Effective partner relationship management (PRM) is crucial for businesses that rely on a network of distributors, resellers, or affiliates to drive sales and growth.

To manage these relationships efficiently, businesses need a specialized Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system that goes beyond standard customer management tools.

The best CRMs for partner relationship management are designed to streamline communication, track performance, manage joint marketing efforts, and foster collaboration with partners.

For teams of 20-50 people managing partner relationships, folk CRM stands out as the ideal solution, offering the perfect balance of functionality and ease of use without the complexity that can overwhelm mid-sized teams.

In this blog post, we will explore the top CRM solutions for PRM focusing on those that offer robust features, seamless integration, and the ability to scale, helping you build stronger, more productive partnerships and maximize your channel sales efforts.

Why you need a CRM

A CRM is essential for partnership managers to manage partner relationships and streamline collaboration effectively. Below we unpack the challenges teams tend to face without one, the benefits you can reap once you find a suitable one and key features you should look out for.

1. Challenges without a CRM

Unsure why you need a CRM? Below are a few common challenges faced by partnership managers looking to streamline their partner interactions without a CRM to centralize their partner database.

• Disorganization: Without a centralized system, tracking partner and reseller information becomes chaotic, leading to errors and inefficiencies.
• Missed opportunities: Lacking timely follow-ups and reminders can result in lost deals and partnerships.
• Inefficient processes: Manual data entry and fragmented systems slow down operations and increase the risk of mistakes.
• Lack of insight: Without analytics, it's challenging to understand partner behaviors and performance, limiting strategic decisions.
• Inconsistent communication: Disparate communication channels lead to mixed messages and a lack of coherence in partner interactions.

2. Benefits of a CRM

There are specific advantages a CRM provides when managing partner relationships, including:

• Centralized information: All partner and distributor data is stored in one place, ensuring easy access and better organization.
• Enhanced efficiency: Automate routine tasks and streamline workflows to save time and reduce errors.
• Improved partner relationships: Track interactions and preferences to provide personalized experiences and strengthen partnerships.
• Better decision-making: Utilize data analytics to gain insights into performance and make informed strategic decisions.
• Increased sales: Identify and capitalize on opportunities faster with real-time data and automated follow-ups.
• Consistent communication: Maintain a unified communication strategy across all channels for clear and cohesive partner interactions.
  

3. Key features of a CRM for partner relationship management

If you decide to go for a CRM, there are a few specific features you should look out for to streamline your workflow specifically for partner relationship management, including: 

• Automated processes: Streamlines tasks by automating repetitive workflows for partner onboarding and communication.
• Contact enrichment: Automatically finds partner contacts, distributor email addresses and contact information, enhancing efficiency.
• Structured pipeline: Tracks partners, distributors, and resellers through defined stages, ensuring process clarity and effectiveness.
• Email sequences: Increases communication efficiency with follow-up templates and automated sequences for partner engagement.
• LinkedIn integration: Seamlessly imports partner contacts from LinkedIn and tracks conversations within the CRM.
• Analytics; Provides essential data analysis and predictive insights for better partnership planning.

How to boost your partner relationship management efficiency with a CRM

Once you've found the right CRM for you, there are four key things you need to do in order to boost your partner relationship management efficiency.

1. Mapping your process

To get the most out of your CRM, personalize it according to your internal process. Don't forget to do the following.

• Identify key stages: Outline the critical phases in your partner relationship lifecycle, from initial contact to partnership maturity.
• Set milestones: Define clear milestones for each stage to measure progress and performance.
• Automate tracking: Use CRM tools to automate the tracking of these stages, ensuring no step is overlooked.

2. Lead qualification

To optimize your partnership efforts, think about partner qualification and use your CRM to take notes about how likely each potential partner will engage. Good CRMs will have a note attached to each profile that your team can build collaboratively on where you can keep track of this.

