Knee Boarding, Nadella, and Annuity Income: Insights from Adam Shapiro
Welcome to the IAMCP profiles and partnership. The podcast that showcases how Microsoft partners and IAMCP members boost their business by collaborating with other members and partners. I'm your co host, Anthony Carrano. And in each episode, I'll be talking to some of the most innovative and successful partners in the Microsoft ecosystem. The International Association of Microsoft Channel Partners, otherwise known as IAMCP, is a community of Microsoft partners who help each other grow and thrive.
Anthony Carrano:Members can find and connect with other partners locally and globally and access exclusive resources and opportunities. Whether you're looking for new customers, new markets, or new solutions, IAMCP can help you achieve those goals. We'll hear their stories, learn from their experiences, and discover the best practices and strategies they use to increase customer loyalty and grow revenues. Whether you're a new partner or an established one, you'll find valuable insights and inspiration in this podcast. We hope you enjoy this podcast and find it useful and inspiring.
Anthony Carrano:If you do, please subscribe, rate, and review us on your favorite podcast platform. And don't forget to follow us on social media and connect with us on our website, www.profilesinpartnership.com, where you can find more information, resources, and opportunities to partner for success. Thank you for listening, and now let's get started with today's episode. Before we dive into our interview, let me ask you a question. As a Microsoft partner and a member of the IAMCP, how do you find and develop partner relationships that'll help you grow your business?
Anthony Carrano:Finding the right partner can be challenging, but can also be rewarding. In fact, according to a recent study by IDC, Microsoft partners who collaborate with other partners generate almost 2 and a half times more revenue growth than those who don't. That's a huge difference, and it shows the power of partnering. So how do you leverage the Microsoft Partner Network, IAMCP, and other resources to support your partnerships? And how do you ensure success for your customer?
Anthony Carrano:These are some of the questions we'll explore in this podcast with the help of our guest, a recent global and EMEA P2P award finalist who is also an expert in partnering. He'll share stories, challenges, and successes and give you practical tips and advice on how to partner for success. Are you ready to join us on this journey? Then stay tuned because we have a great show for you today. Our guest is Adam Shapiro, the CEO at Autopilot Workflow Solutions, an award winning ISV and Microsoft partner with expertise in the delivery of automated workflow solutions.
Anthony Carrano:Autopilot has achieved amazing results such as the one in the story you're about to hear in their partnership with Greenlight Solutions, a SharePoint and Power Platform company whose client needed an automated accounts payable workflow solution integrated with their new Dynamics implementation. Let's hear what he has to say. Welcome, Adam, to the podcast today. Really appreciate you joining us. Let's start off.
Anthony Carrano:Tell us a little bit about yourself and your role in the company.
Adam Shapiro:Anthony, great, great to be here. Thank you for the the opportunity. So, I mean, I guess a little bit of history. I got into the IT industry during the dotcom era in the late nineties, and a group I was looking after a team of developers, and 3 developers came across to me and said, business can't be this difficult. Let's start our own business.
Adam Shapiro:So we started PilotFish Digital in 2,000 and 1, which was a a business focused in web development, custom dev, and SharePoint SharePoint development. And we ran that business until 2014, so we had a nice nice long road there. But we found that we were custom developing workflows on top of SharePoint and other solutions. So in 2014, we thought, right, let's try and build an annuity income business, and that's when Autopilot was born. I'm based in, Cape Town in, South Africa and been in the IAMCP for 3 years now.
Anthony Carrano:Oh, fantastic. And, what prompted you to join IAMCP?
Adam Shapiro:I saw a link on on LinkedIn, for them, and I just thought this is an amazing opportunity to to be with people in that same in the same mind space, in the in the Microsoft space, not only in the Microsoft space, but partnering in the in the Microsoft space. And it's been a a huge part of my life. I've met people from all over the world. I've come to learn about different events, different learnings, met with huge number of partners, advisers.
Anthony Carrano:Tell us a little bit more about your company's area of, expertise and your specializations.
