The Private Offer Playbook: Building Winning Offers that Microsoft Sellers Can Champion

Private offers and transactable listings are quickly becoming table stakes for winning Microsoft field mindshare—especially for ISVs/SDCs aiming to accelerate co‑sell and close more enterprise deals.

If you want Microsoft Account Executives (AEs) to bring your solution into customer conversations, you need more than a listing. You need a private offer they can champion—one that’s predictable, easy to position, aligned to Microsoft’s priorities, and helps drive customer incentives like MACC (Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment). Done right, your private offer becomes the “fast path” for sellers to drive a win with less risk, less complexity, and more upside for everyone.

Here’s how to build private offers that AEs are excited to propose first:

1. Start with the AE’s reality: simplicity wins deals

Microsoft AEs operate in complex environments: multiple priorities, product motions, sales plays, and customer journeys across industries. What they don’t have time for is deciphering a partner’s convoluted pricing structure or figuring out how to sell an offer that isn’t aligned to Microsoft incentives.

The most successful SDCs do three things:

✓ Remove friction

Make the offer fast to explain, fast to approve, and fast to transact. If an AE needs a 20-minute briefing to understand it, it won’t fly.

✓ Make the AE look good

Show them how your offer helps them hit their customer goals (e.g., cloud modernization, cost optimization, app innovation, AI adoption).

✓ Align to Microsoft’s FY priorities

Map your offer to Microsoft’s core solution areas—AI Business Solutions, Cloud & AI Platforms, and Security—and the specific industry plays AEs are measured against.

Essentially, if you help the AE win their scorecard, they’ll help you win deals.

2. Package your private offer like a product, not a custom engagement

Private offers that win field attention share a critical trait: repeatability.

You want Microsoft sellers to recognize your offer instantly as a “known motion,” not a bespoke project. That means:

Clear packaging

• Defined scope

• Defined customer outcomes

• Defined timeline

• Defined deliverables

• Defined technical requirements

• Clearly stated value proposition

Strong positioning

Lead with a crisp “Better Together” narrative that connects your solution to Azure, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, or industry cloud capabilities—basically, convey clearly why the solutions together can help strengthen the deal or add unique value for customers.

MACC‑friendly alignment

If your offer can count toward the customer’s MACC—say it loudly. If not, clarify what portions of your solution may involve Azure consumption.

3. Build your pricing and margin strategy for marketplace success

Marketplace pricing should be strategic and predictable, not arbitrary. Your offer should include:

• A simple base SKU (e.g., 4‑week Accelerator or 90‑day Deployment Package)

• Optional add‑ons to increase deal size

• Transparent pricing tiers

• Support and renewal paths

  
  

Your offer should also include margins and approved discount ranges that allow the AE to negotiate pricing without eroding your profitability. If you force them into a “take it or leave it” structure, they will leave it.

4. Create seller‑ready artifacts—your secret advantage

Time to think like a marketer: What does a time‑starved AE need at the moment of customer conversation? And then give them exactly that—pre-made assets that help them pitch your offer without having to do any heavy lifting. Consider things like the following:

• One‑pager: A single page or slide summarizing the offer, value proposition, the problem it solves, what’s included, and the outcomes.

• 90‑second talk track: Scripted language they can copy/paste into customer emails.

• Target customer profile: Break down who is the offer ideal for (e.g., industry, maturity, triggers, ICP signals, etc.) to help them quickly understand when/where to present your offer.

• Objection‑handling guide: Pre‑empt concerns around price, scope, Azure dependency, or timeline.

• “Better Together” story: Clear articulation of how your solution amplifies Microsoft capabilities.

• Customer wins / proof points: AEs are far more likely to engage with offers that are proven and have wins they can point to that are short, punchy, and measurable.

If you don’t provide these, they will default to pushing a partner who does.

5. Make it easy for sellers to activate the offer

You need a simple, repeatable AE activation process. That typically includes:

• An internal launch plan: Briefings, short videos, and optional 1:1 sales coaching.

• A marketplace link that works everywhere: Direct, simple, no gated logins.

• Rapid response for AE questions: A named contact and <24‑hour SLA for field requests.

• Internal campaigns: Use Microsoft Partner Center resources and seller distribution channels to broadcast your offer to field teams and PDMs.

6. Build your offer for scale—not one‑off deals

Microsoft sellers are hungry for partner solutions that are easily scalable and repeatable across regions, industries, and customer sizes. If your offer can only be delivered by two architects with limited availability, it won’t be prioritized. Structure your private offer so you can deliver consistently at volume:

• Templates

• Playbooks

• Automation

• Repeatable delivery patterns

• Clear onboarding

• Tiered support

Scaling your delivery engine increases AE confidence and accelerates time‑to‑deal.

7. Partner with your PDM—your most influential multiplier

Your Partner Development Manager (PDM) can shepherd your offer into the hands of dozens of AEs. Equip them fully:

• Give them mini‑pitches they can forward

• Provide verticalized versions of your private offer

• Keep them updated on wins and customer stories

• Include them in launch and campaign cycles

When your PDM becomes your internal advocate, everything moves faster.

Make your private offer the default choice

In FY26, Microsoft sellers are prioritizing partners who:

• Reduce deal friction

• Align with Microsoft priorities

• Are proven, repeatable, and scalable

• Make it easy to tell a compelling story

• Offer predictable customer outcomes

• Support MACC consumption

If your private offer checks these boxes, AEs will lead with you—and they’ll bring you into more conversations than you can reach alone.

Want help packaging, messaging, and positioning your private offer? This is exactly the kind of market‑ready content and seller enablement Cadence Preferred excels at. Connect with us today to see how we can help you build your strategy.