Partners often ask me, "How much can I make on services?"

It's a great question. The answer is almost always, "More than you're making right now!"

Let's start with the sheer size of the services market. According to IDC, this will be over a$1 trillion market in less than five years.

Partner service bookings are growing-that's the great news. Rebates are growing even faster. But most partners are still only getting 20-50% of the rebates they could be earning. We're working harder than ever to make it easy to earn your share of the services market.

How much opportunity can you realize with smart services? Axcess, a Cisco partner, says, "We're seeing growth of more than 40% smart services in a market that's more or less static."

Read the full case study

A multitude of stackable incentives

When you take advantage of incentives on top of your base services rebate, the money adds up fast. Right now, there are several additional incentives available to registered partners:

• Premium Services
• Multiyear Renewal
• Partner Plus
• Smart Acceleration

Innovative services that strengthen your relationship with customers

Selling smart services is really being more proactive about network health. Instead of reacting to problems, smart services collect information that can help prevent network issues from happening in the first place. They identify products that are not covered by service contracts, which can have major consequences if the device fails.

You can also provide customers with reports that can help prioritize network optimization and planning. This can lead to more strategic, forward-looking discussions about a customer's business and technology needs-which means new product sales and enhanced services offers.

Flexibility to choose the model that works for you

We take pride in the fact that when you partner with us, you can create the services roadmap that works best for you and your customers. And we're here to support you every step of the way. You can deliver your own solutions backed by our smart services, and leverage our knowledge and best practices. You can resell our services. You can even combine services to create new Internet of Everything solutions for your customers.

What's the next step?

Here are five things you can do to increase your service bookings and put that 20-50% where it belongs-in your business:

1. Attach support services to every solution you sell
2. Upsell to premium and multi-year support services contracts: you'll create a recurring revenue stream, a predictable cash flow, lower your ongoing sales costs, and drive higher customer loyalty
3. Use Cisco AutoQuote to automate renewals
4. Make sure you're earning the max base services rebate and earn even more by taking advantage of services promotions
5. Make sure customer networks are protected by adding a smart services contract to any uncovered device

Looking for more ways to earn with Cisco Services? Download our infographic or listen to the recording from our recent Power Hour.

We always appreciate hearing from partners. Leave us your feedback and questions in the comments below.