EBC Optimizes Face-to-Face Meetings

The Executive Briefing Center (EBC) on Microsoft’s Redmond, WA, campus was designed specifically to help Microsoft and its customers focus on their mutual business with a minimum of distractions.

Executive briefings contribute to Microsoft’s success in three ways:

Closing large deals. Large customers who are considering spending millions of dollars on a Microsoft solution want to perform due diligence on their plans. They may also be considering competitive offers. A briefing at the EBC gives Microsoft an opportunity to meet with customers who need high-level assurances about Microsoft’s roadmaps or its commitment to a given technology before the customer will make their own commitment to Microsoft technologies. In addition to improving chances of a sale, an EBC session can significantly shorten the sales cycle by putting key decision makers in a room together.

Making strategic deals. Some deals are not large but are nevertheless strategic. For example, a major player in a vertical sector may need a briefing with technical experts in a product group to understand all the consequences of making a commitment to a new technology. For Microsoft, a particular customer’s endorsement of this technology may be critical to its adoption; an EBC briefing will give Microsoft accurate insights into a customer’s reservations and the steps the company needs to take to overcome them.