How to Become a Salesforce Partner

Salesforce was launched in 2000 with a unique concept of Software-as-a-service. It had also established itself as an innovator way back when the business became synonymous with the ‘No Software’ logo.

Today Salesforce revenues are $20 billion annually, and it has been growing about 30% every year. In 2018, Salesforce acquired Mulesoft for roughly $7 billion, and in 2019 Tableau for $16 billion.

Instead of a classic resell model, Salesforce has embraced an ‘ecosystem’ approach. This means that Salesforce has consistently developed an ecosystem of relationships with companies. 

Salesforce partner program includes four major categories:

• Consulting partners (System Integrators) & Agencies:
  • Offering strategic business consulting, solution integration, system design, and product implementation. 
  • Build software applications and integrate them into Salesforce, Offer Salesforce services.
  • Contribute to business growth and boost efficiency by leveraging their experiences, leading personalized practices, and using innovative tools.
• AppExchange partners:
  • ISV (Independent Software Vendors) who design and market software solutions built on or integrated with the Salesforce Platform.
• Resellers Partners:
  • Sell Salesforce licenses, however, are not necessarily involved in the implementation.
• Managed Services Provider (MSP)
  • Offers ongoing, recurring, and post-implementation services. Only consulting partners can apply for this category.

Are you interested in learning how to become a Salesforce partner? If yes, then you are at the right place. In this article, we will cover everything you need to know to become a Salesforce partner. 

What is a Salesforce Partner?

A Salesforce partner is a consulting business that Salesforce authorizes for building custom solutions, project implementations, and integrations services. 

It comprises industry-leading professionals trained to provide expert advice, guidance, actionable solutions, and unique expertise for all sorts of Salesforce products, industries, and system integrations.

Why should you become a Salesforce Partner?

Salesforce is sought after by millions of businesses, making it the world’s most popular CRM enterprise. There are more than 1843 Salesforce Consulting Companies worldwide, and the Salesforce platform is used by over 150,000 organizations.

Salesforce also reported its highest-ever revenue of $21.25 billion, indicating that demand for its secure, scalable cloud platform has skyrocketed. Salesforce even said that their partners lead 70% of customer implementations and that 86 percent of their customers use the latter’s apps and solutions.

How much does it actually cost to become a Salesforce Partner?

Consulting firms are required to pay an annual consulting partner program fee. The sum is determined by the previous year’s final tier evaluation. Typically, the consulting partner program year extends from March 1 through February 28 of the following year.

How much do Salesforce Partners Earn?

It is said that opting for a Salesforce career is pretty lucrative. You can start your own business. 

As per Cloud Mastery, the following is what a Salesforce partner earns and charges per hour:

• Salesforce Training – $ 1K – $ 1.5K per day
• Salesforce Consulting – $ 125 – $ 200 per hour
• Salesforce Development – $200 – $ 250 per hour
• Salesforce Data Management – $200 – $250 per hour
• Salesforce Integrations – $ 125 – $ 150 per hour

Indeed, the amount you charge will still depend on your expertise level and how comprehensive your services are.

How to become a Salesforce consulting partner?

To become a Salesforce consulting partner, applicants must undergo a rigorous vetting procedure. This demands a significant effort in terms of investment, training, certifications, etc. To be accepted as certified partners, they must satisfy all standards and give all relevant information.

Follow these steps:

Step: 1 Agree and accept the policies of the SPPA (Salesforce partner community).

Step 2: Apply to become a member of the Salesforce Partner Community

Step 3: SF sends a welcome email outlining the preliminary prerequisites for joining the program.

Step 4: Prove compliance with the minimum requirements within a maximum period of 30 days after receiving the welcome email

Step 5: Salesforce evaluates the application and, if it is correct, grants the entity the status of “provisional partner and sends an additional email outlining the requirements for its inclusion in the program on a non-provisional basis (certifications, fee payments, etc.) 

Step 6: Present proof of compliance with the inclusion requirements.

Step 7: If the Provisional Partner complies with what is established, it is officially accepted to the program and assigned the “Base” level. 

What are the levels that Salesforce partners can achieve?

The Salesforce Consulting Partner Program has four basic levels, and partners are rated based on these levels based on points as follows: 

• BASE Partners (up to 249 points), 
• CREST Partners (More than 250 points), 
• RIDGE Partners (More than 500 points), 
• SUMMIT Partners (750 points). 

A partner should have at least two Certified Salesforce Consultants and pay a program fee of around $1000 for the Base level to join this partner program.

Partner program points are earned depending upon the following three categories:

CUSTOMER SUCCESS

In this category, you may earn up to 350 points. The points are awarded depending on the partner’s NAVIGATOR level and Customer Satisfaction Scores. The Navigator level of the partner corresponds to their topic expertise: Expert, Level 1, or Level 2.

