Tackle enables faster onboarding and listing times for AWS, Azure, and GCP Marketplace
Tackle has helped more than 200 software companies kickstart their cloud commerce transformations via the Cloud Marketplaces. Our Platform provides an easy entry point for software companies who are ready to start selling on the Marketplaces; however, we’ve realized many organizations don’t have a solid foundation for what’s needed to build these new channels for revenue.
Our Customer Success team has partnered with software providers to drive alignment across a variety of cross-functional stakeholders to build viable Marketplace strategies – working through Sales, Marketing, Product, Pricing, Legal, Finance, Business Operations, and Customer Success. Through these interactions, we began to see some consistent patterns in how we could streamline and enhance the various Marketplace onboarding experiences. Based upon this work and our continued exposure to feedback from our customers, we’ve continued to refine Tackle’s Smart Onboarding and Listing Management.
Tackle’s continuous innovation means that Smart Onboarding and Listing Management is now available across all three clouds: AWS Marketplace, Azure Marketplace, and GCP Marketplace.
Software companies: Marketplace requires a cross-functional group of stakeholders to align and execute a strategy to kick off the channel successfully. This alignment requires significant communication (via a variety of mediums) which can slow down the process of getting the channel launched. When a buyer requests to make a purchase via the Cloud Marketplace, they expect immediate response and fulfillment. Delays can add significant risk to the deal cycle. At the same time, cross-functional collaboration is required to ensure alignment on the listing details, pricing, notification management, license agreements, etc. Tackle’s Smart Onboarding accelerates the time it takes to get companies to their desired outcome of selling on Marketplace.
Cloud Providers: We’re still in the early days of the adoption of Cloud Marketplaces, and of those software companies who are listed, most have only listed a small percentage of their available offerings. As buyer demand increases, streamlining “Time-to-Marketplace” will be a high priority for each organization. Cloud Providers are creating incentives for buyers and sellers to purchase and sell via the Marketplace, and Smart Onboarding aims to remove any friction companies face trying to list and initiate selling for multiple products and to go through the onboarding process with multiple Cloud Providers.
Tackle: As we’ve partnered with software companies through the various Marketplace onboarding processes, we observed that individual stakeholders weren’t aligned on priorities, and many groups were unclear of the work they needed to do to support the process. For example, teams would spend time waiting on executive approval on pricing, or they had not looped legal in to approve the EULA, and these oversights would slow down the progress of getting listed. Onboarding was adding latency for Tackle and shifted our attention away from strategy, pricing, and packaging and ensuring companies were enabled to sell. Tackle Smart Onboarding and Listing Management was built to ensure less time is spent chasing tactical teams and attempting to solve internal alignment issues. As a result, everyone can focus on confidently scaling the Cloud Marketplace channel, and sellers can start selling faster on Marketplace.
How Smart Onboarding and Listing Management Works to Remove Friction and Speed Up Time-to-Marketplace
“We have used Tackle to help us list in all three Marketplaces. The time and resources we saved by partnering with them to list and start transacting quickly were incredibly valuable. We were able to get up and running in less than 3 weeks and we had our first transaction in less than a month. This was an untapped source of revenue for us and we couldn’t have done it without the Tackle team.” —Jen Murphy, Head of Channel Sales, Cockroach Labs
Integrate the purchase experience with the onboarding experience
Tackle’s Smart Onboarding kicks off as soon as you purchase Tackle via AWS Marketplace, Azure Marketplace, or GCP Marketplace. Previously you would kick off the onboarding process via email, and this would take place over multiple meetings. Now, everything gets started immediately after purchase by completing a simple form. Pretty seamless, right? Sellers want to be able to start selling faster on Marketplace, and Smart Onboarding removes these barriers.
Instantly authorize Tackle to manage your Marketplace account
Post-purchase, follow the easy step-by-step process to set up your Marketplace account to authorize the Tackle Marketplace Guides to manage your listings, and the Tackle API to track your contracts, disbursements, and metering.
This eliminates the process of filling out static forms and spreadsheets or emailing back and forth with your Tackle Marketplace Guide to set up the account and grant user roles. Everything is done in one place and saved in Tackle’s system, saving valuable time and resources for your team.
Customize all your listing details in one place
There are many details that need to be gathered to create a Marketplace listing, which means collecting information from different departments in your organization. Smart Onboarding simplifies this process and breaks down the configuration form into easy to understand sections that can be completed in any order to accelerate the time to go-live.
Let each functional department provide their relevant pieces of required information from the product overview, pricing, additional usage fees, or keywords and product categories and save time internally going back and forth on communication. Once all the information has been gathered, you can preview what your listing will look like on the Marketplace.
Build a notification system that aligns with your business
It’s crucial that when you kickoff your Cloud Marketplace strategy, you’ve created a sales process that aligns with your Customer Success, Marketing, Legal, Finance, and Operations team. Everyone needs to understand how deals will come in, how you’ll get notified about different purchase events, and what happens if someone cancels or modifies a contract. During Smart Onboarding you can customize who should receive which email notifications to ensure you’re getting what you need, delivered the way you want.
Customize your Marketplace product registration page
Creating a product registration page is an essential part of the Marketplace listing process. With Tackle, you can configure your registration page to match the look and feel of your brand and capture the information you need.
Your marketing team will love the ability to add your company logo and branding, add new form fields, customize the message and custom redirect that appears after the registration form is completed, and preview the registration form as the buyer sees it. After the page is live, you can always go back in, make changes, and review in real-time.
Questions about Smart Onboarding and Listing Management?
While streamlining any process is great, with Tackle, you’re never going to be flying solo. If there are questions or areas where you need additional support or guidance, our Marketplace Guides are always engaged to help out. Contact your Tackle Guide (support@tackle.io) with any questions.
Want to see Smart Onboarding and Listing Management in action?
If you’re not yet a Tackle customer, schedule a demo today or check us out on AWS Marketplace, Azure Marketplace, and Google Cloud Platform Marketplace.
