Working With Microsoft...

Forgive me – but I am going to be prescriptive as hell here.

If Microsoft is “around” your business in a non-competitive way (meaning a partner, supplier, supporter, etc.) then do and don’t do the following (and for the purpose of writing here – I will refer to a Microsoft business relationship – or counterpart – as an MS POC or Point Of Contact.

These are my lessons learned as a result of having a great partnership with Microsoft in my last business – Raindance Communications and the success we are having with Microsoft in my current business – Oxlo Systems.

There are probably a lot more do's and don't's then I've listed - but this is a start anyway - and something that occupied my time on a place from Columbus, Ohio to Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Do:

§ Systematically and exactly understand where your everyone of your MS POCs exists in the Microsoft organization structure.  At Microsoft title and place in organization chart matters.  The MS POCs all understand this.  Find out where they sit in the big giant Microsoft organization chart.

§ Ask every MS POC somewhere in your first conversation with them “how are you measured?”.  I believe that every Microsoft employee turns in some sort of progress report on a regular basis to substantiate their efforts to their assigned objectives (trust me they have them and know then and some will explicitly share them with you).  What they are measured on is written about in this report (No one has told me but I will bet you meaningful cash that they turn these in on a regular basis).  You matter to your MS POC if they can write about you in their progress report.  Asking the “how are you measured" question will tell you what they want to write about and what you have to do to matter in their world. 

§ Get on an Airplane and go to Redmondon a regular basis.  How often?  I’m not sure – enough that you and your MS POCs are familiar with each other enough that they can recognize you.  You can do some of what you want to do by phone – but only so much. Get on a plane and be in Redmond redundancy intended here).

§ Work every angle to know as many people at Microsoft as possible and how they matter to your business.  Know the MX local support people.  Know the Redmond people that support the local MS people. Know the applications group that matters to your business both in the marketing side of the business as well as the development side.  Know the vertical people that are watching your vertical.  (Trust me – Microsoft has every Fortune 2000 company assigned to someone that cares about how that company is adopting Microsoft technology)  Know what product groups they work in and what VPs and SVPs and GVPs they work under.  Know the local MS Consulting guys consulting your end customer.  They know the budget cycles of your customer, the technical review process by your customer, the decision maker in your customer’s hierarchy and they had dinner with that person last night.  If you sell or help sell or make Microsoft matter in their world – you and that local MS POC have something to talk about.

§ Email your MS POCs regularly about your business but don’t over do it.  Email them about your progress and keep them up do date.  Microsoft is an email culture not voicemail.  CC who matters in your Microsoft world.

Do all of the above to further your interests.  If you focus on making your business work and coordinate with Microsoft – they’ll be able to see a good thing when they see it. They will help in meaningful, measurable ways (which is usually you selling more of your product which in theory based on the premise of all this – is in their interest).

Don’t

§ Don’t ask your MS POC to “make your business”.  What I mean here is don’t go ask for Microsoft to do anything for you are until you are on firm ground in your marketplace and they can directly see the benefit of working with your company to achieve their measured goals (see above – Do # 2). Let me be clear here:  Microsoft people have about 1000 companies a month come to them with some far fetched idea that if they partner with your company – they you can sell a million something’s. Doing this will lose you everything in their eyes.  It can make you look desperate with relates to my next point.

§ Don’t kiss your MS POCs you know what.  Microsoft is an aggressive culture where having your act together matters and being subordinate to get further with them doesn’t help you. 

§ Approach them without your act together. Be well prepared and know your stuff. Don’t waste their time.