Chart Your Growth Path: 8 Ways to Increase Your Trailblazer Score
In the AppExchange Partner Program, the Trailblazer Score is our shared compass. It drives transparency around partner performance and gives you necessary insights to understand the areas where you’re excelling and the areas where there’s room to improve.
Our program is centered around four pillars, which are: Customer Success, Innovation, Growth, and Lead. Let’s say you’re a partner and are crushing the game in Innovation with your app being built on the Customer 360 Platform. Or, you’re crushing the game in Social Impact but you’re not doing as well in Customer Success because you don’t have a strong reviews strategy. All of these things raise questions around how to tackle your program performance — and where to start.
But no need to worry. We recently came out with our new Trailblazer Score Infographic, and in this blog post, I’m going to highlight some easy and actionable ways to increase your score across the four program pillars. Who doesn’t want more points? And guess what. The more points you earn, the greater chance you have to move up in tier, gaining access to even more valuable partner benefits.
Customer Success Pillar: Deliver the Best Customer Experiences
When our customers are successful, we are successful. And the great thing about our program is that the more satisfied your customers, the more points you earn. The Customer Success Pillar is made up of a total of 275 points.
Tip 1: Create an AppExchange Listing Reviews Strategy. Reviews are one of the most important aspects of your AppExchange listing. In fact, customers tell us time and again that they lean on our 117K+ AppExchange listing reviews to help make the best install decisions. Did you know that this part March we launched AppExchange Trusted Reviews, giving customers the chance to see reviews written by select Trailblazers?
When it comes to your own strategy to increase your positive reviews (ensuring that your going about this process in a fair and transparent way), always keep these things in mind:
1) A reviews strategy is a team effort.
2) Set reviews goals.
3) Don’t be afraid to ask for reviews.
4) Review in the moment.
5) Keep them fresh (Maintain at least 8 reviews in the current and previous Salesforce fiscal year to earn points).
Tip 2: Develop a customer success strategy. One of the great places to start is with AppExchange Partner Intelligence, which is made up of App Analytics and Marketplace Analytics. App Analytics helps you to understand how customers are using your app and trends in usage across your customer base. All of this can be incredibly valuable from a customer success and product roadmap perspective.
Innovation Pillar: Take Advantage of Salesforce Technology to Enhance Your Apps
Your app innovation is key to your customer retention and acquisition strategy. Leverage the Salesforce Platform and technologies to create the most powerful apps faster that are scalable and enterprise-ready. The Innovation Pillar is made up of a total of 275 points.
Tip 1: Run the Technical Enablement Plugin for ISVs to verify the Salesforce technologies your apps are using. Not only is it simple to install, but it’s also an incredibly impactful SalesforceDx tool that can help any ISV on their app development journey. This will also make it easier to share with Salesforce via the Tech Adoption Survey and start earning points towards the Innovation Pillar.
Tip 2: Earn points by taking trails such as how to build apps as a partner. Just make sure to link your account to record your badges earned.
Growth Pillar: Drive Towards Your Revenue Goals
As an app business, it’s all about how do you accelerate growth and drive greater demand for your app. Alongside having a strong selling motion that’s aligned with our Salesforce Direct Sales Team, you should have a strategy in place for driving marketing awareness and demand gen. The Growth Pillar is made up of a total of 275 points.
Tip 1: Watch the video on ways to optimize your app listing. Are you collecting leads from the “Get it Now”, “Watch a Demo”, and “Test Drive” buttons? Make sure the lead collection option is activated in your publishing console in the Salesforce Partner Community.
Tip 2: How are you tracking app orders to Salesforce? All orders need to be submitted to Salesforce via the Channel Order App (COA) and this will allow you to create orders, track order status, and ensure accuracy.
Lead Pillar: Be a Platform for Social Change
Businesses have the power to do amazing things to lead in social impact. And we see partners doing the work to prioritize equality, diversity, and sustainable development across their business. Whether you’ve started your social impact journey or are about to begin, it’s never too late. Our Lead Pillar eBook is a great starting point. The Lead Pill is made up of a total of 175 points.
Tip 1: Have you signed up for the Salesforce Talent Alliance? “To help bring new Trailblazers into the Salesforce ecosystem, we need to work together with our partners to build a diverse workforce that is not only highly skilled, but that reflects society around the globe,” says Tyler Prince, EVP of Alliances & Channels at Salesforce.
Tip 2: Help us recognize your contributions and celebrate your successes! Fill out the Lead Pillar Survey so we can learn more about how you’re business is making a difference for success story opportunities and earn points towards your Trailblazer Score.
Want more tips to increase your Trailblazer Score? Check out our Trailblazer Score Coaching Guide to learn more.