Adam Shapiro:So Autopilot is an an automation company. So we automate internal process flow within within businesses. That's primarily in the in the finance space, but we also work in HR, sales. Our strength is customizing automation for for organizations. And then the second part of the business is in the onboarding space.
Adam Shapiro:So assisting companies to onboard new vendors, new employees, or new customers. So we really streamline that that process. And one of our key features is that we integrate fully into into Teams. So Mhmm. While you're it's in the same place that you're having a meeting, you can then be approving your tasks and and so on.
Anthony Carrano:That's fantastic. Now, Adam, I look. You're holding out on us, and you're being way too humble here. Tell us a little bit, like, I you know, I know you you guys were, you know, listed as the 9th company worldwide to develop a copilot app. Tell us a little bit, more about that.
Adam Shapiro:Yeah. That was a a highlight of our our business. So we've built, again, within Teams, we've built an accounts payable app, which uses AI to read invoice data and then route it to the relevant people and so on with that built in audit trail. And so we had that as a Teams app, and then we were early adopters of Copilot. And as you said, we were the 9th company to to develop a stand alone Copilot app, and we were really humbled to be be, shown up on the on the screen and highlighted by Satya Nadella at the Ignite conference in Seattle in November last year.
Adam Shapiro:So it was definitely a highlight of our business life.
Anthony Carrano:That's awesome. That's now where can people go to find out more, information about that app?
Adam Shapiro:That's on our website. It's autopilot.co.zia Otherwise, autopilotworkflows.com Otherwise, we sell through the Microsoft store. So if you go to the Teams to the app section within Microsoft Teams, search for Autopilot accounts payable, you'll find us there, and the copilot version is there as well.
Anthony Carrano:I know Rudy's got a lot of questions for you about the story, which by the way, wanted to, congratulate you as well. I know you guys were a both a global and an EMEA finalist in the P2P Awards, you know, for for ISV. So congratulations on that. I mean, it sounds like you guys are just doing some some amazing work. And, Rudy, I mean, I turn it over to you to ask some of those questions about the the the award.
Rudy Rodriguez:Great. Well, Adam, it's great learning about your company and and, especially, the growth of your business there in South Africa. So in this story that you're about to tell us is that you, submitted for the finalist or where you were selected as a finalist, can you tell us a little bit about the client, the size of the company, the industry that we're in, the tech, how you implemented the technology, and the challenges that those that organization was facing?
Adam Shapiro:Sure. So the the client is a company called TalkShore. They're a financial services company based up in Durban on the East Coast of South Africa. And they had challenges in their their procurement process with, getting approvals, invoice approvals done, purchase order requisitions. They found their existing systems weren't that user friendly.
Adam Shapiro:So, you know, people had to log in to different systems as opposed to, as I mentioned, just being able to have single sign on within Teams and being able to approve approve tasks, in that case, financial tasks. Also, the system that they currently had was very rigid. Our solution, our ethos, if you like, is to customize a solution for a particular client where a lot of other vendors force you to fit into into their process. So we, we allow we built a system to that for them that wasn't as rigid, but still had a full enterprise security, still has the audit trail, and and all the features of an enterprise solution. And I guess the last version was perhaps the the cost.
Adam Shapiro:Our costing model is transaction based model, which we think is really fair. So the more you use, the more you pay. If you don't use it that much, month month, you don't pay. So they were currently on a system where they had a pay per user, and they found a lot of users weren't using the system, but they were still having to pay for it.
Rudy Rodriguez:So did this integrate with an ERP system of any kind? Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Adam Shapiro:Sure. So it integrated with, Microsoft Dynamics, and that was, that was key that we used that integration, and we used, Microsoft Power platform to to handle that integration.
Rudy Rodriguez:Well, that's great. That's wonderful to hear. So how did you come about, meeting this client and and partnering, with someone to, you know, help build this solution?
Adam Shapiro:So in terms of our meeting the client, our our best referrals or our best clients are through through referrals. So that's exactly what happened. We we've got a another client, based in a similar area who we had done work for for many years, and he moved over to to TalkShore, and he said, yeah, your systems are archaic. You need you need autopilot in here. So he introduced us to the to the company, and, you know, things things flowed from from there.
