Business growth may be difficult to achieve, but it is almost inevitable. There will come a time when a business starts reaching a considerable size after growing so much. With newly acquired size comes a large network of partners that include resellers, suppliers, and distributors, etc. The network will prove difficult to handle for the business due to the sheer volume of contacts. This is where Salesforce PRM can assist you in handling all of them with ease.  By forming a singular platform for all of your partners, you can efficiently manage your partners with a CRM-connected experience. PRM is Partner Relationship Management, and it will be set up inside your Salesforce. Share the same experience of your internal teams with your partners by setting up PRM inside of your CRM.

How Salesforce PRM Can Help You

Salesforce PRM has functionality that helps with the process of onboarding partners, channel marketing automation, channel sales automation, channel analytics, channel services, and much more in between. PRM is one of the core functions of the Salesforce Experience Cloud.

Onboarding Partners

For the partner onboarding process, you can create tasks for each role and timelines for each partner program and level. This progress can then be tracked, and using a Salesforce Lightning component will decide the next recommended steps. Training has also been made more fun and engaging because you can now create a learning management system within Salesforce. You can then use the LMS to create and assign activities of your own choosing. Track these activities within the LMS to ensure that your partners stay up to date with your products and services. Partner training is especially important as curated lessons can affect how their field performance will be in the future. Outside the classroom, successful partnerships can be formed by customising channel programs and then tracking partners with KPI scorecards. To better utilise Salesforce PRM, you can integrate Salesforce with platforms that most of your partners are already using. It will make the process of sharing data across channels much smoother as they will no doubt be compatible together.  Clear channel management will keep partners informed on what their roles are, and on what basis they will be rewarded. 

Channel Marketing Automation

Your partners can be made into marketers with the channel marketing automation present in PRM.  Create Marketing Development Funds as financial incentives for your partners. Time intensive tasks like approvals, fund requests, and signings will now be automated. Meaning you and your partners will end up having more time to go about your tasks. By uploading partner logos, the PRM will convert them into similarly themed brochures and banners of professional quality. 

Channel Sales Automation

With PRM, you can form activity timelines so they can know the exact state that a deal was left in. This way they will know exactly what action to take, and when to take it.  You can distribute sales quality leads automatically within automated workflows. These can be customized to your specific requirements for the partner program. Help your partners out by linking them to your processes and resources so they can accurately create quotations.  Lead conflicts are also avoided once the rules for and additional margins have been set up.

Channel Analytics

The partner community has been set up, and now it’s time to see how they are doing. Track which channel has been delivering the best return on investment, as well as real-time analytics in the community. Real-time analytics include lead flow, conversion rates, and other parts of the pipeline for a holistic view of the channel. The partner portal can be used to gauge their behaviour via page views, search activities, as well as returning visitors. 

Channel Services

Giving assistance to your partners also has a dedicated section in Salesforce PRM. Many tools are available for this very purpose like articles and FAQs. They can also open their own support cases, either for themselves or for customers. The priority setting is automated based on the keywords present or if a case has gone unsolved for too long.  It goes even further than that, live chat is also available based on the partner activity on your site, with support in many languages.

Key Takeaways

Salesforce PRM is a platform that allows you to build a closer relationship with your partners than before. This will kickstart your community in the right direction with tight-knit interactions and a better understanding of each other. You can equip your partners with the right tools to understand your process and all of your products and services.   RT Labs, being an Official Salesforce Partner firm, is an expert provider of services including Salesforce Migration, Implementation, Customisation, and Support.Contact Us today by filling out our contact form. We will be glad to assist you!