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The Top 5 Utilized PRM Features – An Inside Look at Partner Behavior

Using your PRM effectively requires more than just setting it up, signing up your partners and hoping for the best.

It’s important to consider each aspect of your partner portal, from training materials to sales playbooks, and how all resources will strengthen your partner relationship and lead to more successful outcomes.

PRMs often include a vast amount of features, each serving a specific purpose for partner usability to propel them forward.

You may be wondering:

● What PRM features will partners find value in?
● What are they using most often?
● Where are the gaps, and how can we build a more robust portal for the new year?

To help answer such questions, Allbound conducted a deep dive into partner behavior across their ecosystem to deliver data-driven insights that can inform your strategy in the new year.

Top 5 PRM Features Partners Used the Most

When developing partner strategy in the months ahead, it’s important to have an understanding of which PRM features are in demand. We pulled data on our partner behaviors and found the following features were utilized most often.

1. Partner Journey Automation Workflow

Trigger-based notifications allow you to automatically send alerts to partners based on specific actions taken. By using ‘if-then’ scenarios, you can boost partner engagement by encouraging them to complete a desired next step.

Complex, rule-based notifications trigger customized emails when a partner accomplishes something in the PRM — or is inactive. Some organizations struggle to get their partners to update their portals, and Partner Journey Automation helps nudge them in the right direction at the right time.

2. Deal Registration and Updates

Deal registration within your portal provides real-time updates about a lead’s progress. This PRM feature integrates with your CRM so there’s no channel conflict or discrepancy, and fields can be updated, adding a layer of customization many users prefer.

Partners receive automated emails when the platform rejects or disqualifies a lead, along with the reason why. Each person involved with the deal receives an email or push notification when deals are created or updated to ensure transparency with everyone involved. To learn more about this particular PRM feature, read Deal Registration Software & Program Best Practices.

3. User Registration

Adding users to your portal ensures everyone is on the same page and has access to all necessary resources for marketing, sales enablement, onboarding and more.

Unlimited users and partners mean your entire partner program can be managed in one place. Since not all partners benefit from the same levels of access (too many resources can overwhelm partners who might not need them, for example), the PRM allows you to predetermine which types of users can access select materials.

4. Learning Track Completion

Multi-tiered learning tracks guide new partners through training videos, PDFs and other modules to streamline onboarding.

Push notifications and automation send partners to next steps as they access educational resources on their own time, allowing you to be more hands-off and focus efforts on building and strengthening relationships.

You can also receive notifications when partners have (or have not) completed a Learning Track and send messages directly to partners in response to these updates to further engage with them.

5. Liked or Pinned Content to Individualized Dashboards

If a resource in your PRM is considered especially useful, partners can ‘pin’ the content to quickly locate and revisit it.

You can analyze clicks, pins, shares and other related KPIs within the Channel Insights feature of your PRM to gauge which content your partners like best. Seeing likes and pins is key to understanding which content partners find essential or may wish to access regularly to clear up any questions they have. It can also be used to inform your content strategy moving forward.

Communicating the Value of Your PRM

Most people are overwhelmed by the number of tools and processes required to complete tasks and projects in their work days. The ability to access all essential resources, analytics, commission information and more from one place is invaluable.

Communicate the value of your PRM to partners so they understand how to get the greatest return on investment of their time. With so many features utilizing automation, moving through their portal is easy, efficient and will get them where they need to be without delay.

A well-designed partner portal is a key recruitment tool. Instruct CAMs to highlight the above-mentioned PRM features when talking with prospects, as these are the ones which data proves partners gravitate towards the most.

Partner managers can coach CAMs on how to drive portal adoption by educating partners on best practices.

There are different key benefits of using a PRM for partners and partner managers. Partners can access everything they need in one easy-to-use portal. Partner managers can check in on the status of their partner relationships, metrics, KPIs and progress toward goals quickly and intuitively.

Some features will benefit you and your entire partner ecosystem, and communicating their value begins with gathering data on when and how frequently and successfully each feature is being used.

Setting Up Your Portal for Success in the New Year

Taking a look behind the curtain into partner behavior through hard data can give you the insights you need into the success of your portal as we slide into 2023.

Identify unused PRM features by running reports. For example, if data shows that partners are not completing quizzes or learning tracks, rethink the amount of time required to do them and the incentive for them to participate.

Once you pull those reports, determine how they can guide upcoming action plans. Consider the above-collected data as a benchmark to compare your own program’s engagement levels.

Weigh the features partners underutilize against those that are more popular, and decide which can be deprioritized based on trends, usage, communication with partners and analytics.

Lastly, review your existing PRM solution to ensure it has the above-mentioned, in-demand features, from Partner Journey Automation to a training platform that encourages learning track

Make Strategic Moves with Your PRM Features

Gaining insight into which PRM features partners prefer will help lead your strategy moving forward. Utilizing your portal to best serve your partner network and relationships moving forward is key for growth overall.

Take a look at some additional resources to get your PRM ready for what’s ahead.

5 Pain Points a PRM Solution Can Help You Solve – From organization struggles to getting the right resources in the right hands, PRM features can ease the burden of many common issues organizations face.

Channel Partner Experience (PX): How to Measure and Improve – Delivering a great experience for partners sets the right foundation for exceeding expectations among your entire network. Measure what’s working and where you can improve to help strengthen partner relationships.

What is PRM – How to Define Partner Relationship Management – Get back to basics with our guide to PRM specifics and how the platform plays into your overall partner relationship management strategy.