Adam Shapiro:And, you know, it's just amazing to they're they're amazing company to to work for. Our biggest challenge is clients not knowing what they want or, you know, us having to do a lot of analysis and really dig in. And because our system is so flexible, you know, often we'll go in and say, right. We want the finance system, and then HR gets involved, or people don't have time and energy to to just give us a basic framework. And that's probably the biggest challenge in our business.
Adam Shapiro:At TalkShare knew exactly what they wanted, and their their head of finance knew exactly how the process needed to be laid out. So we could use our low code builder to to build the the solution for them swiftly.
Rudy Rodriguez:Do you work with other IAMCP partners, or how do you how do you work with them to let them know about the flexibility and and capabilities of your product to help you promote, promote your sales across across the country?
Adam Shapiro:Yeah. So we took a decision only around 10 months ago to work directly through partner. We've always worked ad hoc through partners. We had worked ad hoc through partners, but we found because we were doing customer facing work, we our product was was slipping. So 10 months ago, we took a decision to not deal with customers anymore and only deal through through the channel.
Adam Shapiro:And that allowed us to really enhance our product, build the copilot solution that that Antonya was speaking about earlier, and really focus on enhancing the product and then work entirely through through partners. So Greenlight Solutions, the the partner we worked through at at TalkShore, in fact, yeah, because they're from the same area as us, we've known them for for many years. So we're both IAMCP partners, but we don't we didn't meet through IMCP. But, subsequently, we've met a number of partners through through IAMCP. And it works works really well, getting to know getting to know partners, getting a feel for each other, and then hopefully expanding the your relationship.
Rudy Rodriguez:Since you're based in South Africa, is that the only geography you work, or are you trying to expand globally? Can you know, what are what are your prospects there?
Adam Shapiro:No. We work, we work globally, both with partners and and clients, and Microsoft has been amazing source of of clients for us through the the team store. I mean, that's been amazing. We've been in the Microsoft Azure Marketplace and AppSource for a number of years, and we get some leads, from them. But the the main source of our leads is the, Microsoft Teams store.
Adam Shapiro:So within Teams at the bottom left is that app section, and people search for either for autopilot, but, generally, it's a term like onboarding. So we get a number of international leads through through the Microsoft store, and that that really, really helps us to boost our business.
Rudy Rodriguez:Well, that's great. Well, since we mentioned geography, I know Anthony's kinda chomping at the bit to ask you something because we heard a little story about you. So, Anthony, why don't you ask that question?
Anthony Carrano:So I know that the, the the worldwide, kneeboard, championships were held there in South Africa. And, Adam, you you've got a little bit of insight on that.
Adam Shapiro:Anthony, you've certainly been doing your your homework. Yeah. So I I started bodyboarding when I was 6 years old and then progressed to kneeling, and I've just stayed there ever ever since. So I ride what's called a a knee board. It's effectively surfing on on your knees. We were honored to have a world championships here in in South Africa last week. We had a 140 competitors from all over the world coming here to compete at one of the best waves in the world, Jeffreys Bay, and everything just aligned. The waves, the community, the weather, everything just came together. And I I had a pretty good run as well.
Adam Shapiro:I managed to come 17th overall and 5th in my age group. So
Anthony Carrano:Do you do that every year, or is this just kind of a a like, I know you've been doing knee boring since you were younger, but in terms of competing in this championship, is that something you do every year, or is this just a a one time thing?
Adam Shapiro:No. I've been working too hard. I I didn't compete, so they only have it every every second year. 2 years ago, I was in Portugal, and the 2 years before that was in New Zealand. But I I've been focusing on on family and and and business, so I didn't go to those ones.
Adam Shapiro:It's amazing to be back in the fold, and I was with some people I haven't seen in in 20 years. It was it was very special.
Anthony Carrano:Wow.
Anthony Carrano:Yeah. I'm gonna throw you a little bit of a curve here, and put you on the spot. So what can you relate, like, time? Like, what have you learned, like or maybe relate between knee boarding and then, you know, creating good partnerships? Is there any kind of is there anything you can relate, tie in, or learn from, that experience and be able to translate it to to another?
Adam Shapiro:Yeah. I've never really, thought of it that way, but now that you mentioned it. That's, it's actually because, obviously, knee boarding, you know, you have to be a little bit eccentric or maybe out the box thinker and so on. It's not your typical, sport or wave riding craft. People either bodyboard or surf and, you know, so it's quite a what we like to think are not unique blend of people in in between there.
Adam Shapiro:And I would say our partners are similar in a in a in a similar context, maybe not as quirky and so on, but we really go to great lengths to choose the best partners that have got a a really good good fit for us, and for our organization. So they need to be like, we spend a lot of time training up our partners and so on, and, like, there's no point in spending, investing all this time if they're not gonna, you know, be in involved. So we spend time with our partners and make sure that they're committed and that we share the same same values. And then, they're also in a, you know, in a similar industry type. And, you know, obviously, then the time zones as well is a is a crucial one to make sure that, you know, we could each partner depends on on on their time zone as well.
Anthony Carrano:Mhmm. Mhmm. Do you, so on that note, I mean, do you have a set of criteria that, you you have for selecting a partner?
Adam Shapiro:Yeah. So the first one is that they in our in our industry, when I say in our industry, they are building automation solutions for for companies. Our strength, if you like, is the fact that we've got a a low code solution that encompasses things like verification, encompasses digital signatures through DocuSign, and as the integration into into Microsoft. And if they custom deving or using other tools to build solutions like this, we've got, you know, that that solution for them. So the one thing is that they they need to be in in that gambit, if you like.
Adam Shapiro:Second thing, there must be most of our partners are interested in expanding their annuity income of their business. A lot of partners, they're system integrators, and they're selling ours. And our model allows them to do that, but then also get the annuity income so they can effectively run a annuity income business, a SAS business, or get that revenue as a SAS business without building their own product. Because to be honest, like, one of the biggest learnings that we had so I mentioned we moved from PilotFish, which was a services business, to a product business. And we're building amazing services.
Adam Shapiro:We're building products for for, for our clients. So we thought, well, it can't be that difficult to then build a product for our own on our own, that, you know, it's been 10 years of and it was really tough in the beginning. So if I had to do it over, I would definitely have the split between spending money on tech and spending money on marketing. We were probably in the 80 80 20 80% tech money and 20% marketing. And if I had to do it again, I would definitely go 5050 at least.
Adam Shapiro:I I jolt adage of having the best product out there, but if no one knows about it, it's not worth much.
Anthony Carrano:Well, you know, as a as a as a partner in a marketing agency, I would say yes and amen to that. So
Adam Shapiro:You're not just the people who you really really should use.
Anthony Carrano:That, everybody needs to know and take what Adam just said to heart. That's fantastic. I actually there was something that you mentioned, and, that you you talked about, like, with SIs who wanna expand their into annuity income. I'm gonna get back to the story, because it's, you know, some questions about the story, but I I thought that was that was really fascinating. And just maybe if you can just, you know, briefly tell a little bit more about that, because there might be some partners listening who would be interested in that, to be able to expand, you know, their revenue base that way.
Adam Shapiro:Sure. So, I mean, I suppose it is the buzzword of making money while you sleep and sitting on the beach and the money rolls in and, you know, it definitely hasn't been the case for for us. But people do want annuity income. And our model, we like to see it as a as a win win scenario. So we provide the the product, the training, the platform, and then our our partners get the majority of the consulting fees.
Adam Shapiro:So they're still getting their their services income, but then get 20% of the annuity income. And that's a way of them building up their their business, as I said, without really having to build a product and having all the pitfalls that that come that come with that. And we also can provide them with a lot of leads as well so they don't have to go out and market the product and so on. So it it just makes it a a lot easier for them. And, also, having the low code builder really, really helps them so they can use junior or mid range developers to develop the enterprise solutions because it's a structured code base and and so on.
