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TL:DR – ISVs can make private offers to a buyer by creating them in the AWS Marketplace Portal and sending a special link over email for the buyer to accept.

However, this 3-stage, 12-step process creates challenges for ISVs who have to track the lifecycle of each private offer and synchronize each step with their CRM.

Labra optimizes the AWS Marketplace seller private offer process by bringing AWS Marketplace private offer operations into an ISV’s CRM. Private offers are now much easier to manage and scale, with better visibility to track their AWS marketplace business in the CRM they use every day.

Simplify and speed up your AWS Marketplace operations with the Labra platform.
Get a demo and talk to a marketplace expert.
WHAT ARE ISV PRIVATE OFFERS?

The AWS Marketplace seller private offer feature enables buyers to receive customized product pricing, direct from the seller, that is better than the public listing.

There are four major stages in every seller private offer process:

  1. Step 1: Buyer negotiates pricing and terms with the seller.
  2. Step 2: Seller creates a private offer for the buyer’s AWS account.
  3. Step 3: Track the private offer status until it’s accepted or it expires.
  4. Step 4: Buyer accepts the private offer

When a buyer receives a private offer, this is what they will see in their AWS Marketplace account:

CPPO BENEFITS FOR THE ISV, THE CONSULTING PARTNER, AND THE BUYER
AWS Marketplace

Source: AWS Marketplace private offers

Enterprises have always negotiated custom deals with ISVs. AWS Marketplace enables this same enterprise procurement practice with private offers.

There are, however, some challenges for ISVs regarding managing the multi-step process for each private offer.

THE PRIVATE OFFER CHALLENGES FACING ISVS

Although there are 4 major stages for private offers – negotiate, create, track, accept –‌ there are 7 individual steps.

Tracking the progress after each step in the process creates operational challenges for ISVs.

  • They need to manually synchronize the lifecycle of a private offer in AWS Marketplace Portal with their CRM system and this slows down the process and creates an administrative burden on staff. Especially sales staff who prefer winning deals over doing paperwork.
  • Even at a low number of private offers, this administrative burden  impacts the performance of the sales team. It takes valuable time away from front line sales, and this overhead “cost of private offers” can choke growth and force the seller to hire more headcount to keep up as they grow.
  • It’s worse for at-scale ISVs that need dedicated teams just to keep their CRM in sync with the AWS Marketplace.

Every step requires an update to the seller’s CRM, but some steps also require actions in the AWS Marketplace Portal. This creates a need to synchronize the CRM and Portal, which creates extra effort.Process

Why do sellers care if their CRM gets out of sync with the AWS Marketplace Portal?

The seller could lose track of private offers which creates issues with customer service. They also have poor visibility of their pipeline, which creates issues in sales operations, not to mention tense weekly sales pipeline calls.

HOW THE LABRA PLATFORM OPTIMIZES ISVS’ PRIVATE OFFERS

The Labra platform optimizes the AWS Marketplace seller private offer process by bringing Marketplace Portal actions into the seller’s CRM.

An optimized AWS Marketplace seller private offer is shorter, faster, and requires much less manual effort. This optimization gives multiple benefits:

Scale

Scale to more private offers with the same resources

Timer

Shorten the time from negotiation to going live

Cost

Reduce the operational cost of each private offer

By bringing AWS Marketplace seller private offers into the seller’s CRM, Labra platform simplifies the job of ISV staff who manage private offers by automating the workflow and improving notifications and data visibility.

Process Labra
7 LABRA PLATFORM ADVANTAGES FOR AWS MARKETPLACE SELLER PRIVATE OFFERS
Feature Advantage Benefit
  • Create private offers in CRM.
  • Notify the buyer when an offer is created in CRM.
  • Keep the CRM in sync with the Marketplace as private offers progress.
  • Extend private offer expiry date from CRM.
  • Automatic reminders on private offer expiry.
  • Add custom metadata to private offers which is linked to the supporting objects of the Opportunity like Quote, Account.
  • Recognize revenue against the private offer.
  • Don’t have to use AWS Marketplace Portal.
  • Automatic notifications cut manual emails or sending from a separate portal.
  • Staff don’t have to manually track private offers in the Marketplace and manually update CRM.
  • Sales operations can modify the offer from CRM and don’t have to log on to Marketplace Portal, then sync the update.
  • Eliminate manual review of all private offers in Marketplace Portal to check for expiry.
  • Make private offers more traceable by different teams, and enable new data analysis methods.
  • Make it easy, from the CRM, to link sales compensation and revenue recognition.
  • Fewer screens = fewer steps = a simpler and faster process which makes it easy to onboard sales staff.Sales staff don’t need AWS Marketplace Portal access.
  • Another action removed from staff, lower effort ‌and automation means this step is never missed.
  • Cutting more manual tasks avoids human error and frees staff up for more value-added activities.
  • Reducing duplication of effort ‌and letting automation make sure data is accurately synchronized.
  • Better customer experience and improved sales operations.
  • Widening visibility of private offers to other teams improves pipeline management.
  • Make sure sales staff are recognized on time for their private offer sales.
SUMMARY

The Labra platform is built to optimize the build, market, and co-sell for AWS partners.

As part of the Labra platform, Labra FlyOut is the component that enables ISVs to carry out AWS Marketplace operations – like seller private offers – in their CRM instead of using the AWS Marketplace Portal.

This optimization helps ISVs to grow their AWS Marketplace go-to-market channel and co-sell better with their strategic partner, AWS.

Get a demo and talk to a marketplace expert.

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