For cloud consulting partners, sometimes the best upsell opportunity is a cross-sell. That's the logic behind new Salesforce Consulting Partner Program enhancements.
In particular, Salesforce is calling on partners to certify their team members across multiple clouds -- including the company's Sales Cloud, Service Cloud and Marketing Cloud (among others), according to Neeracha Taychakhoonavudh, senior VP, partner programs at Salesforce.
By mastering multiple Salesforce clouds, partners are far better positioned to help end-customers with digital transformation projects, omni-channel marketing efforts and more, Taychakhoonavudh tells ChannelE2E.
The cross-cloud training, certification and sales effort is designed to engage new partners; longtime Salesforce partners; and partners that have relationships with DemandWare and other companies that Salesforce has acquired.
Amid the program updates, consulting partners will be tiered at Platinum, Gold, Silver and Registered levels based on a Partner Value Score, or ‘PVS’, the company says. Every partner receives a PVS based on the total contribution they make to Salesforce’s business across three primary ‘categories’: ACV, Expertise, and Customer Success, Salesforce adds.
Near- and Long-Term Opportunities
Near term, the obvious first step for partners is to explore cross-cloud opportunities involving Sales Cloud, Service Cloud and Marketing Cloud.
But keep an eye on additional areas like Salesforce IoT Cloud, where potential early adopters include vertical markets like manufacturing.
Taychakhoonavudh and Dylan Steele, senior director product marketing for Salesforce’s App Cloud & IoT Cloud, described the early IoT partner opportunities in this recent ChannelE2E podcast.
