What are Microsoft Competencies and how can I make money from them?
You can think of competencies like a reward program from Microsoft. Achieving competencies is demonstrating that your organization is delivering more Microsoft solutions and meeting technical requirements to support your clients. The best part is that Microsoft is looking to pay you a ton of money for continuing to grow in this space. There are two main programs we will be discussing in this article, Silver and Gold. I have created a complete guide that shows you what you need to do to achieve these competencies and get paid, click on the link below for the entire guide:
If you manage at least $2500 of Microsoft per month then you should 100% be participating in the Silver program from Microsoft. If you do not yet then then these programs might not be for you.
Let’s break down the kickbacks first to see what margin you could be making. These kickbacks apply to both silver and Gold members:
I break down each of these in my guide above but lets run through a scenerio
- At the most baseline level, lets say you are an MSP selling O365 Business Premium to most of your customers
- You have 25 customers with 15 seats each on the subscription. You work with a distributor and get 12% margin off the MSRP of $12.50/seat so your cost is $10/seat
- With this in place you are spending $3,750 per month($10x25x15) on Microsoft
- One of the easiest competencies to get under the Silver plan is the Small and Midmarket competency. All it takes is 4 net new customers to Microsoft during the year and paying the yearly fee for Silver of $1,670
- You get 4 new customers during the year and pay the fee to earn the Silver competencies
- You now will receive an additional 6% kickback on all of your spend for the year and an additional 2% for your new customer adds.
IF WE ONLY LOOK AT THE 6% KICKBACK THEN YOU ARE RECEIVING AN ADDITIONAL ($3,750X12X6%) $2,700 PER YEAR FOR A NET OF $1,030 DOLLARS ($2,700-$1,670 FEE)
This may not seem like a ton of money, but it is a simple example that will jumpstart you into making a ton back from Microsoft as you grow your business. This is not including the licensing you get a well for free as part of your core benefits which is touched on in the guide.
Lets take a look at a few more examples of some of the top paying incentive items with some of the top growing subscriptions in Microsoft:
I highly encourage checking out my guide as it provides an understanding of:
• The financial kickbacks from Microsoft on a yearly basis
• The different competency programs and how to achieve them
• The free licensing you receive being part of these programs
• How to navigate through Partner Center to make sure you are being paid