Anthony Carrano:That's fantastic. Really appreciate you sharing that. So going, you know, back to the story and just, you know, with your with your partnership, you know, with Greenlight Solutions and, you know, working with the customer, what, did you guys have any challenges during the engagement? And if so, what were they, and how did you all work together to overcome it?
Adam Shapiro:To be honest, I mean, we've with this client, it it was seamless. It's not not always that way. But for the for this client, it worked really well. You know, they they did their due diligence on us. Like, you know, it took quite a while for us to to get the end contract.
Adam Shapiro:They wanted to check everything out. We built a proof of concept for for them, but, subsequently, it it it really flowed really well. As I said, they knew exactly what they wanted, and Greenlight were amazing in delivering that, that solution. And, you know, we could tweak tweak it and so on. We took a lot of time with, testing.
Adam Shapiro:Obviously, it's a financial system. We need to make sure that it it works really well. So we've got quite a unique, solution where we build from scratch. So we we when we built autopilot, we built a test environment into the actual product. So we don't wireframe or do anything like that.
Adam Shapiro:We build directly into the test version of Autopilot, which is a great feature because a the client can see exactly what it's gonna be like. It's not, well, look at this wireframe and imagine what it would be like on a screen or in a system. They're seeing exactly what it's like within Autopilot with a big red band across the top that says test mode. So that that that that's how we built the system so we can iterate and they can make changes visually. And then, you know, we went through that process, did a lot of testing.
Adam Shapiro:And then also the the change management, they had a great change management team because that's maybe the other challenge of a business. Again, to the to the similar theme that I was speaking about earlier, great product even within the organization, but people are people, and sometimes they're resistant to change and wanna stick to doing it on paper or email or whatever. But TalkShore had an amazing, rollout plan, a change management plan to ensure that all the users bought into the system and move forward from from day 1.
Rudy Rodriguez:Well, Adam, you're a man after my own heart. I've been in the development world for many years myself, and, I understand the challenges that you've gone through having built systems like this. And and it's exciting to see and hear the success that you've had, this client. So, can you tell us a little bit I know you increased customer satisfaction because you've described that. Did this help them increase their revenue or improve their cost efficiencies at at at TalkSure as much as as I'm hearing?
Adam Shapiro:It did, and it continues to, to do so. So, I mean, you know, some of the things with less time spent on reworking. You know, it obviously saved senior managers a lot of time that they don't have to rework, their their product and and their steps along the way. They could approve tasks from mobile devices and allow reporting. So all of that same saves time, which then, save saves money.
Adam Shapiro:The other area that that that we're saving time on or saving money on is the fact that, we're now expanding within the organization. So, you know, we started with the financial workflows, but we're now moving into the employee onboarding. Yeah. They've got a 100 and you know, 1,200 employees. So, yeah, they're constantly expanding.
Adam Shapiro:So by assisting them to onboard new employees and choosing the right employees, that's definitely, affecting their bottom line and and saving them money.
Rudy Rodriguez:Yeah. Well, I was lucky enough to read the case study, before this this interview, and it's an inspiring case study. Are you using that to help you promote your business some more, and and, work with other partners?
Adam Shapiro:Absolutely. It's been a, you know, it's been a been a great case study, and we can say you know, we can preach how good Autopilot is from the hilltops, but, you know, when the customer says it with such conviction, that's that's how we gain trust with with partners and with with new clients. So it's definitely a big big way for us to to promote our our company. And in fact, we've just launched a a new case study yesterday for the YMCA. We, we handle the YMCA, and we have done 10 years the YMCA in South Africa.
Adam Shapiro:And we've really, assisted them. They get a lot of donations, and, obviously, those donations need to be carefully managed with an audit trail. And that's one of our biggest, wins, if you like, that we've saved them between, what they said, between 30 40% of their time with their auditors since using autopilot. So who doesn't wanna spend less than, you know, 30% less time with your auditors? With with respect to the auditors, it's, it it it's been a great success for us.
Rudy Rodriguez:Well, that's those are great statistics and wonderful that you you can deliver that much value for your for your customers. So in closing, what advice would you give to companies like yours regarding partnering? Obviously, you've been successful with it. What what advice could you give give other IAMCP members?
