Sales and Marketing


Smarter Salespeople Use Maps

All successful salespeople are socially well connected within their communities.

IT Services and the Lie of 'Customer Satisfaction'

How do you differentiate yourself from the competition? If the answer is your "commitment to customer satisfaction," you'd better examine how truthful that is.

Who Is the 'One Great Salesperson'?

The new channel business model has little room for salespeople who are not also technology pros.

The Ultimate Sales Strategy

The sales techniques that worked five or 10 years ago won't work as well today. What modern prospects are looking for is a partner that can deliver Business Guidance Value.

Partners: 6 Ways To Beat the Summer Slowdown

Resist the urge to take a break in these months. Planning a well-thought-out summer campaign now can pay great dividends later.

Microsoft Partners Cannot Live by Fees Alone

Selling cloud service subscriptions isn't a bad strategy -- as long as you use them to set the stage for sales of your own suite of services.

Behind Microsoft Partner K2's 'Dispute Impossible' Campaign

K2's recent marketing video shows that extraordinary marketing messages don't require a big staff or huge budgets -- but they do require commitment, creative thinking and perseverance.

59 Real-World Marketing Tactics for Microsoft Partners

From specialization to audience targeting, content creation, traffic generation and more, marketing consultant Barb Levisay offers proven tips for bolstering your name recognition.

Partners: Beware of 'Reinventing the Wheel'

Growing businesses have problems. There are many resources to help you address those problems; the opportunity is for you to use them.

7 Benefits of a Prescriptive Sales Process

By spelling out the steps that great sales performers use intuitively, you can develop the rest of your sales staff.

Seller Beware: Customers Want Vertical Partners, Not 'Generalists'

"Geographic generalist" partners that offer any services for anybody, anywhere, are a struggling breed.

Microsoft Acquires Marketing Software Firm MarketingPilot

Microsoft gave its Dynamics CRM business a boost this week, acquiring Evanston, Ill.-based MarketingPilot Software for an undisclosed amount.

Why Is Microsoft Putting the Squeeze on Partner Support?

In reducing its ranks of partner-facing support personnel, Microsoft may be taking some pointers from the president of Howard's old company: "If you've got enough people to do the job, you have too many people."

Sales Leaders: Are You the Linchpin or the Weak Link?

Know what ingredients in sales, marketing and operations must be measured to perform at optimal levels. A partner needs to track at least four metrics for each department.

Microsoft Ramps Up Retail Store Openings

Microsoft opened two retail stores in the suburbs of New York City on Friday, bringing the total number of locations up to 25.