about the challenges Microsoft Partners face when they do not properly understand Microsoft Sales Plays and how to use them, the opportunities that arise from having clarity around Microsoft Sales Plays, and the four keys to finding that Sales Play clarity. 

Today, we are unpacking one Microsoft Sales Play using Desmond’s Sales Play unpacker. As an ex-Microsoft Partner Development Manager, Des has spent many years helping partners better harness the opportunity Microsoft offers its ecosystem.

So, let’s get into it.

What Is a Microsoft Solution Area?

The solution area is one of the four key areas Microsoft uses to categorise its products and services. At the moment, those are:

• Modern Work & Security
• Applications and Infrastructure
• Data & AI
• Business applications

At the top of the taxonomy is the solution area, which represents the breadth of the technology capability Microsoft puts together.

What Is a Microsoft Sales Play?

What sits under the solution area is the Sales Play. This is about turning technology, voice, or products and services into something your customer practically needs.

The Sales Play identifies the specific customer needs and priorities Microsoft is trying to drive. This is where the dollars hit — the alignment between what Microsoft is trying to drive in its overall scorecard.

For example, you might set a scorecard in your business around needing a certain amount of revenue. Then the next question becomes: what solutions are you going to sell to drive that revenue, and which Sales Plays align with those priorities?

What is a Microsoft Sales Play in practice?

A Microsoft Sales Play is the bridge between Microsoft’s priorities and the practical offer a partner takes to market. It helps connect business goals, customer needs, and the solutions that support both.

Technical Sales Play vs Go-to-Market Sales Play

At Partner Elevate, we see the Sales Play as broken down into two different and very distinct pieces.

Technical Sales Play

The first piece is the technical piece of the Sales Play. From a partner’s perspective, this is the functional and technical skill needed in the business. You may need to acquire, train, or develop that capability in order to deploy, configure, and support the Sales Play offer.

Go-to-Market Sales Play

The other part is the go-to-market Sales Play. This is the link to what you are selling into market. For each of these, Microsoft provides a go-to-market bill of materials.

In the BOM, you will find things like how to execute the Sales Play, selling battle cards, eBooks, videos, or thought leadership articles.

But there is an important warning here: a lot of this content is very generic. It is Microsoft-centric and spoken in Microsoft’s voice. It is positioned around customer priorities in general, not your customer priorities specifically.

What is the difference between a technical Sales Play and a go-to-market Sales Play?

The technical Sales Play is about the capability needed to deliver the offer. The go-to-market Sales Play is about the assets, messaging, and materials used to take that offer into market.

Why Partners Cannot Use Microsoft Sales Plays Out of the Box

As you can imagine, taking these Sales Plays out of the box and throwing them into customer land is not what we recommend.

What you need is to focus on your messaging, your offer, and your value wrapped around it. That is really where our program comes in.

Final Takeaway

Interested to know more about our implementation program? Check out our Sales Play On-Ramp^(TM) program. 

Prefer to talk to someone? Book a meeting.