Adam Shapiro:Yeah. It hasn't hasn't been an easy road. As I said, we've been running for 10 years and only committed 100% to partnering, 10 10 months ago. So it is all about finding that balance between doing the work yourself and, obviously, retaining that income and then handing handing over that income to other partners in the hope that you get enough partners to to to grow the business. But for us, it was a no brainer because we needed to enhance our product, and that's our way to scale is is through partners.
Adam Shapiro:So choosing the right partner, as we've said, is absolutely critical. One of the best feelings we had in the business was a client, a new client, our partner signed up a new client, a chicken franchise here in South Africa. I've got 90 stores around the the country, and we didn't even know about them. And the partnered found the lead, signed up the client, built the solution, and then came to us and said, right. It's all done.
Adam Shapiro:You go forward. And, you know, that's obviously the the dream. So it's getting that cash flow right, that balance between giving up on some some revenue with the aim of growing your business, choosing the the the right partners, and really ensuring that, as we said earlier, that they're committed to to working with you to to grow your business, because you don't want that reputation to, you know, your brand reputation can go down if they if they don't deliver. And you don't wanna spend too much time with partners that that then don't work with you to to to go forward. But that's, again, that's where IMCP comes in, where generally, the the the members there are solid, and it's a great source of, potential partners for us.
Adam Shapiro:And that's been been invaluable for us as a business.
Anthony Carrano:I actually have one more question if it's okay. Just, it's not necessarily related to about, like, with partnerships and the story, but you brought something up that I think listeners would really, would like to hear a little more about is you had mentioned I mean, obviously, you've got extensive, you know, experience, you know, in the Azure marketplace and in AppSource for years. And you said some earlier about and I wanted to ask you about this, where you get a lot of leads from the team store. So somebody who's who's got, you know, a lot of years experience in the, you know, the different marketplace environments that Microsoft, provides, what's some advice you would give to partners who wanna look to try and generate leads, you know, in these different marketplaces? What'd be some some tips, some advice, things to consider, questions to ask?
Adam Shapiro:Sure. So, I mean, we were, again, really early adopters into into the Teams marketplace. So, you know, it was a a smaller pool, if you like. So we got, you know, increased, interest through through that, showing clearly defining what your app does. So let's say employee onboarding.
Adam Shapiro:Does that mean recruiting? Does it mean a new employee submitting all their documents and so on, or does it mean induction once the person employed videos? So and we have clients who we say employee onboarding, and we have clients coming for all three of those areas. So my point is you need to define clearly what what your off your product offers. Great visuals and so on.
Adam Shapiro:Obviously, you need to get into the Microsoft that they've got their templates and so on. But, you know, we pride ourselves in great UX and really, you know, striking visuals, and then showing the benefit of being within Teams. You know? Showing the benefit of the fact that if I'm on a conference call and then pings me over there to say, right, approve this task. I can do that from the same app as opposed to logging into a completely separate app.
Adam Shapiro:And then also relying on, you know, the fact and Microsoft are really stringent in terms of allowing people into that store. They really do their their homework and really we had some sleepless nights and some painful times really trying to, get get our apps approved. But once you've crossed that hurdle, then can't that's you're almost further down the funnel where people know, okay. Microsoft have vetted this company that, you know, that they must produce good work, and they must be secure and so on. And then the other side is on the on the commercial side.
Adam Shapiro:I mean, Microsoft, we've got an incredible model of Microsoft take 3% of, so, basically, our clients can pay Microsoft directly. And then so, a, we don't need to be onboarded as new customers, which really helps with large corporates. We don't have to go through that whole vendor onboarding, scenario. Our clients can then pay Microsoft's autopilot appears as a line item on their Microsoft bill. And then Microsoft takes 3% of that, which it's for nothing.
Adam Shapiro:You know? Then we don't have to get involved in invoicing or anything like like that. So it's a it's a win win situation. You're getting leads. You're in the place that you want to be, and you've got Microsoft handling the the commercial side for you.
