4 ways ISVs like Mural increase revenue and retain customers on Microsoft Teams

Srini Raghavan, Vice President of GM, Microsoft Teams

April 10, 2023

This blog series highlights independent software vendors (ISVs) that have achieved business growth and added value for their customers by building and deploying apps on Microsoft Teams. We love sharing partner success stories. If you have a story, please contact us.

The enterprise software boom shows no signs of slowing. The research website Statista projected that the segment will enjoy a compound aggregate growth rate (CAGR) of 7.12 percent through 2027, hitting USD347 billion worldwide.¹ But a report on software as a service (SaaS) application usage reveals that on average only 45 percent of a company’s apps are used regularly.² That means enterprises aren’t receiving the full value of their enormous investments, which can cause problems with customer retention for ISVs.

By integrating their apps on Microsoft Teams, ISVs can address this challenge. As we mentioned in the first post in this series, ISVs consistently report that connecting with users on Teams drives better usage of third-party apps, which in turn helps ISVs retain customers and generate more revenue.

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In this post, we’ll dive into the impressive results at Mural, a longtime Microsoft partner that has excelled at customer retention to drive higher user counts for contract renewals. We’ll also cover how other ISVs can generate new revenue by exploring Mural’s ability to attract customers, win more deals, and scale business with Microsoft’s trusted enterprise platforms.

But let’s start where it all begins—improving the user experience.

1. Land and expand accounts by building a “better together” customer experience

Mural and Microsoft have been working together for over a decade, starting when Mural built its first offering on Microsoft Azure. Since then, Mural has established itself as a leader in visual collaboration with a platform that transforms teamwork, meetings, and workshops through interactive experiences.

In 2018, Mural first integrated its collaboration tools into Teams, but the actual step change came a few years later when Mural rebuilt the user experience to leverage the new Teams “share to stage” function, allowing users to add an app to a meeting for more engagement and collaboration. The Mural for Microsoft Teams, Outlook, and Office app was released in 2021 and has greatly impacted the company’s capacity to win in the marketplace.

“Our strong presence on Microsoft Teams has helped us land and expand within customers because Mural offers an outstanding app for visual collaboration in the space where teams are already working—no extra clicks!” says Bentley Rubinstein, Associate Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at Mural. “The Teams integration allows us to continuously add cutting-edge features and extend the value of the Mural and Microsoft ‘better together’ experience to our mutual customers.”

2. Retain more customers and drive higher contract renewals

One clear benefit of Mural’s integration: customer retention. When customers use Mural within Teams, they continue using the app at a significantly higher rate than they do outside the platform. Mural sees a double-digit improvement in user retention for those engaging in Mural for Microsoft Teams, Outlook, and Office. Customers tend to add more users, which drives a higher number of licenses and increased revenue for the next contract renewal.

So why has Mural’s customer retention been so high with Teams?

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Mural for Microsoft Teams, Outlook, and Office integrates Mural’s digital whiteboard collaboration space and Facilitation Superpowers™ features directly within the Teams environment. Using Mural within the Teams app, those in consulting, product, innovation, sales, and customer success roles, among others, can collaborate visually, facilitating engaging, intentionally designed teamwork using guided visual methods.

With Mural integrated throughout the Teams experience, users of both apps can more easily share ideas, build understanding, and make faster decisions by pinning Mural content to Teams meetings, channels, and chats. By incorporating the tools that workers need directly into their existing workflows, employees regain lost productivity from bouncing between apps all day, which accounts for 9 percent of their annual work time.³

“Mural for Microsoft Teams, Outlook, and Office eliminates the ‘toggle tax’ of constantly switching between apps by bringing powerful tools into the flow of work in Teams,” Rubinstein says. “Employees can devote that newfound time to deep group collaboration that’s actionable and easy to track.”

Mural is retaining customers because users are seeing the benefits firsthand. A February 2023 survey of organizations using the Mural for Microsoft Teams, Outlook, and Office app revealed that 92 percent of financial services firms have had more productive meetings and workshops.⁴

Mural’s analytics have shown that Teams is even boosting new customer acquisition. Satisfied users are incorporating Mural into Teams meetings with other organizations, creating a new pipeline of potential customers. It’s essentially a live demonstration of Mural’s value.

3. Leverage Microsoft programs for higher win rates and end-to-end support

The relationship between Mural and Microsoft also delivers wins with customers. When potential Mural customers are already invested in Microsoft, Mural has a compelling story about how being deeply integrated with Teams and powered by Azure allows its app to fit seamlessly into the customer’s environment and even counts toward their Azure commitments. For those customers, Mural becomes the clear solution for collaborative teamwork.

Mural’s investment in Azure also facilitates a co-selling program with Microsoft. By partnering with Microsoft account teams in customer sales conversations, Mural has meaningfully increased win rates, according to Adam Heerwagen, Senior Manager of Strategic Partnerships at Mural.

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In addition, Mural has participated in co-marketing programs like Marketplace Rewards and Microsoft 365 Benefits. Those efforts have helped generate deals and revenue through the Microsoft commercial marketplace.

What happens after a deal is closed is often as important as the sale itself. Mural joins forces with Microsoft’s Modern Work Customer Success organization for co-activation efforts that encourage users to run the two platforms together, maximizing their value for employees. The usage of Mural in Teams increases retention for both Mural and Teams—a mutually beneficial partnership that spurs continued revenue growth.

In fact, Mural was recognized as Partner of the Year in Apps and Solutions for Microsoft Teams in 2022. It serves as extra validation for customers who want to invest in a visual collaboration solution that will mesh with their single workplace platform.

4. Close deals faster with the trusted foundation of Microsoft 365 and Azure

Security, compliance, and identity considerations are more important than ever in customers’ purchasing decisions. Mural’s own security safeguards are bolstered by Microsoft 365 Certification, which adds a layer of assurance for customer IT departments. In short, deploying apps backed by Microsoft’s trusted platforms makes sales and adoption easier, according to Gabby Francesco, Principal Product Marketing Manager at Mural.

Mural’s Azure foundation also resonates with potential customers, especially global enterprises. Microsoft Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) offers seamless modern identity management through single sign-on (SSO), as well as the System for Cross-domain Identity Management (SCIM), which simplifies provisioning new users and scaling efficiently within customer organizations.

Once customers have adopted Mural, enabling the app in Teams allows users to experience the full value of the “better together” experience, rather than using the two separately. Enabling third-party apps can involve multiple steps, but Mural’s Azure basis makes the process easier for its customers. By activating Mural for Microsoft Teams, Outlook, and Office, customers are more likely to increase usage and fuel the virtuous cycle of expansion.