Key Takeaways: AWS & MEDDICC, A Common Language

Last year, MEDDICC CEO Andy Whyte declared Cloud Marketplaces to be the most significant opportunity we've witnessed in our industry since the rise of cloud computing and SaaS. While he prepared for pushback, the response was overwhelmingly positive. It seems like everyone was in agreement: this represents a huge paradigm shift.

We find all things channel and Cloud Marketplace so interesting because when wielded correctly, MEDDICC can serve as the perfect common language to unite co-selling teams. So, it was quite the full-circle moment when Andy joined the great people at AWS, Crowdstrike and ZScaler to talk about how using MEDDPICC as a common language when co-selling is a key factor for serious success with AWS Marketplace.

Without further ado, here are the key takeaways:

Cloud marketplaces are changing the game - Canalys estimates that cloud marketplaces will grow to over $45bn by 2025, which is double their pre pandemic forecast and represents an 84% CAGR. Landscape shifting deals are being made with marketplaces, led by the sharpest sales people in our industry. And it doesn’t come as a surprise that AWS is leading the charge - they have seen that selling with AWS Marketplace saves time, effort, and costs. 

What is driving the adoption of AWS marketplace specifically? Many will point to cloud spend commitments impacting budget dynamics as a driving factor, which is often true, as it can create a commercial ‘win-win’ scenario for the buyer and the seller (think about the Economic Buyer impact). 

However, let’s not lose sight of the fantastic digital modernization and experiences which are driving buying and selling habits, not dissimilar to our own personal experiences and rising digital expectations. Procurement streamlining, governance, and the modernized experience provided by AWS Marketplace and other cloud marketplaces attract customer and software vendor sales teams alike to build it into their software strategies (think Paper Process and Decision Criteria impact).

The data and feedback tells us that when AWS Marketplace is built as a mindset you significantly increase the chances of a demonstrable impact on your sales performance, be that winning more often, faster, and bigger, or simply aligning to your customers digital procurement strategy to build longer term trust/engagement.

So how do you best engage with your customers and AWS to effectively co-sell? With a common language - which is where MEDDPICC comes in.

As we always say, not all MEDDIC is equal - someone may say they know MEDDIC, but that can mean so many different things. After all, people make many claims about what MEDDIC is or isn’t, using it one way and insisting it cannot be used any other way. We know, of course, that the best way to refer to all the good MEDDIC does is to acknowledge it as a common language. Doing so is the best way to engage with customers and allows the whole GTM team to align on Value, Stakeholders, and Process.

It was widely agreed that the best way to work with AWS account teams is with preparation - to have a clear understanding of your customer’s pain and how AWS can help you - and with aligned language. MEDDPICC provides the language that sellers and partners can rally around to co-sell with ease. Without a common language, the seller and partner can go back and forth with no alignment and no result. MEDDPICC makes everything cohesive, putting sellers and partners on the same team and creating a fluency in communication that allows them to truly focus on the customer. 

There is so much to be gained by co-selling with AWS - not only because of the previously mentioned advantages of AWS Marketplace, but the ability to work together to solve customers' pain and accelerate key initiatives. The best way to go about this is by truly partnering from the very beginning of customer engagements. There are many different partners involved in a deal’s success, and there’s a time and place for everyone. So, the earlier you engage your account teams, the more of their help you will get in the lifecycle of the deal. 

There’s no need to create new checklists for engagements when you’re equipped with MEDDPICC. For a software vendor sales rep, for example, don’t be afraid to rely on the shared MEDDPICC language when on a call with an account manager at a cloud provider. Using the same language allows your partners to ace the co-sell alongside you, as you are both clear on next steps and what is required. 

What people sometimes don’t want to admit is that customers don’t actually like buying tech - so if we can make it a diligent, efficient process, we can show them that we care, and open the door for them to unlock the value we provide. Working effectively with cloud providers and marketplaces is a great way to do that with ease and clarity.

If you missed the session, you can speak to your AWS Partner Development Manager to listen on demand!