It is Q4...And what that means...
If you work with Microsoft, you need to know this...the quarter and the fiscal year ends on June 30th. That means between now and then, your MS contacts are focused on one of 2 things.
- closing Q4 opportunities
- closing Q4 opportunities
Well, there are a few (maybe 3% of folks focusing on July-Aug timeframe), but the challenge of being a publicly-traded, sales-driven company is that all hands are on deck for the next 75 days.
As I've said to partners many times,
"I will never forget that you are in the services business, but you can never forget that I am in the licensing business."
And a corollary to that, I will remember that you are (most often) a private company, but you need to remember that I work for a public company.
So, just a word to the wise...focus your conversations on what you are going to do to help close 4th quarter business....if you don't, you may not get your answers until July 1.
(Slight exaggeration, but I think you get the point.)
And thank you, Partner, for your support!