Impartner PRM vs. ReferenceEdge

I have worked with many other PRM platforms. ImpartnerPRM is in the middle of the pack. There is still a lot of opportunity for making the platform more intuitive and automating some of the processes. However, it is better than some of the others that I have used in terms of there being better continuity between the PRM and marketing functions.

Incentivized

Absolutely the best for managing customer references/ advocacy. Comprehensive functionality and attentive and responsive support model, and they don't charge extra to use value-add functionality, such as the automated check-in on reference status, contacts, etc. They know this field and need thoroughly and have thought of everything. Native to Salesforce streamlined deployment and up-leveled cross-company support, and also were my full partner in educating me on how to use Salesforce reporting, which is a valuable professional advantage.

Incentivized

• Providing data in an easily digestible format.
• Intuitive workflow, really easy to learn in an afternoon.
• Cloud access feature allows for easy access on any device.

Incentivized

• Simplifies and streamlines complex matrixed customer information
• Enables strategic engagement through easy access to customer reference accounts, contacts, content, and activities they've participated in as well as are interested in participating in
• Cross-company adoption and visibility through native Salesforce integration
• Load balancing and protection from over-use/ burnout - critical.

Incentivized

• Training was very difficult to set up and maintain
• They show you this awesome demo environment and then you realize once you purchase the tool how much it takes to get that. At least one web designer, help from marketing, and at least a few months of dedicated work
• The most expensive tool we looked at

Incentivized

• Ability to pre-populate a 'win wire' with deal info from SF. I believe this is being developed now.
• Standard organization of 'attributes' so it's easier to break out that report column into per-attribute columns.
• I like that they have an active Trello board for user suggestions and incorporate requests with each update.

Incentivized

Salesforce was too expensive for us at the time and required too much customization and internal strain at the time. We ended up choosing Salesforce over Impartner later on once our channel business was more established and we had more resources internally. Impartner was more simple and easy to deploy than Salesforce, which is why we chose it when we had fewer resources

Incentivized

We also evaluated ReferenceView from ROInnovation/ Upland. ReferenceEdge from Point of Reference was lower cost for complete functionality, plus their ongoing support model is second to none. SlapFive has great video functionality, which we may use at some point, but isn't a customer reference/ advocacy management platform. And its comprehensive marketing functionality was more than our team needed. ReferenceView was a failure, unfortunately. Way more expensive. limited functionality, and an abysmal support model.

Incentivized

• I do think our lead to demo rate increased a significant percent
• We were able to communicate easily with over 1k partners that were hard to reach before

Incentivized

• Faster access to critical customer references
• 360 degree view of customer engagement
• Full visibility through comprehensive pre-built reports

Incentivized