Small Partner, Big Company; Does This Marriage Work?

Everyone wonders first, if I have ever met Bill Gates and second, why would one of the world's most successful companies care at all about a seemingly small "partner" like us? This second one is actually a really good question—and in fact gets at the heart of what makes Microsoft special and the partner relationship so unique.

I've come to understand that Microsoft really cares about us partners. The fact is we give them the from-the-trenches feedback that guides them to continually improve their products, the ideas that lead to new products and sometimes entirely new businesses—for them and us.

And, of course, the overwhelming majority of their sales come through us. Heck, we're even their first line of defense for licensing compliance and piracy. Beyond all of that, we're a sales force with no overhead, and we even spend our own marketing budgets to sell their products. It may sound a bit one-sided, but is it really?

I don't think so. True, we do a lot for Microsoft. But we get so much more in return.

I like to compare my relationship with Microsoft to a franchise, and I view this as one of the most valuable franchises one could buy. What do we get as a franchisee? For starters, we get to not only identify with, but to use one of the most recognizable brand names in the world. We get an endless stream of truly great products to sell, some of which can really make a difference in the lives of our customers, we get ready-to-go packaged and often subsidized marketing campaigns, we get great tech support, we get featured pointers right on Microsoft's Web site so that almost anyone can find us. We get a great partner conference (with more SMB content every year, thank you), an endless stream of communications, regional meetings, virtually free education, and an insane amount of software we can use to actually build our businesses. And the cost for this franchise? Probably less than a McDonald's franchisee pays for napkins in a year!

And if this weren't enough, there are what I call the "bonuses." Do something unique and interesting with a Microsoft product and there's a really good chance they'll write an impressive case study about you and your customer (wow, does that score points). If it's really compelling a video crew might even show up at your door as they did with me. (You can check me out on www.windowsvistaexperience.com.)

And in our case, when we at Silicon East were asked to participate in a two-hour special of ABC's "Extreme Makeover Home Edition" a couple of years ago (an event that was well covered in the pages of CRN), Microsoft came through with extraordinary technical help and a major product donation for a severely handicapped family. And then they made the video.

Now in our 25th year in business, I look back at the last decade that we've been partnered with Microsoft, and I have to say that it's been the most satisfying and the most rewarding, financially and otherwise, since I founded Silicon East. I'm having fun and look forward to every working day—and Microsoft gets a big thank you for that.

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