• Scoring criteria: Develop a scoring system based on factors such as engagement level, potential revenue, and strategic fit.
• Automated qualification: Use CRM software to automate the partner scoring process, saving time and ensuring consistency.
• Regular review: Periodically review and adjust your qualification criteria to align with evolving business goals.

3. Outreach and follow-up

A CRM can help you create a sense of consistency across your communication channels. You should be able to use it to create the following.

• Email drip campaigns: Set up automated email sequences tailored to different stages of the partner journey to keep them engaged.
• LinkedIn outreach: Use CRM integrations to automate personalized LinkedIn messages and follow-ups.
• Follow-up reminders: Schedule automated reminders to ensure timely follow-ups and maintain momentum.

4. Nurture existing leads

Make sure you divide your attention equally across your new partner relationships, and existing partnerships. Use your CRM to do the following to make the most of this.

• Segment partners: Categorize partners based on their needs and potential for growth.
• Personalize offers: Use CRM data to create personalized upsell and cross-sell offers that resonate with each partner.
• Check-ins: Schedule check-ins to understand partner needs and present new opportunities.

How to evaluate & choose a CRM platform

1. Define your requirements

Before selecting a CRM, it's crucial to identify the key features that align with your partner management needs. Consider functionalities like partner onboarding, deal registration, lead management, and performance tracking. Understanding these requirements will help you narrow down your options and choose a platform that supports your growth goals.

2. Budget considerations

Balancing cost and return on investment (ROI) is vital when choosing PRM software. Partnership teams need affordable solutions that deliver maximum value. Evaluate the pricing models of different PRM tools and consider the long-term benefits they offer. Look for platforms that provide scalable options, so you can expand your usage as your business grows without incurring exorbitant costs.

3. CRM selection process

Choosing the right CRM involves thorough research. Begin by shortlisting vendors that specialize in PRM solutions. Check customer reviews, request demos, and evaluate their customer support services. It's also beneficial to seek recommendations from industry peers. This approach will ensure you partner with a reliable vendor that understands your specific needs.

4. Evaluating and making the decision

Once you've shortlisted potential CRM platforms, it's time to trial and compare them. Utilize free trials or demo versions to get hands-on experience. Assess the user interface, ease of integration, and overall user experience. Compare the features, pricing, and support services of each platform. This detailed evaluation will help you make an informed decision. To get a demo of Folk, contact their sales team.

3 tips for implementing a CRM

1. Import your data into your new CRM

Transitioning to a new CRM system can be seamless if you correctly import your existing data. Export your data as a CSV file from your current system. If you're using HubSpot, follow their guide on exporting records. For Pipedrive users, refer to their data export instructions.

2. Create a first pipeline

Set up your initial pipeline with statuses that reflect your partner relationship management processes. This could include stages like "Prospective Partners," "Onboarding," "Active Partners," and "Inactive Partners." Tailoring these statuses to your workflow will help streamline your partner interactions.

3. Onboard your team

Once your CRM system is set up, it's essential to onboard your team effectively. Provide training sessions to ensure everyone understands how to use the new software. This step is crucial for maximizing the benefits of your CRM system and ensuring a smooth transition.

The 5 best CRMs for Partner Relationship Management

1. folk

folk is a modern CRM platform for managing contacts, workflows, and relationships, offering customizable pipelines, AI-driven tools, and integrations to enhance deal management and prospecting. For partnership teams of 20-50 people, folk CRM provides the ideal solution with its intuitive interface that requires minimal training while offering powerful features specifically designed for partner relationship management.

Key features

• Contact enrichment: Automatically enriches contact details by finding emails and LinkedIn URLs, enabling efficient outreach without manual data entry or additional costs for email services.
• LinkedIn integration: Seamlessly import contacts from LinkedIn, track conversations within folk, and use templates for quicker, streamlined communication.
• Email integration: Full email sync, templates, and tracking features, enabling users to manage all communications directly from the CRM.
• AI-Powered features: AI tools assist in managing contacts and relationships, automating routine tasks, and suggesting actions to improve productivity.
• Integrations: Connect to 6,000+ apps via Zapier and Make, plus folk's open API and native integrations (e.g., WhatsApp, PandaDoc, Salesforge, Kaspr, Allo).