INNOVATION

In this category, you can earn upto 350 points. The points are awarded depending upon the number of Certified Salesforce developers,  Salesforce Consultants, and Salesforce Architects that the partner has.

ENGAGEMENT

A maximum of 300 points are available in this category. The points are awarded based on the partner’s Annual Contract Value (ACV). This measure is known as COSELL ACV. Revenue might come from new clients or new projects with existing ones.

Salesforce is steadily increasing the weight of program points accessible from Customer Success criteria (CSAT and Navigator) while decreasing the weight of program points available from Cosell ACV. This basically indicates that they are focusing more on customer experience and less on revenue from partners.

Salesforce provides a thorough partner enablement plan as well as a large content repository called Trailhead.

What are the advantages offered by Salesforce Partner Program?

Salesforce delivers all of the resources, training, and tools needed for partners to gain expertise in certain business operations, product areas, and sectors in order to serve their customers better and improve their practices.

The consulting partner program provides the following advantages:

• Design and development:
  • Access to forums where you can get an opportunity to interact with partners from all over the world and share your valuable experiences.
  • Marketing Cloud trial partners to design and analyze the tool’s capabilities.
  • Subscription to the consultancy Partner Insights Newsletter
  • Licenses for Lightning CRM Enterprise Edition and the myTrailhead site.
  • The Pardot Plus Edition

• Sell ​​and market.
  • Participation in the AppExchange Marketing Program (AMP).
  • Partners will get a referral bonus when a recommended lead is provided through the partner community.

• Service and support.
  • 24-hour technical support, thanks to the Partner Premier Success.
  • Credentials vouchers to cover the cost of Trailhead-listed certification exams.

Start Your Salesforce Consulting Partner Company with these Six Tips

Starting your Salesforce Consulting company is not an easy task. However, there are a few things that you can do to ensure your company is on the right track:

• Find Your Own Niche In The Market
  • Salesforce provides a variety of solutions such as Marketing Cloud, Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, and Commerce Cloud. You may choose the market you wish to serve with their wide selection of cloud-based products. Once you’ve determined your target audience, plan your strategy and interact with them. This will aid you in clearly defining your future services/activities/efforts and allow you to provide greater value to your clients.

• Streamline All Your Business Processes
  • Streamline all your processes and ensure everything is in harmony. You can hire the top professionals to handle all the services you offer to your customers.

• Maintain Healthy Relationships
  • Constantly engage and maintain healthy relationships with your clients and employees. Your clients will stay with you in the long run and may even suggest you to someone they know. 
  • Another element that can help you stand out from other Salesforce Partners is business empathy or the ability to deliver solutions that suit the client’s vision and concepts.

• Have Flexibility In Structure
  • Create a flexible business structure that allows for future growth. The nature of the Salesforce Partner company is constantly changing, and you will need to take extra steps to adapt to all the Salesforce’s technological advancements.

• Be Inventive and Adaptive
  • There will always be competition, so make sure you stand out from the crowd. Because clients’ demands vary quickly, you must be more creative in your approach and consider out-of-the-box business solutions by leveraging technology to meet their needs. Creating fresh approaches will assist you in attracting more consumers.

• Build a Team of Salesforce Professionals
  • Hiring the right Salesforce professionals who can contribute to your business goals is crucial and challenging. This would aid in determining who will work and which Salesforce solution would be prioritized. 

Who is the professional you need to hire for your Salesforce Consulting Partner Company?

The following is the list of professionals/experts that are mandatory for a Salesforce Partner:

• Salesforce Administrator
  • This individual will manage specific Salesforce requirements of your clients. Register for QuantoKnack’s Salesforce admin course and learn everything about Salesforce admin roles & responsibilities. 

• Salesforce Developer
  • The Salesforce developer will develop customized and improved applications for your clients. Check out the live, instructor-led Salesforce developer training program and hone your abilities in Salesforce development.  

• Salesforce Business Analyst
  • This individual will help your clients with Salesforce platform or tool deployment challenges.

• Salesforce Architect
  • This individual will be your reliable digital advisor and team leader. They always imagine the bigger picture and design systems to address the business challenges.

Conclusion

Opportunities in the Salesforce ecosystem are rapidly expanding. If you want to support millions of businesses that use Salesforce efficiently, now is the right time to take the leap and become a Salesforce Partner.

If you become a Salesforce partner, Salesforce will welcome you to a community. 

Get the hands-on Salesforce training offered by QuantoKnack Training. We offer live, instructor-led Salesforce admin training and Salesforce developer training program to upskill everyone who wants to fulfill their dream of working in the Salesforce ecosystem. 

Register yourself today!