Create, edit, and distribute opportunities
In your partner site, you can use opportunities to notify your partners of sales prospects that they can follow up on. You may have opportunities for existing customers or from new customers, and by distributing them to your partners, you can create new revenue sources or strengthen relationships with current customers.
Distributing opportunities to specific partners can also help connect customers with the sellers who have the right knowledge and skills for their specific needs.
Create an opportunity
- Go to Sales > Opportunities.
- Select New.
- In the Summary area of the Opportunity page, enter the topic and contact information for the opportunity. You can also change the currency for the opportunity.
- Add any details in the Customer Situation, Customer Need, and Proposed Solution fields.
- Select Save.
Distribute an opportunity
You can distribute opportunities manually or use the preferred partner assignment system to automatically distribute opportunities to suitable partner accounts.
Distribute opportunities manually when you know which partner you want to assign an opportunity to. By manually distributing an opportunity, you can ensure that it goes to the partner who is most suited to meet the customer's needs.
Distribute opportunities manually
- Go to Sales > Opportunities.
- Select the opportunity you want to edit.
- In the Partner Details area of the Opportunity page, enter the partner account you want to distribute the opportunity to in the Partner field.
- Change the Status of the opportunity to Delivered.
- Select Save.
Distribute opportunities to multiple partners
- Go to Sales > Opportunities.
- Select the opportunity you want to edit.
- Under the General tab in the Partner Pipeline section, select the Partner Collaboration check box.
- Scroll down to the Partner Collaboration Accounts section, and select the + button to add the partners you want to distribute the opportunity to.
- Change the Status of the opportunity to Accepted.
- Select Save.
Enable partners to view the progress of an opportunity
After an opportunity has been distributed to a partner, they will be able to view the details and progress of the opportunity in the site. Partners will find the opportunity under the Opportunities tab of the site. Opportunities that need to be accepted will be under the Distributed Opportunities section of the page, and accepted opportunities will be under the Managed Opportunities section.
How partners can collaborate with each other
One of the most noticeable differences in an opportunity that partners are collaborating on is that they will no longer be able to close or extend the opportunity. However, most of the options of the options viewing the opportunity will be the same. This includes the ability to add notes to the timeline that other partners will be able to view. It is important to note that partners are unable to assign opportunities to other partners.
Partner dashboard contains data on current managed and distributed opportunities
After an opportunity has been properly distributed to a partner, information on that opportunity will show up on the partner’s dashboard on the site. Two of the most important parts of the dashboard are the distributed and managed opportunities. Distributed opportunities are opportunities that have yet to be accepted by the partner and managed opportunities are ones that have been accepted. Due to this difference the managed opportunity portion of the dashboard will give more information on the opportunity including whether partners are collaborating on the opportunity.
Register a deal for a new or existing opportunity
Partners can register deals for opportunities that they have made on the site to have exclusivity on the opportunity. Partners first navigate to the opportunity they have created on the site and find the “Register” button at the bottom of the page. This creates a Deal Registration Request that can be seen on the opportunity.
Approve opportunities registered by a partner
After an opportunity has been made by a partner through the site, the opportunity will appear as an open opportunity. Navigate to the opportunity through Sales > Opportunities and it will function like any other opportunity. To approve the opportunity, change its status to Accepted.