Pros

• Ease of use: folk is praised for its intuitive interface, making it accessible even to non-technical users with quick onboarding and a minimal learning curve.
• All-in-one: folk streamlines your workflow by allowing you to import contacts from LinkedIn, automatically find their emails, reach out through customizable email sequences, and track interactions in a pipeline, eliminating the need for multiple tools and saving time and money.
• LinkedIn focus integration: Seamlessly import contacts from LinkedIn, track conversations within folk, and use templates for quicker, streamlined communication.
• Customizability: Custom fields, pipelines, and workflows.
• Variety of integrations: Beyond Zapier and Make, folk offers an open API and native integrations (e.g., WhatsApp, PandaDoc, Salesforge, Kaspr, Allo) for deep connectivity.

Cons

• Reporting and analytics: folk includes advanced pipeline and revenue analytics, forecasting with weighted probabilities, and detailed breakdowns by owner, channel, region, or any custom field.

Price and plans

You can try folk for free with a 14 day free trial. After that, a monthly or annual subscription plan is as follows.

• Standard: $20 per user, per month.
• Premium: $40 per user, per month.
• Custom: Starts from $80 per user, per month.

2. Hubspot

Hubspot CRM is a user-friendly, scalable platform offering integrated tools for managing sales, marketing, customer service, and operations efficiently.

Key features

• Marketing hub: Includes email marketing, ad tracking, landing pages, and lead generation tools, essential for managing and nurturing partner leads and distributor relations.
• Sales hub: Provides deal tracking, pipeline management, sales automation, and reporting, crucial for monitoring partnership opportunities and closing deals.
• Service hub: Offers customer service tools like ticketing, live chat, and knowledge bases, ensuring excellent support for partners and customers.
• Operations hub: Syncs and automates business processes across different systems, streamlining partner interactions and data management.
• Lead scoring: Prioritize leads with predictive scoring to improve sales efficiency and focus on high-potential partnership opportunities.

Pros

• User-friendly interface: HubSpot is known for its intuitive and easy-to-use interface, making it accessible for users of all skill levels.
• Comprehensive free plan: Offers a robust free version that includes essential CRM features, making it ideal for small businesses and startups.
• Seamless integration with marketing tools: HubSpot integrates smoothly with its marketing, sales, and service hubs, creating a unified platform for inbound marketing and partner management.
• Automation capabilities: Provides powerful automation tools for tasks like email marketing, lead nurturing, and sales workflows, helping businesses save time and improve efficiency.
• Extensive learning resources: HubSpot Academy offers a wealth of free courses, certifications, and resources to help users get the most out of the platform.

Cons

• High cost at higher tiers: HubSpot's pricing can become expensive as you move to higher tiers, which may be prohibitive for small businesses as they scale.
• Limited customization in free plan: The free plan and lower tiers have limited customization options, which can restrict flexibility for growing businesses.
• Complexity in advanced features: Some advanced features, such as custom reporting and workflows, have a steep learning curve and may require additional training.
• Email marketing limits: Email marketing functionality in the free plan is restricted by limits on the number of emails you can send, which can be a drawback for businesses with larger lists.
• Limited reporting capabilities in lower tiers: Detailed reporting and analytics features are often locked behind higher-priced plans, limiting insights for businesses on lower tiers.

Price and plans

Once you're ready to upgrade from their free plan, the CRM suite annual subscription plan is as follows.

• Starter: $15 per user, per month.
• Professional: $450 per user, per month.
• Enterprise: $1,500 per user, per month.

3. Pipedrive

Pipedrive is a web-based CRM for small businesses, offering lead management, automation, email integration, and customizable pipelines to optimize sales.

