Co-sell doesn't run on how much AWS likes you. It runs on two numbers the AWS field gets paid on. Written by the operator who built AWS Marketplace's GTM program — 500+ ISVs, $240M in GTM-driven revenue.
Download the PDF →For your GTM & alliance team · reflects AWS co-sell programs as of mid-2026
Most co-sell stalls for one reason: closing your deal doesn't move anything the AWS seller is measured on, so the field stays polite and passive. When your deal moves both numbers below, you stop asking AWS for a favor and start helping them hit their quota with budget your customer already committed. That's when the field shows up.
AWS field sellers carry a quota tied to cloud-consumption growth. A deal sold as an AWS Marketplace Private Offer grows consumption — and under the SaaS Co-Sell Benefit, the AWS seller gets quota credit for helping close it. Now their number and yours point the same way.
Enterprises pre-commit huge sums to AWS (an EDP — a multi-year spend commitment). A Marketplace Private Offer counts against that commitment, so your software is paid for with money the customer already owes AWS — not new budget. This is what makes procurement say yes.
The uncomfortable truth: a warm relationship on a deal that moves neither number produces nothing. A cold relationship on a deal that retires quota and drains commitment still closes. If your co-sell is stalling, the fix is structural, not social.
AWS's shared deal tracker. You log a deal here to tell AWS "I'm working this customer — come help." It's the front door to co-sell. Register real opportunities (a scheduled customer meeting), not raw leads — an empty pipeline system is an invisible partner.
The program that turns AWS sellers into your allies — it's what makes them comped to sell your product. Getting in requires a Foundational Technical Review (earns "Validated" status). Skip the plumbing and you're locked out of the motion you're trying to run.
A custom, negotiated contract sold through AWS Marketplace (vs. the public click-to-buy price). It's how enterprise co-sell deals transact — and the single action that triggers both numbers: the rep's quota credit and the customer's committed-spend drawdown.
The rule that gives the AWS account manager quota retirement when they co-sell your product on a Marketplace Private Offer. Since 2025 it's open to all ISV Accelerate partners. This is the lever behind Number 1.
The customer's multi-year, pre-committed AWS spend. When a buyer has commitment sitting unused, your Private Offer becomes the way they spend it — the difference between "no budget this quarter" and "we can close this on existing commitment."
Don't register raw leads. Wait until a deal is real — a scheduled customer meeting, a named opportunity. Quality over volume: a flood of thin deals burns your credibility with AWS and buries your team in rep emails.
Log the opportunity at "Qualified" stage. The more context you give — customer problem, AWS services involved, deal size — the more likely AWS engages. Thin submissions get ignored; rich ones get a rep assigned.
Within days you'll get the AWS account manager's contact. Reach out immediately with who the buyer is, the deal context, and one specific ask — an intro, an exec meeting, technical validation. Open a Slack channel and keep them looped in.
Frame the deal in AWS consumption (Number 1 — what the rep is measured on) and confirm the customer has committed spend to draw against (Number 2 — what makes procurement say yes). Structure it as a Private Offer so both fire at once.
Transact as a Private Offer through AWS Marketplace. Buyers procuring this way spend more on third-party software and close markedly faster — legal terms are pre-negotiated and the purchase rides an existing AWS billing relationship instead of fresh vendor onboarding.
The deal only counts once you and AWS both flag it "Launched" in ACE. Miss this and the rep gets no quota credit and it doesn't build your standing. In 2026, launched ACE activity is also required to renew AWS Specializations — passive partnership is over.
Cash or AWS credits to offset campaigns and demand-gen that build joint pipeline. Requested through the AWS funding portal; tied to co-sell engagement.
AWS promotional credits offered to your customer as an incentive to purchase — sweetens a Private Offer, next-day funding after the offer is accepted.
Marketplace fees run ~1.5–3% on software private offers (lowest on large deals) and just 0.5% on professional services as of June 2026 — vs. 15–25% legacy channel margin.
An AWS CPPO (Channel Partner Private Offer) lets a reseller create the offer on the ISV's behalf, add margin, and close the deal — on a transaction that also retires the AWS rep's quota and drains the customer's commitment. That's three parties' numbers moving at once. Ask for the channel-specific cut →
Pull your last closed co-sell deal and answer two questions: did it retire an AWS rep's quota, and did it draw down the customer's committed spend? If you can't answer yes to both, that gap — not the relationship — is why the next one will stall.
Crucible embeds, wires the two numbers into your pipeline, and hands the motion off running.
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