Leveraging the MCEM methodology to close more deals

Designed to help partners collaborate and co-sell effectively with Microsoft, the Microsoft Customer Engagement Methodology – dubbed "MCEM" for short – is a research-backed framework that ensures every interaction throughout the sales process is strategically focused on the customer. MCEM is structured into five short-term stages that align to the customer journey and that, when combined, help to secure long-term customer success. Let's walk through each of these phases and what they guide the engagement:

1. Listen and Consult: Begin by listening to and consulting with the customer to fully understand their needs and desired outcomes. The opportunity must be qualified to move to the next stage.

   
   

2. Inspire and Design: Go deeper into the customer’s needs to design the right solutions (through collaboration with Microsoft) that will help them achieve their goals, gaining alignment of the solution play with the customer's business case.

   
   

3. Empower and Achieve: Partner and Microsoft work cohesively to showcase the optimal solution and instill confidence in the customer that the proposed solution meets their needs (including possible POC, technical training, etc.). A customer agreement must be in place (e.g., SOW, purchase) before moving to the next stage.

   
   

4. Realize Value: Drive a successful implementation and deliver exceptional outcomes to the customer, swiftly mitigating any technical issues and validating the customer’s confidence in the solution. As the solution takes shape, new opportunities might arise and identify avenues for expansion based on the customer's evolving needs.

   
   

5. Manage and Optimize: Ensure the customer remains satisfied with the deployed solution, evaluate whether the expected business value is being achieved based on desired KPIs, and actively monitor the overall health of the customer's solution.

The core of MCEM lies in building trust by effectively delivering results aligned with customer objectives. By keeping the customer at the center throughout the entire sales cycle, MCEM helps partners drive successful joint engagements with Microsoft sales and support by aligning everyone to a common, strategic goal.

In our next blog, we'll explore how building a “hero offer” aligned to Microsoft’s FY25 priority solution areas can help partners accelerate customers through the MCEM journey to prove value even faster, while also helping to more easily engage Microsoft sales teams in co-sell opportunities with an offer that is repeatable and scalable.

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