Key features

• Integration capabilities: The ability to seamlessly integrate with other essential tools like CRMs, marketing automation platforms, and financial software.
• Customizability: Software that allows you to tailor dashboards, workflows, and reporting to meet specific needs of managing partners, distributors, and reseller opportunities.
• User Experience: An intuitive interface that requires minimal training, ensuring that your team can quickly adapt and utilize the software effectively.
• Analytics and Reporting: Advanced analytics to track partner performance and generate insightful reports that help in making data-driven decisions.
• Support and Training: Comprehensive support and training resources to help you get the most out of the software, including onboarding sessions, tutorials, and a responsive customer service team.

Pros

• Enhanced collaboration: Facilitates better communication and collaboration with partners, ensuring everyone is on the same page.
• Streamlined processes: Automates routine tasks, freeing up time to focus on strategic activities and relationship building.
• Scalability: Easily scalable to grow with your business, accommodating an increasing number of partners and more complex workflows.
• Centralized information: Consolidates all partner-related data in one place, making it easier to manage partners, distributors, and reseller opportunities.
• Improved decision-making: Provides valuable insights through advanced analytics, helping you make informed decisions to optimize partner performance.

Cons

• Initial setup costs: The initial setup and customization can be time-consuming and may require a significant upfront investment.
• Learning curve: Despite user-friendly interfaces, there may be a learning curve for team members who are not tech-savvy.
• Ongoing maintenance: Regular updates and maintenance are required to ensure the software runs smoothly, which can add to operational costs.
• Integration challenges: Integrating PRM software with existing systems can sometimes be complex and may require technical expertise.
• Potential overhead: For smaller teams, the additional overhead of managing another software tool can be a burden, especially if the full range of features is not utilized.

Price and plans

An annual subscription plan basis is as follows.

• Essential plan: Starts from $14 per user, per month.
• Advanced plan: Starts from $29 per user, per month.
• Power plan: Starts from$64 per user, per month.
• Enterprise plan: Starts from $99 per user, per month.
  

4. Salesforce

Salesforce is a robust CRM platform for large enterprises, offering tools for sales, marketing, service, and analytics, with extensive scalability.

Key features

• Integration capabilities: Seamlessly integrate with other essential tools like CRM, email marketing, and project management software to ensure a unified workflow
• Customization options: Tailor the software to fit your specific needs, including custom fields for partners, distributors, and reseller opportunities.
• User-friendly interface: A clean, intuitive interface that requires minimal training, allowing your team to focus on building relationships rather than navigating complex software.
• Analytics and reporting: Advanced analytics and reporting features to track the performance of your partnerships and make data-driven decisions.
• Collaboration tools: Built-in collaboration features to facilitate communication and coordination among team members and partners.

Pros

• Enhanced collaboration: Integrated collaboration tools make it easier to work with partners, distributors, and resellers, improving overall efficiency.
• Comprehensive analytics: Advanced analytics provide valuable insights into partnership performance, helping you make informed decisions.
• Customization: High level of customization allows you to tailor the software to meet your specific needs, from tracking partners to managing reseller opportunities.
• Integrations: Seamless integration with other business tools ensures a smooth workflow and reduces the need for manual data entry.

Cons

• Cost: Advanced features and higher user limits can make some PRM solutions expensive, which might be a concern for mid-sized teams with limited budgets.
• Complexity: Some platforms may have a steep learning curve, requiring significant time and effort to fully understand and utilize all features.
• Resources needed: Customization and integration may require additional resources and time, which can be a drawback for smaller teams.
• Support: Limited support options in lower-tier plans can be a challenge, especially for teams that may need more assistance.
• Feature overload: Too many features can be overwhelming and may lead to underutilization of the software's full potential.

Price and plans

The Service Cloud plan is as follows.

• Starter suite: Starts from $25 per user, per month.
• Pro suite: Starts from $100 per user, per month.
• Enterprise: Starts from $165 per user, per month.
  

5. Zoho

Zoho is a CRM system with a strong sales focus. Its got features such as journey orchestration, sales process management and workflow automation. There's also something for marketing teams, including lead nurturing, event management and customer segmentation.

