What Are SFDC Partner Portals and Why Does Your Company Need One?

Salesforce PRM Portals: All You Need to Know

The co-selling model, where businesses partner with other companies to sell their products and services, is becoming increasingly popular. This is because it allows them to expand their reach, tap into new markets, and gain access to new customers. With the rise of digital marketplaces and the increasing importance of online sales, the co-selling model has become a powerful way for businesses to grow their revenue and gain a competitive advantage.

If you are a business owner adapting a co-selling model and struggling with a variety of partnership challenges, such as disjointed communication with partners, complicated data management, difficult performance measurement, or problems with aligning sales strategies with your partners, look at the Salesforce partner portal. 

In this article, we'll dive into what Salesforce Partner Relationship Management portals (PRMs) are, who they are for, as well as their main purposes and advantages for business. Don't miss out on the opportunity to take your partner management in Salesforce to the next level.

What is Salesforce Partner Portal?

Salesforce PRM is a valuable partner management tool for businesses who work with external partners and vendors. It provides a central location to securely and efficiently collaborate with partners. Companies can access and share information, such as sales leads, customer data, and product information, as well as improving collaboration, communication, and control. These advantages ultimately lead to better relationships with partners and increased revenue for the business.

The Salesforce PRM portal is fully customizable, meaning companies can configure it to reflect their specific business needs and processes. It can be integrated with other Salesforce apps, such as Sales Cloud and Service Cloud. Additionally, by integrating third-party PRM solutions, such as AC Partner Co-Branding or AC Partner Marketplace, its functionality may be significantly extended to meet specific business needs.

Who is it for?

SFDC PRM is designed for businesses that work with external partners and vendors. These partners may include resellers, distributors, service providers, and other companies that work closely with the business. 

Partner Portal provides a way for business partners to access and share information, which improves collaboration and communication, ultimately increasing sales and revenue.

What are the Main Purposes of Partner Portals?

The Partner Portal in Salesforce is a centralized shared location for conducting a co-selling business. It gives businesses all they need to manage relationships with partners effectively and streamline sales processes.

What can be done with the Salesforce Partner Relationship Management system:

• Share CRM data and information with partners.
• Collaborate on prospects and deals.
• Manage leads, opportunities, and accounts in real-time.
• Forecast channel sales.
• Track performance.
• Streamline channel marketing.
• Educate and onboard partners.

Advantages of Salesforce Partner Portals for Business

In addition to providing a central location for partners to access and share information, Salesforce Partner Portal offers businesses and partners the opportunity to effectively collaborate on deals and leads, conduct marketing campaigns, and perform analytics. 

Some of the key advantages include:

Increased visibility

Partner portals provide businesses with increased visibility into their partners’ activities, such as sales leads, customer data, and product information. Additionally, companies can use Salesforce Report Builder to create custom reports, based on their Salesforce data, to track partners’ performance and make better-informed decisions.

Better productivity

Salesforce PRMs are mobile responsive, which means they can be accessed and used on mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets. This feature allows partners to access the data and collaborate with the company from anywhere, at any time. It can be particularly useful for partners when they are on the go or working remotely.

Streamlined communication

Partner portals provide a central location for partners to share information, ask questions, and collaborate on solutions; thus, improving their interactions and building better relationships with the business as well as each other.

Enhanced safety

Partner Portal is a secure environment for partner relationship management and collaboration. Data access and permissions are controlled through a combination of user permissions, role-based access, and data-sharing settings. Businesses can set access levels and permissions based on their needs to ensure access to the right partners.

Better support

PRM is the place for sharing support resources, such as training materials, knowledge bases, and FAQs. It can reduce the need for the business to provide direct support and free up resources for more critical tasks. Companies can supercharge their Knowledge base on Experience Cloud with the powerful Salesforce native solution — AC Knowledge Management Enterprise. 

Increased efficiency

Partner Portal provides automation tools to help to reduce the need for manual tasks, such as automated lead generation, automated email campaigns, and automated data entry. This helps to increase efficiency and reduce errors, ultimately saving time and resources.

Expanded marketing coverage

Companies can use the power of the Marketing Development Funds (MDF) feature to provide their partners with financial support, funding a variety of marketing activities, such as advertising, events, and promotions, and helping them promote and sell products or services more effectively.

In conclusion, Salesforce PRM is a powerful tool for businesses to manage and collaborate with their partners in a secure and efficient manner. Offering a wide range of features and capabilities, such as:

• Secure access
• Partner management
• Lead and opportunity management
• Collaboration tools
• Customizable dashboards
• Support resources
• Integration with other Salesforce apps
• Reporting and analytics
• Automation
• Mobile responsiveness
• Multiple language support

…it helps businesses streamline processes, improve communication and collaboration with partners, and ultimately increase sales and revenue.

Need to Build a PRM site with Salesforce Experience Cloud?

Want to build an online community with Salesforce but don’t know where to start? At Advanced Communities, we specialize in building powerful custom-designed sites on the Salesforce Experience Cloud, including support portals, B2B commerce sites, member and fundraising portals, and PRMs. In addition to our development services, we offer an array of custom, 100% native to Salesforce solutions designed to meet specific needs.

We understand the importance of effective partner management and collaboration. Our team of certified Experience Cloud consultants and developers know how to help bring your partner relationships to the next level and make the most out of your investment in Salesforce. When you need a hand with Salesforce PRM Portals implementation or configuration, you are welcome to reach out to us.