Salesforce tests new channel services programs

Salesforce has signaled some tweaks to the resources it offers partners, and flagged the possibility it could grow its own services capacity to ensure partners have the resources they need to satisfy customers.

A Medium post by recently-appointed president for customer success Brian Millham spelled out the company’s plans.

“We need the ecosystem that’s built itself around Salesforce to keep engaging and driving towards the same goal: to make every customer on Salesforce successful, period,” Millham wrote, adding “And to do that, we have to focus on simplification — making it easier than ever for partners to work with us — and making it easy for them to get the help they need so that every customer project delivers business value.”

The post then outlines “some areas we’re looking at innovating in the coming months”, one of which could see Salesforce hire staff it will lend to partners.

“No matter how quickly our partners grow, the growth of Salesforce means there is an increasing number of projects requiring our partners to staff — and sometimes, partner benches run thin, or our partners need very specific expertise,” Millham wrote. “We’re talking with our SI community now to determine how we can be there for them when they need us — in the form of deployable resources, and expert advice.”

The company has also pondered adding an “expert services” offering for clients.’

“We have great knowledge and ability around the entire Salesforce platform, and so our team wondered, would we be able to help accelerate partner competencies and reduce project risk by adding expert services?” Millham asked. He said the company has already “engaged with three partners to test this concept and find out how having that expert service resource makes it easier to deliver projects that delight customers.”

The post also mentioned that Salesforce is “…working on ways to ensure ISVs get to the right people with the relevant skill set when an inquiry is raised via an upcoming ‘Premier for ISVs’.”

Other efforts are clearly in the works, as Millham wrote “I’m committed to ensuring FY20 is the year that we are able to align more fully to help each and every partner as they work to make our customers more successful.”