Microsoft Partner Awards: What It Takes to Win

The Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards recognizes outstanding successes and innovations by partners across a wide variety of categories, including partner competencies, cloud technologies, entrepreneurial spirit, and social impact. Winning the award can lead to greater visibility for partners, as it can help create new business opportunities, positive PR coverage, as well as amplified market recognition.

With the deadline for nominations for the coveted Microsoft Partner Awards fast approaching, partners across the world are bracing themselves to win one (or more) award(s). But with so many partners competing for a handful of sought-after titles, it might seem rather impossible to be a winner. So, what traits do winning partners usually share? And how can you improve your chances of winning? Read on to find out all this and more!

Partner success is not just about implementing Microsoft technologies; it’s about investing in customer service and customer success.

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Today, Microsoft partners are flourishing across the world: they are all in on Microsoft, they have adopted the cloud, and they are offering an array of Microsoft products and services to organizations across geographies and verticals. But just implementing a handful of Microsoft technologies is not going to take partners afar; since Microsoft celebrates partners that embrace not just their technologies but also their philosophies. While growing with them as they grow, partners need to bring technology to life in new and meaningful ways and build modern solutions that solve challenges that their customers face.

Therefore, in addition to offering the latest Microsoft technologies, partners also need to provide remarkable solutions to address evolving challenges. They need to invest in customer service and customer success, as if it were their own, and curate remarkable solutions for their customers.

Having said that, here are some common traits that winning partners share:

Agility

Over the years, organizations that have won the Partner Awards are usually those that have demonstrated unmatched agility and creativity in building and delivering new technologies. Since the pace of change is getting more and more rapid, the only way to exceed customer expectations is by being extremely responsive to changing trends, regulations, and needs.

A good way in which partners can do this is by adopting automation, especially in the complex realm of billing, to boost customer engagement while also scaling recurring revenue. Automation can not only help in accelerating business processes; it can also help in adapting quickly to changing business requirements and driving long-term growth.

Simplicity

Microsoft partners that make it easy for organizations to understand the deluge of new products and services that are being launched every year also stand a higher chance of winning an award. As a partner, you must offer platforms that are quick to implement and simple to use, so your customers can quickly leverage all the benefits of the Microsoft products their business needs and drive greater value to their customers.

Offering a variety of self-service options via portals and knowledge base articles to your customers is also a great way to enhance engagement and satisfaction and make it a finalist in the partner award program.

Resiliency

Partners that exude high levels of resilience are extremely likely to win the coveted Partner Awards. With so many new products (and updates) being launched by Microsoft, such resilience makes it easy for partners to tackle changes.

For instance, with NCE now coming into play, partners have to take steps to standardize their licensing offerings within the MSP ecosystem and ensure the changes being brought about by NCE do not affect the functioning of their customers. Partners need to offer phase-wise support for implementing NCE changes and help customers confidently deal with product and price changes.

Scalability

Another trait that most winning partners share is the ability to scale their business to meet the evolving needs of customers. Incorporating features and capabilities into the solutions you provide to your customers that allow them to scale quickly with minimum resources can aid them in efficiently running their business and meeting their goals with ease.

The ability to have customers set up, provisioned, notified, billed, and collected – all from a single platform – can make it easy for you to succeed as the MSP partner and boost your chance of winning the Microsoft Partner Award.

Quality is key

Since every partner has an equal opportunity to win, no matter how small or big they are following these tips and best practices can help you get recognized for your innovation, hard work, and the amazing solutions you provide.

But remember, the difference between winners and non-winners is not just restricted to the quality of Microsoft solutions you craft; it also depends greatly on the quality of your entry! So, make sure to create an exceptional entry that showcases all the benefits of the solution you’ve built and the results you’ve helped your customers achieve! Focus on building a strong opening, craft a compelling story, and paint a true picture of how you enable your customers to accomplish through your innovative solutions.

Here’s wishing every partner the very best! May the best one win!

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