It happens every year at Microsoft. February…March….April. Forecast calls becoming tense...tick…tick…tick. Account Execs, Sales Managers, anyone with a quota hearing that clock ticking…tick, tick, tick…June 1…tick tick tick… Just that 1 deal to get you from 98% to 124%...tick tick tick.
July 1, game over.
If your EA expires on June 30, forget it…your revenue falls into the following fiscal year so you may not be a priority. EA that ends on April 30 or May 31 and you are a priority. Drag that renewal into July and you are the quota buster so Microsoft will ensure that you renew before June 30. Drag that renewal into July and your account executive may cancel those plans for a new backyard pool or that new car.
Pushing your EA into the next fiscal year isn’t without risk, Microsoft will threaten to take away all of their promised discounts if your renewal misses the June 30 deadline but don’t be the one that blinks first.
You don’t have a renewal? No problem as your incremental revenue or mid-term deal is sure to get the attention of the sales and executive team. Put off large purchases until April or May and start using the end of the year to your advantage. Again, the discounts will be valid until July 1 so be prepared to make a deal before June 23 to ensure you have time for approvals and signatures. Here are some steps to take to ensure that you get the best deal:
Ensure that you can deploy and use your purchase immediately. A 20% discount starts to lose it value very quickly if it is sitting on the shelf for 3-6 months
Get chummy with your account exec and casually find out how their year is going. I have heard AEs provide shockingly private information on where they are in quota attainment in casual lunch conversations with customers. Be subtle and smart and the information you receive will be invaluable during negotiations.
Don’t hesitate to escalate. Executives are dealing with so many year-end deals…show them a path to get your deal off the table and they will make it happen. Ask for an executive sponsor as soon as you begin the discussions, you will need an escalation path. The best time to get their attention is May. String the deal along into June and your sponsor’s attention may be on a deal that is 10 times the size of your deal.
Ensure that your deal is important to all in the Microsoft sales chain. My manager pushed me to work with a rep on a $3M deal at the end of one quarter while I was at Microsoft and once we secured the deal, the territory Sales Manager (not my manager) was irate as the revenue didn’t help him from a compensation perspective and publicly called it “garbage revenue” (he also boldly predicted that the Eagles would secure their 2nd Super Bowl in 2023…Oops). The point is that he would have killed the deal if he had been paying attention. Don’t take that risk, ensure that your deal means something to everyone.
Work with Green Cabbage. Microsoft is not the only supplier with an upcoming year-end, Cisco and Oracle have year-ends on July 30 and May 30, respectively. Green Cabbage will provide specific guidance on how to work your year-end deal for short-term savings and long-term success.
Are you ready to begin with a team of experts by your side? Click here to request a demo!
Written by: Dan Pavlick VP of Cloud Services, at Green Cabbage
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