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Salesforce Partner Communities: An in-depth guide

As a business, especially those within the B2B niche, it’s essential to facilitate and build lasting relationships with other businesses. The one thing you’ll need to accomplish this? Communication.

There are a number of communication platforms that aim to bridge the gap between inter-business relations and communications. Unfortunately, these one-size-fits-all solutions typically come up short — your business is unique, you need a solution that supports that.

Whether the issue lies within a lack of brand customizability or unreliable performance, it’s imperative that you find a solution that makes it easy to communicate with your business partners on a regular basis.

That’s where Salesforce Partner Communities come in.

A Salesforce partner community can help you take the communication between you and your business partners to a whole new level. With no lack of customization options and exceptional functionality, you can launch a partner portal that highlights everything great about your business, all the while taking care of what’s important — efficient communication between you and your business partners.

Here’s everything you need to know about Salesforce partner communities and their advantages.

What is a Salesforce Partner Community?

Salesforce is a customer relationship management (CRM) solution that is designed to streamline and enhance the communication and information sharing that comes with the running of any business. Salesforce offers an entire suite of products and services made for businesses to increase their sales through various means.

A Salesforce community is a cloud-based system that aims to create unique spaces in which a group is able to communicate and collaborate. Salesforce communities typically encompass the three main groups within a business: customers, employees, and partners.

We’re going to focus on Salesforce partner communities.

Partner communities serve as a channel management solution, so you and your partners can share information and collaborate in real-time. Partner communities allow different sales teams and resellers to get the information to do their job effectively. Additionally, you can share pertinent community-wide updates and all partners stay on the same page, which translates to better business all around.

Should Your Business Be Using a Salesforce Partner Community?

Salesforce communities are ultra-customizable, meaning that they are made to be able to function with pretty much any business. However, that doesn’t mean a Salesforce partner community is the best solution for you and your business. It’s important to do your research, so you can make an informed decision about whether it’s the right addition as a PRM.

Here are three key benefits of Salesforce partner communities to help you get started.

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Analytics All in One Place

It would be a mistake to underestimate the advantages and power that come with data analytics. Getting sales insights and gaining an in-depth understanding of the inner workings of your business and customer base can help you make informed decisions about your operations.

Partner communities are feature-rich and allow your business and its partners to share information through the community itself. You can also customize your dashboard to show you the numbers you want to see without having to sift through mountains of data.

Partner communities also allow you to see what deals are happening and which ones are in the pipeline, so you always have an accurate idea of what’s happening in your business.

Sharing the information you glean from your analytics report can help to increase efficiency throughout your business, you’ll be giving your partners the tools to make better business decisions.

Lightning Fast and Safe Information Sharing

Salesforce is a successful CRM tool, successful enough to be trusted by over 100,000 brands and businesses around the world. All of your data is secure when you utilize the Salesforce1 platform regardless of the size of your business.

Salesforce partner communities also account for the sensitive nature of your company’s data — meaning you control what your partners can and can’t see. Not all information needs to be shared, so a partner community allows you to customize administrative access to ensure that no one has access to data that they shouldn’t.

Not only should information sharing be secure, but it should also be lightning fast. Salesforce partner communities deliver in more ways than one.

Your community space enables you to share information and communicate directly within the space. There’s no waiting for emails or phone calls to come through, even on the go. One of Salesforce’s best tools is a mobile app that allows members of a community to communicate whenever, wherever.

Improved Partner Relations

Nothing causes more problems and inefficiency than bad communication. Unfortunately, when you’re working across a large group of people, information, assignments, and discussions can get lost in the haze of daily operations.

Perhaps you followed up with a client and want a partner to take over the deal or maybe you have the newest analytics but can’t share it with your sales team. If your partner never gets the message and your analytics report never gets out, you risk losing clients (read: money). A partner community allows you to consistently communicate with your partners on a reliable platform.

There won’t be any finger-pointing or tensions between you and your partners over a lack of communication. Not to mention, when your business is firing on all cylinders, your customers benefit. They get their questions answered quickly, their complaints are heard, and they get top-notch service from knowledgeable staff. Talk about a win-win.

The Bottom Line

If you’re looking for a PRM that you can tailor to fit your needs then look no further than creating a Salesforce partner community. With stellar customization options, a feature-rich design, and a reputation of excellence it’s hard to go wrong with a Salesforce partner community.

However, before you make a final decision, make sure you’ve done your due diligence. Your business needs a solution that works for you, not vice versa. Discuss your needs with an expert sales rep to ensure that you get the most out of your Salesforce partner community.