Now companies can extend the power of Salesforce Lightning, Salesforce Einstein and more to partners, making it easier than ever to supercharge their business
Companies including DineEquity and Zurich Financial are accelerating their sales with the Lightning Partner Community
SAN FRANCISCO\u2014November 3, 2016\u2014Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), the Customer Success Platform and world’s #1 CRM company, today announced Lightning Partner Community\u2014a fast and intelligent solution for companies looking to accelerate sales from their partner ecosystem. With Lightning Partner Community, companies can arm resellers, franchisees, channel teams and more with the same tools that make their own direct sales force successful.
Partner ecosystems are imperative to helping companies scale and drive growth. In fact, according to Accenture, an average of 70 percent of high-tech sales come from channel partners. However, many partners are hampered by the solutions that connect them with vendors today\u2014archaic systems that are difficult to navigate, fragmented and impossible to access from a mobile device\u2014limiting the potential of what their sales could be.
Introducing Lightning Partner Community: Supercharging your Partner Ecosystem
The new Lightning Partner Community enables companies to turn partners into an extension of their own direct sales team by giving them a single place to identify opportunities, track progress and close deals. The new Lightning Partner Community includes:
Lightning Partner Experience: Featuring a new, mobile-first design, the Lightning Partner Experience allows companies to easily deliver an intuitive, personalized and branded user experience across any device. For example, an insurance agent now has access to all of the policy and pricing information they need to answer any question that comes up during a meeting, even in a client’s home.
Integrated CRM for Partners: Now including Sales Path, Kanban View, Lightning Dashboards and Salesforce CPQ, Integrated CRM for Partners extends CRM records\u2014including leads, opportunities and accounts\u2014in an intuitive workflow that provides partners with everything they need to close deals in a single location. For example, a technology reseller can now easily track their deals from lead-to-cash\u2014identify opportunities, update deal progress and configure the best solution\u2014enabling them to close more deals faster.
Salesforce Einstein for Partner Community: Now with recommended answers, knowledge articles and experts, Salesforce Einstein for Partner Community enables partners to sell faster and smarter. For example, if a franchise owner is looking to expand their restaurant business, they\u2019re bound to encounter a few questions along the way\u2014everything from distance between locations to promotional offers and staffing ratios. Salesforce Einstein is able to recommend articles and experts in the community who can answer their questions, enabling the franchisee to grow their business as seamlessly as possible.
Comments on the news:
\u201cCompanies have the ability to accelerate growth if they create a partner ecosystem that can act like an extension of their sales team,\u201d said Mike Micucci, GM & SVP, Salesforce Community Cloud. \u201cWith the new Lightning Partner Community, companies can now arm partners with the world\u2019s smartest CRM, helping them close more deals faster.\u201d
\u201cWith Lightning Partner Community, we will be able to more effectively capture the information related to our collective infrastructure and as a result provide better, more proactive support to our franchise community,\u201d said Adrian Butler, CIO, DineEquity, Inc. \u201cThe ability to access critical information and communities across our system is an excellent enabling platform for DineEquity\u2019s global growth.\u201d
\u201cAt Zurich, our priority is delivering fast, personalized service for our customers,\u201d said Marc Fabris, Head of Digital at Zurich Australia. \u201cOur continued development for Advisers using the Lightning Partner Community will enable them to work faster, smarter and build deeper relationships with our mutual customers.\u201d
Salesforce Community Cloud enables companies of all sizes to integrate business data and processes with their communities, creating a seamless customer, partner and employee experience. Built on the Salesforce Platform, Community Cloud is part of Salesforce CRM, and easily connects to third-party systems and data sources, so companies can access the tools and information they need to be successful. With Community Cloud, companies have experienced a 46% increase in partner engagement and a 43% increase in sales.
Pricing & Availability
Lightning Partner Community is generally available today with the Partner Community Cloud License.
Salesforce CPQ for Lightning Partner Community will be generally available in early 2017.
Additional Information
Learn more about the Salesforce Community Cloud here: http:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/communities\/overview\/
Learn how to get started with Salesforce Community Cloud here: http:\/\/trailhead.salesforce.com\/community_cloud_basics
Connect with Salesforce
Like Salesforce and Salesforce Community Cloud on Facebook.
Follow @salesforce and @communitycloud on Twitter.
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