Working with Microsoft's Field Sales Teams

Field sales teams around the world serve as the public face of Microsoft and can be an important help or hindrance to the company’s partners and customers using Microsoft solutions. Partners and customers can better leverage the company’s substantial marketing, sales, and technical resources if they understand what makes the Microsoft field tick and how it fits into the company’s overall organization.

The Field Organization Matrix

The field sales organization plays a significant role in gathering intelligence, developing partners, working directly with large customers and vertical industries, meeting specific competitive threats, ensuring that customers choose Microsoft products, and engaging partners in the sales efforts. The Redmond, WA, headquarters, in contrast, focuses on sales campaigns, operations, and strategies.

Field staff are organized in a complex matrix that reflects several dimensions of the company, including its presence in many geographic regions, the wide breath of customers and industries, and the company’s large list of products. The customer-facing organizations of greatest interest to most midmarket and larger customers, and to the partners who serve them, are the following: