The desire to integrate Partner Relationship Management (PRM) with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is increasingly popular with companies looking to streamline operations gain the ability manage complex channel programs, like MDF, rewards and rebates. This whitepaper shares 10 best practices to help guide your CRM/PRM integration.

1. Whitepaper
PRM/CRM Integration
10 best practices for
prm/crm integration
The desire to integrate Partner Relationship Management (PRM)
systems in with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is
contents: increasingly popular within the channel as companies continue to
PRM Design......................................3
streamline operations. In this whitepaper we highlight 10 best
PRM Build.........................................4
practices for ensuring that your PRM/CRM integration project goes
The “Easy Path”................................6
.
as smoothly as possible so that you can avoid some common pitfalls
Summary. .........................................7
.
that result in wasted time and money.
We would like to start by ensuring that we have a shared understanding of both systems
so these are the definitions we use for CRM and PRM:
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a strategy for marketers to manage all
interactions with customers and prospects.
Partner Relationship Management (PRM) is a business strategy for improving
communication and collaboration between companies and their channel partners.
While CRM and PRM share some functionality, there are unique programs and interactions
that occur in PRM and this can result in some challenges (see Figure 1). The benefits of
integrating these two systems are generally pretty obvious and include:
¡
­ A common system of record for partner and customer information
¡
­ A common communication platform
¡
­ Shared reporting tools for both direct and indirect channels that provide a 360 degree
view of sales and marketing activity
¡
­ A single, easy-to-use system for internal stakeholders
¡
­ A single, streamlined systems environment to maintain
¡
­ An easily scalable (up or down) solution
¡
­ A single source of “truth” for understanding your direct and indirect routes to market
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2. The many benefits sometimes lure companies into integration efforts without fully
considering the potential risks. Integration efforts sometimes result in attempts to force-fit
legacy systems into CRM (think of the old square peg in a round hole example). Additionally,
it can be challenging trying to create new PRM-type programs and applications on a CRM
platform that wasn’t designed to support those applications resulting in a cobbled-together
system that may not be quite as up to the task as your old point-based program was.
Another challenge is ensuring that an integrated system will have the flexibility to adapt to
regional or future needs. Finally, when undergoing a CRM/PRM integration, it is essential to
understand the system impact of adding external application to the environment.
CRM PRM (on CRM)
Core Functions ¡
­ Sales Management ¡ Partner Database
¡
­ Customer Database ¡
­ Partner Support
¡
­ Customer Service ¡
­ Channel Reporting
¡
­ Collateral Management ¡
­ Channel Comm Management
¡
­ Reporting
¡
­ Campaign Management
Extended ¡
­ Channel Sales Management
Functions ¡
­ Partner Profile Management
¡
­ Partner Program Framework
Unique ¡ Partner Portal
Applications ¡
­ Channel Content Management
¡
­ Training
¡
­ Certification Management
¡
­ Marketing Fund Management
¡
­ Joint Marketing
¡
­ Rebates and Incentives
Figure 1. CRM and PRM Functionality
So how do you avoid spending unnecessary money or time when integrating your PRM and
CRM systems? Ten best practices should help you with planning and implementation. We
feel these can be characterized within three groupings: PRM design, PRM build, and “The
Easy Path.” Let’s start with five best practices for PRM design.
In many ways PRM is substantially more challenging – you need to be able to extend
essentially internal capabilities to thousands of independent partners worldwide and
because of the large numbers of partners, you have to do it largely through self-service
through your partner portal. And also, you have to think about authentication when you
think about your partners, password protection and access control so you deliver the right
content to the right partner. Also, you have the global factor to consider – partners operate
differently from region to region. All the channel program elements – MDF, etc. are unique to
the channel – so they present a unique set of challenges.
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3. PRM Design
Best Practice 1: Field the Right Team
There is no doubt about it – a PRM/CRM integration is a complex project. If you have the
right team in place from the beginning, you’ll avoid many missteps along the way. The
“right team” includes:
¡
­ Key stakeholders (such as Worldwide Channel Marketing, Regional Channel
Marketing and Channel Sales)
¡
­ A PRM owner who is accountable for results (this should be owned by Channel Ops,
Channel Marketing or Channel Sales – not IT)
¡
­ A Solution Architect who understands channel marketing and PRM as well as the
CRM platform technology (this is a difficult skillset so the resource can be internal or
external)
¡
­ A Project Manager
¡
­ A dedicated technology team
As with any large project, securing C-level sponsorship as early in the process as possible
will help smooth the process.
Best Practice 2: Know Your Channel Requirements
The ultimate goal of your PRM/CRM integration is to support business processes and
objectives. This means your integration team needs to understand more than technical
considerations; they also need to understand the channel program vision – from the
perspective of channel marketing. That vision for the channel program needs to be
translated into business requirements for the technology team. If IT and Business are on
the same page before the technology team starts to build, you will avoid costly delays
later in the process.
Best Practice 3: Keep it Simple!
The desired end result is an integrated environment that is as simple as possible, featuring
a single version of the “truth” in data. This means one system of record defined for core
“Make everything as
Partner Data. Achieving a streamlined environment means that your technology team will
simple as possible;
need to minimize system integration points. Think of each integration point as a link in a
chain. Since a chain is only as strong as the weakest link, the more integration points that
but not simpler.”
you have, the more complexity and potential for problems you introduce: more exceptions —Albert Einstein
and quality issues, higher maintenance costs and future changes become increasingly
difficult because of system dependencies.
Best Practice 4: Build Your Roadmap
A roadmap helps you plan your integration from your current state environment to your
desired future state environment. One to three years is a reasonable time period for a
PRM/CRM integration. Building a roadmap means that you assess your current state,
plan your future state, and then identify the gaps between the two to build a set a projects
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4. that becomes your PRM roadmap. The roadmap will identify dependencies, but should also
ensure that there are some early “quick wins” prioritized to demonstrate progress for all
stakeholders as the project continues.
Current State Future State GAP PRM
PRM PRM Analysis Roadmap
Best Practice 5: Understand Technology Choices
While CRM platforms provide many of the capabilities necessary for PRM, but because
there are differences between PRM and CRM, you will need to make some choices along
the way for PRM requirements. You have four options for technology choices: (1) out-of-
the-box, (2) configure or extend, (3) build, or (4) buy. Out-of-the-box options come with
CRM and can easily be used for your PRM needs. Other functions can be configured
or extended from your CRM to meet PRM needs. The real challenge is for the channel
program components – like MDF, rewards, and rebates – that are unique to PRM. You can
build these or buy them.
A useful metaphor is to think of a kitchen remodeling project. For an item like cabinets, you
may choose to build cabinets or buy them ready-made depending on the characteristics of
your kitchen and/or your skill level at carpentry. Other choices in a kitchen model are more
obvious – you wouldn’t really want to build your own refrigerator (although we’ll grant you
that you might….but would it be as cost effective as buying one?). Those unique channel
program components are like the kitchen cabinets and appliances: some companies may
choose to build their own, but it is also possible to buy programs that are already designed
to integrate with your CRM environment. Weighing the effort and cost of each option should
help you determine which option will work best in your case.
PRM Build
Now that you’ve designed your PRM system, it’s time to build your PRM infrastructure. The
Partner Data Partner Portal building blocks for your PRM infrastructure include (1) partner database, (2) your partner
portal and (3) your integration framework. Partner data gives you an accurate, current and
complete profile for each partner including sales data (POS), programs data, campaign
Integration Framework data and support data. Your partner portal is your interface with your partner community
to deliver relevant content and resources based on each partner’s profile. The integration
framework allows you to “plug in” tools and services from various providers (both internal
and external) and do so in a way that is seamless to partner users, does not create islands
Program Tools of data and does not create unique integration points. Let’s look at three best practices to
help you in your PRM build.
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5. Best Practice 6: Build a 360 Degree View of Partner Data
Your CRM should be extended so that it supports a complete view of your partner
data with just a single data record for each partner. There are a number of elements
that need to come together and there are many variations on this as well depending on
vendor needs. Building the 360 degree view of your partner data can be achieved with a
combination of technology choices (out-of-the-box, configure- extend, build, buy).
The data to be integrated includes:
¡
­ Profiles – accounts and contacts, hierarchy information for contacts and
organizations, and global tiering and segmentation model (GTSM) – core attributes
across your full PRM environment to manage eligibility and entitlements that helps Profiles
control access to content and tools
¡
­ POS – including summary metrics and needed granularity
Opportunities POS
¡
­ Certifications – by contact and company
¡
­ Programs – describe every program you have and the intersection between Partner
programs and partners to manage program eligibility and enrollment, participation data
model
and performance; this sets you up to be able to conduct program analytics to
understand which programs work for which kinds of partners
Support Certifications
¡
­ Support – for example, attaching cases to accounts
¡
­ Opportunities – leads and opportunities
Programs
Best Practice 7: Profile-Enable Your Partner Portal
It is essential that your partner portal differentiate you from your competitors. It needs to
enhance your brand and deliver content to partners based on their company profile and Out of Box
user preferences. Partners have less time than ever to wade through pages of irrelevant Configure
information, but they do enjoy targeted, relevant information in an engaging environment
Extend
that is easy to use.
Your partner portal should present a seamless, consistent experience globally with
regional flexibility to deliver local content. The user experience should feature a simple,
clean design that enables partners to find what they need, when they need it; it should
never take more than three clicks to get to necessary information. A best-in-class partner
portal is profile-driven with role-based security to provide the kind of fine-grained control
vendors need over access to partner program resources.
Best Practice 8: Apply a Standards-Based Integration Framework
An integration framework based on standards eliminates costly custom integrations for
each application you want to connect to your environment and is easier to maintain and
change over time. A standards method includes a standard method for single sign-on
(SSO) and a standard profile service to share core profile data with affiliated applications
and tools.
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6. With a standards-based integration framework you have the flexibility to choose best-in-
class channel programs and change out programs when you need to without disrupting
your infrastructure and channel program. Essentially, a standards-based integration
framework gives you “plug and play” technical capabilities.
This is the perfect segue to our final two best practices on how to “make it easy” (or as
easy as it can be for a large project like your PRM-CRM integration).
The “Easy Path”
These final two best practices can make the arduous task of integrating your PRM
and CRM systems much easier and more cost effective. While many vendors have the
internal resources to tackle the integration process, you may find that utilizing these best
practices will help you avoid many common pitfalls in the complex process of PRM/CRM
integration.
Best Practice 9: Harness Plug-and-Play Channel Tools and
Programs
Can you build your own channel tools and programs like MDF or Rewards? Sure. But
this is where that kitchen remodeling metaphor comes in. You can build a refrigerator or
you can buy one – which is most cost effective? Plug-and-play solutions offer multiple
advantages over the build-your-own approach:
¡
­ Time and cost effective
¡
­ Built-in global capabilities
¡
­ Proven functionality including payment facilitattion and built-in financial controls
¡
­ Designed to manage complex channel programs
Proven plug-and-play solutions (like hawkeye’s channelConduit) integrate well with CRM
solutions like Salesforce, the most popular CRM platform for the technology industry.
Additionally, no PRM license is required which further enhances the cost effectiveness.
Be sure to select plug-and-play solutions that integrate with reporting capabilities already
present in your CRM system.
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7. Portal Partner Portal Channel Content
External Apps
Campaign Rebates & CRM Extensions
Integration
Mgmt Incentives Sales Profile
Framework
Mgmt Mgmt
Joint Fund SSO Profile
Marketing Mgmt Program
Framework
Train &
Certify
Partner DB
CRM
Partner
Reporting Out of Box
Support
Configure
Extend
Build/Buy
Best Practice 10: Invest in Expertise
Investing in a consultant who understands both channel and technology needs can help
you move more quickly through both the PRM Design and PRM Build processes. An
experienced consultant can help you devise a clear channel PRM technology roadmap,
identify a PRM infrastructure solution for your CRM environment and ensure that your
channel program infrastructure and tools is efficiently integrated with your CRM system.
Summary
If you’re reading this whitepaper, you know that integrating your PRM system with your
CRM system is a significant project. The rewards are many, but avoiding expensive pitfalls
requires extensive planning before you even begin the process of integration. The best
practices outlined in this paper identify best-in-class PRM Design steps from building the
right team through developing your roadmap and understanding technology choices. The
PRM Build best practices provide guidelines for building a 360 degree view of partner
data that gives you significant insight into your partner program and via a profile-enabled
portal, provides your partners with a seamless, relevant experience. A standards-based
integration framework sets the stage for utilizing plug-and-play channel tools and programs
that enable you to choose from easy-to-use available best-in-class programs. Finally,
engaging an experienced consultant can help you maximize your investment in the
integration process.
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8. global companies with indirect
sales and channel partners rely
on hawkeye Channel to increase
their channel ROI
contact us about hawkeye Channel
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team@hawkeyechannel.com
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