Adam Shapiro:So it's been a, you know, win win for us.
Anthony Carrano:Mhmm. Mhmm. Really appreciate, you you sharing that. I know I know our listeners will also they're you know, you know, people are always looking for ways to how can they not only, you know, you know, leverage, you know, utilize partnerships to scale your business like like you had mentioned, but also, best utilize those marketplaces. So really appreciate you sharing, that perspective.
Anthony Carrano:We'll also include a link to, you know, the different apps, in the show notes for those who are interested in finding out more. So, Adam, this this has been fantastic. Thank you again. As we wrap up here, how can people, connect with you and find out more about you?
Adam Shapiro:Sure. Through our website, autopilot workflows.com. Otherwise, as I said, through through Teams, or through LinkedIn, Adam Shapiro, South Africa.
Anthony Carrano:Excellent. Well, Adam, have a great, day, and, thank you again for being a guest today.
Adam Shapiro:Wonderful. Thank you for the opportunity, Anthony. Rudy, really appreciate it.
Anthony Carrano:Wow. What a great episode. I really appreciate how Adam shared his perspective on a variety of things, you know, even outside of partnerships, like, specifically, just his experience, from the knee boarding championships this year and how he related that, you know, to partnerships and just the importance of, you know, finding those that are out of the box thinkers, the time spent on training and onboarding, as well as just the ongoing commitment to getting the job done. So I thought that was just a fun, you know, analogy and how you're liking that as well as what a really cool experience. How about you, Rudy?
Rudy Rodriguez:Well, you know, I I really enjoyed the interview with Adam. And one one thing I really picked up on him, that I found really unique was that sometimes in in your business experience, that sometimes you have to change your business development strategies. And that was an important point that he brought up. That about 10 months ago, they decided that it that selling direct was not the best way to promote their product and that it would be better selling through a channel. So they've developed their business development strategies now to sell through through partners because, 1, they can train you know, if they select the right partner, they can train them very carefully, which allows that partner to position their solutions integrated with that partner other partner solutions.
Rudy Rodriguez:And they work much better because they're able to learn more about what a client's needs really are. And then they're able to build the solution that is going to impact their business even better. The other thing that that brings he brought forward with that was not only does a client get a great solution, but they've even found that, by developing their products and getting them certified by Microsoft to be sold in the Team Store or AppSource, they're able to now work around one of the challenges that a lot of partners face when selling to the enterprise about being an established vendor. Microsoft is already an established vendor, and they can sell through those stores and it eliminates that problem. So it makes customer acquisition much easier and simpler Mhmm.
Rudy Rodriguez:For them as a business. So I thought that was a unique story from Adam. Mhmm.
Anthony Carrano:No. And that was great. And that I I agree. And, obviously, you know, you know, as as partners in a marketing agency, I really appreciate how he said he would, you know, rather in the past, he spent, you know, 80% on product development, 20% on marketing. He would go 5050, you know, as part of his, with his go to market.
Anthony Carrano:So I I I applaud that. And then and to your point, just with his experience in getting leads, you know, from the Azure Marketplace, Microsoft AppSource, you know, and Team Store, and just how he broke down just some really good practical tips, you know, for companies who are not only wanting to, you know, scale their business through partnerships, but also utilize these phenomenal marketplaces provided by Microsoft.
Rudy Rodriguez:You know, in closing, and both Anthony and I wanna thank you for joining us on this episode of IAMCP profiles and partnership powered by Dunamis Marketing. We hope you enjoyed this podcast and find it useful and inspiring. If you did, please subscribe, rate, and review us on your favorite podcast platform. Don't forget to follow us on social media and connect with us on our website, iamcp.org, where you can find more information, resources, and opportunities to partner for success. One of the best ways to partner for success is to join the IAMCP, a community of Microsoft partners who help each other grow and thrive.
Rudy Rodriguez:IAMCP members can find and connect with other partners locally and globally, access exclusive resources and opportunities. Whether you're looking for new customers, new markets, or new solutions, IAMCP can help you achieve your goals. To learn more, visit their website, iamcp.org.
