Dive Brief:
- TD Synnex bolstered its PartnerFirst account management platform with vendor-specific integrations that give partners greater visibility in Microsoft and Cisco deals, the tech distributor said Wednesday. The company also introduced platform-native connectors to Salesforce and Quickbooks, per the announcement.
- PartnerFirst went live less than a year ago with features to help partners streamline operations, expedite deals and react quickly to customer needs. The company added a natural-language AI assistant plugin to the platform in November.
- The company plans to roll out additional vendor integrations in the lead-up to its annual Inspire conference in October, Nate Herz, SVP and North America CIO at TD Synnex, told Channel Dive. “We need to go vendor by vendor, and certainly there's some commonality, but the goal is to normalize the experience for reseller partners so that they're not needing to go through the same integrations and gyrations with each vendor partner. We take on that heavy lifting.”
Dive Insight:
Distributor platforms that bring together vendor offerings and customer management capabilities are proliferating. The Futurum Group estimates that 85% of channel partners route deals through distributor platforms, according to a March report.
TD Synnex is leaning on its platform to continue driving revenue growth as its equips its partners with the data and tools to expand their business opportunities.
“The aim is to help to transition the customer experience management that our partners provide from reactive and focused just on renewals execution to managing those other stages in the customer lifecycle,” Herz said. That includes the initial sale and extends to a broader role for the partner, from managing technology adoption to helping customers realize outcomes.
“From the reseller partner perspective, it helps to ensure stickiness and ensure a higher net and gross renewal rate,” Herz added.
The platform’s AI assistant feature, which was initially a Microsoft Teams plugin, is now available in Slack and via Webex, TD Synnex said Wednesday. It provides partners with real-time pricing and product availability data, tracks orders and access to vendor documentation. The company also unveiled a streamlined quoting tool that syncs with a partner’s CRM or PSA platform.
“We recognize that our partners may want to operate within their own systems or systems that they're using,” Herz said. “So this is part of our strategy to put intelligence and action where it needs to happen.”