Key features

• Integration capabilities: Seamless integration with existing CRM systems, marketing tools, and communication platforms to streamline workflows and data management.
• Customization options: Highly customizable interfaces and functionalities to tailor the software to specific business processes and requirements.
• Analytics and reporting: Advanced analytics and reporting tools to provide insights into partner performance, lead generation, and partnership opportunities.
• User-friendly interface: Intuitive and easy-to-navigate interface that reduces the learning curve and enhances user adoption.
• Scalability: Ability to scale with the growth of your business, accommodating more users and data without compromising performance.

Pros

• Enhanced collaboration: Facilitates better communication and collaboration between partners, distributors, and resellers, leading to more effective partnerships.
• Comprehensive tracking: Allows for detailed tracking of partners, partnership opportunities, and distributor interactions, providing a holistic view of relationships.
• Improved efficiency: Automates routine tasks and processes, freeing up time for more strategic activities and improving overall efficiency.
• Data-driven decisions: Offers robust analytics and reporting tools that help in making informed, data-driven decisions.
• Customizable workflows: Highly customizable workflows that can be tailored to meet the specific needs of different types of partnerships and business models.

Cons

• Complex setup: Initial setup and customization can be complex and time-consuming, requiring a significant investment of time and resources.
• Cost: High-end plans can be expensive, making them less accessible for smaller partnership teams with limited budgets.
• Learning curve: Some users may find the learning curve steep, especially if they are not familiar with CRM or PRM systems.
• Integration issues: Potential integration issues with existing systems, which may require additional technical support to resolve.
• Overwhelming features: The abundance of features and options can be overwhelming for users who only need basic functionalities.

Price and plans

Zoho has a free plan limited to three users suitable for small businesses. After that, an annual subscription plan is as follows:

• Standard: $14 per user, per month
• Professional: $23 per user, per month
• Enterprise: $40 per user, per month
  

Conclusion

Choosing the right CRM software in 2024 is crucial for streamlining your internal operations and partner interactions. Each of the top CRM platforms—folk, Hubspot, Pipedrive, Salesforce, and Zoho—offers unique features and advantages tailored to different business needs and budgets. For partnership teams of 20-50 people, folk CRM emerges as the clear winner, offering the perfect balance of functionality and simplicity without the overwhelming complexity of enterprise solutions or the limitations of basic tools. Whether you prioritize ease of use, advanced automation, seamless integrations, or comprehensive analytics, there is a solution that can enhance your partner management processes. Before making a decision, evaluate your specific requirements, budget constraints, and long-term growth goals. Implementing the right PRM software can significantly boost your efficiency, improve decision-making, and ultimately drive better business outcomes. For those interested in experiencing one of the top CRM tools firsthand, you can try folk for free here.
Need a helping hand? Use our free tool to find your perfect CRM match.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do busy partner relationship management teams use as a CRM?

Partner relationship management teams often use CRM solutions like folk, Hubspot, Pipedrive, and Salesforce to optimize partner relationship management and streamline partner interactions. These platforms offer diverse features to manage contacts, automate workflows, and provide valuable analytics, making them ideal for enhancing business efficiency and growth.

Do I need a CRM?

Yes, depending on the complexity of your process. A CRM can significantly enhance your ability to manage partner relationships and interactions by centralizing data, automating tasks, and providing valuable insights. This can lead to improved efficiency, better decision-making, and increased opportunities for growth.

How much does a CRM cost?

CRM costs can vary widely, typically ranging from $20 to $200 per user per month. The exact price will depend on the features and support levels included in the plan. Some providers also offer free trials or freemium versions, allowing you to test the software before committing to a paid plan.

Does folk's CRM respond to Partner Relationship Management needs?

Yes, folk's CRM is well-suited for Partner Relationship Management needs. It offers features like contact enrichment, LinkedIn integration, customizable pipelines, and AI-driven tools that streamline workflows and enhance relationship management. These capabilities make it an excellent choice for partnership teams looking to optimize their partner interactions and drive business growth.