From technology provider to strategic advisor
Often when I speak to Partners about the opportunity to grow their profitability and develop the value of their business by building unique offerings and IP they naturally think of this from a technical point of view. Whilst technology is an enabler of this, the actual innovation often comes from expertise and experience solving business issues for customers. We know that cloud has enabled technology decisions to be made outside of IT and within the business, so having a solution aligned to driving their goals and objectives is critical. Using your experience working with customers within a specific segment, vertical or line of business within an organisation can enable you to recognise a potential repeatable solution for that specific audience, be relevant in your communication be that through sales or through marketing, therefore building your credibility with the business and shifting you from purely a technology partner to a strategic advisor.
I read a recent blog from a Microsoft Partner which captured their learnings from aligning their offerings to their customer’s business goals and strategy, using technology to drive business transformation. Enabling them to move from being a technology provider to their customers to being a true strategic advisor and the strong benefits they have gained from that change.
As you think about your own transformation, we have developed a number of workshops and masterclasses to support you.
The financial impact of cloud transformation
Led by Microsoft Australia Financial Controller, Hui Cheng Tan. We constantly hear about the momentum of cloud growth in Australia and the opportunity it represents for Microsoft Partners to grow their profitability. But how do the numbers actually stack up? What does cloud mean for your P&L and what are some of the best practices for managing your P&L as you plan and build up your online services offerings including building recurring revenue streams and changing sales compensation models? Click here to register.
- Thursday 30th April – Melbourne (half day (morning) session)
- Friday 1st May – Sydney (half day (afternoon) session)
Effectively leading change in your business
Led by Fiona Hathaway, Microsoft APAC HR Director, this session will help business leaders effectively lead change, transform businesses and inspire change. How do you balance 80% of your time on your existing business whilst spending 20% of your time on driving change. Click here to register.
- Friday 1st May – Sydney (am only)
Partner Profitability Workshop
Led by Luke Debono from Incredible Results, this full day workshop will walk through the different business models with cloud so you can assess which may be most suited to your future goals and will coach you on how you can lead that change through your organisation. With a combination of presentation content, self-assessments and on demand resources, the workshop is designed to help you plan, build and grow a profitable cloud practice. Click here to register.
- Tuesday 12th May – Sydney
- Thursday 14th May - Melbourne
Building an unstoppable sales team
Led by Luke Debono from Incredible Results. Is your sales engine working brilliantly, winning more quality business than ever before whilst scaling seamlessly? Is it driving consistent profitable growth in ways that your whole organisation loves? Are you attracting and on-boarding sales talent successfully in this mobile first cloud first landscape? This workshop is designed to help business leaders and sales management professionals create an integrated sales plan that makes a science of the numbers and enables the whole organisation to work better together. For leaders and managers of technology companies, the workshop offers methodology, which helps address age old dilemmas of scaling sales in a technical arena. Click here to register.
- Thursday 28th May - Sydney
- Wednesday 3rd June - Melbourne
If you have any issues registering for these sessions please email partnerau@microsoft.com.