Accelerate massive growth by co-selling through Microsoft Marketplace with App Advisor guidance

Co-selling with Microsoft is one of the most powerful growth levers available to software companies to sell to enterprises. But on its own, co-sell is not a strategy. The real acceleration happens when you combine them. 

When you publish a transactable offer in Microsoft Marketplace and make it Azure IP co-sell eligible, you unlock joint selling with Microsoft’s global field organization— and that changes the trajectory of your business. 

Here’s how to turn Marketplace plus co-sell into a growth engine. 

Why Marketplace & co-sell drive larger, faster deals 

Data consistently shows that co-sell deals outperform non-co-sell deals: 

• Co-sell deals are ~ 30% larger, 
• Co-sell deals close up to 2x faster, 
• Microsoft sellers are incentivized to prioritize Azure IP co-sell eligible solutions. 

When your offer is transactable in Marketplace and co-sell eligible, three important things happen: 

• Microsoft sellers can confidently introduce your solution to their enterprise accounts, 
• Customers can apply purchases toward their Azure consumption commitments, 
• Your offer becomes visible inside Microsoft’s internal sales systems. 

This reduces friction in procurement, increases executive visibility, and accelerates deal velocity. 

You’re no longer selling alone. You’re selling with leverage. The following is high-level guidance of the steps to start co-selling

Want to skip right to the curated guidance? Go to App Advisor 

Step 1: Publish a transactable offer in Marketplace 

Co-sell begins with Marketplace readiness. 

To unlock Azure IP co-sell benefits, you must publish a transactable offer through one of these marketplace offer types: 

• Software as a service (SaaS), 
• Azure Application, 
• Azure Container, 
• Azure VM. 

If you sell apps or agents built on Microsoft 365 or Copilot, link your solution to a transactable SaaS offer to qualify. 

To see how Abnormal Security made the most of co-selling, see the blog and corresponding Co-Sell Coaching call. 

Step 2: Create a co-sell ready solution in Partner Center 

When publishing your offer, you can create a co-sell solution to activate visibility with Microsoft sellers. 

Inside the Referrals workspace in Partner Center: 

1. Create a co-sell solution, 
2. Classify your solution using Microsoft taxonomy, 
3. Upload required marketing collateral: Solution one-pager, pitch deck, reference architecture diagram (required for SaaS),
4. Enter the link to your product's website to help Microsoft sales teams and channel resellers learn more about your solution,
5. Add geographic sales contacts. 

This listing tells Microsoft sellers: 

• Who to contact, 
• What your solution does, 
• Which Azure services it uses, 
• Why they should bring you into a deal. 

Clear positioning drives seller confidence. Seller confidence drives joint opportunity. 

Step 3: Achieve Azure IP co-sell eligible status 

To become Azure IP co-sell eligible, you must meet performance or technical validation requirements. 

You can qualify by: 

• Reaching $100K USD in trailing 12-month Marketplace billed sales or Azure Consumed Revenue (this is the fastest path to meeting that requirement) or
• Passing Microsoft technical validation confirming your solution is primarily built on Azure 

This status matters because: 

• Customers can count the purchase toward Azure consumption commitments, 
• Microsoft sellers are financially incentivized to include your solution, 
• Your offer is labeled Azure benefit eligible.

Customers being able to decrement their Azure consumption commitments can help draw engagement and interest to your app or agent. 

Step 4: Use referrals to build momentum 

High-performing software companies don’t just wait for Microsoft to bring opportunities.  

They submit referrals to help sell co-sell their app.

Submitting referrals: 

• Increases your visibility to Microsoft sellers, 
• Signals strategic partnership depth,
• Opens doors to new seller collaboration, 
• Provides insight into customer Azure commitments.

Small actions compound. Referral discipline builds pipeline resilience. For more information about referrals, visit Generate, manage, and nurture leads step in App Advisor. 

Step 5: Use Marketplace Rewards to amplify co-sell 

Marketplace Rewards benefits strengthen your co-sell motion: 

• Customer propensity scoring to prioritize Marketplace-ready buyers, 
• Azure sponsorship credits to help close competitive deals, 
• Microsoft seller webinars and solution spotlights. 

This is how you differentiate inside the ecosystem — not just with customers, but with Microsoft sellers.  

The growth shift: from independent seller to ecosystem player 

Software companies that treat Marketplace merely as a checkout page miss some amazing opportunities. 

Those that combine: 

• Transactable offers, 
• Azure IP co-sell eligibility, 
• Strong co-sell collateral, 
• Referral discipline, 
• and Marketplace Rewards.

Move from transactional selling to ecosystem selling. The result: 

• Larger average deal sizes 
• Shorter sales cycles 
• Stronger executive alignment 
• Increased visibility inside Microsoft accounts 

You’re no longer trying to break into enterprise deals. You’re already in the room. 

Ready to put your co-sell strategy into motion?

Visit App Advisor to learn more about how to accelerate your growth with co-sell.