Table of Contents:
The Results:
Intro: Company Profile
Legrand Data Center Solutions is a division of Legrand that specializes in providing best-in-class Critical Power and IT Infrastructure data center solutions. Its customers include leading cloud, hyperscale, co-location and corporate clients.
Legrand Data Center Solutions has had a partner program for 7+ yrs (20+ when considering the organizations it has acquired, e.g. Raritan, Server Technology, Minkels, Modulan, Usystem, and Starline).
Legrand Data Center Solutions operates a large part of its sales through a partner channel.
Type of partners Legrand works with:
- Distributors
- Value-Added Resellers
- Systems Integrators
- Consultants
The Challenge
As the Legrand Data Center Solutions portfolio grew, and also because of several acquisitions, it was increasingly necessary for it to look for a best-in-class collaboration and partner relationship management solution.
Legrand faced several challenges stemming from:
- Inconsistent, manual processes over a complex network of over 10 legacy systems used to manage their partner ecosystem
- Multiple license fees due to the dependence on multiple systems
- Their existing (legacy) portal was no longer fit for the purpose of scaling and supporting a rapidly growing and more diverse solutions portfolio and partner ecosystem
- Channel Managers dedicating substantial time to data aggregation for partner business reviews, which left them with limited resources for developing incremental business.
- Their in-house portal wasn’t able to keep up with the growing needs of Legrand’s partnerships
Eventually, they set out on a quest to find a PRM platform.
Richard King, Ecosystem Development Director of EMEA at Legrand Data Center Solutions, is the individual responsible for championing the cause and seeking out a solution (note: he retired at the end of 2023 and Franck Wolff has now taken over his position).
The Discovery of Magentrix PRM
Solutions explored:
- Salesforce Communities (aka Salesforce Experience Cloud, Salesforce PRM)
- Impartner
- Allbound
- Channeltivity
- Custom PRM solution
PRM Evaluation: What was important to Legrand in a partner management platform
✅ API for CRM integration: Salesforce CRM is at the heart of everything they do. The API integration to any partner portal was mandatory.
✅ Salesforce CRM accredited: An PRM organization with appropriate Salesforce accreditation
✅ Security: Tier 3 data center hosting and demonstrably secure software solution.
✅ PRM scalability: A flexible, integrable, extensible platform that can grow along with the customer’s growing partner management requirements.
✅ Ready-to-use PRM + customization options: Ability to deliver standard modules but also heavily customize where needed.
✅ Portal UI: A clean and intuitive user interface. Flexible, reasonable pricing: Bundle as opposed to pay per user license model.
✅ Collaboration & customer service: A PRM vendor that listens, understands the project-based business model and was willing to be truly collaborative. Offers open access to key staff from CEO, to Account Manager, to Tech Leads and others.
✅ Customer support: Easy and fast access to helpful, qualified support
Evaluating PRM options: How Magentrix came out on top
Tools & methods used for evaluation of PRMs:
- Legrand issued an RFP to a short-list of PRM vendors and built a cross-functional team to evaluate responses.
- A scorecard was compiled to ensure a data-driven evaluation.
- G2 Crowd
Results of evaluation:
- It was discovered that one of the competitors assessed was weak in terms of Single Sign-on.
- Another point around the difference between Magentrix and the alternatives was around the licensing model.
- With Impartner and Salesforce Communities it was quite expensive.
- This was seen as a barrier to adoption because they couldn’t necessarily roll out the portal as widely as possible to as many partners and contacts as they’d like to.
- One of the other major things rendering Salesforce unfavorable was that it would require Legrand to use an integration partner in order to implement the software, and in-house resources were already committed on other priority projects.
- Choosing Magentrix: King said, “To be fair, all short-listed vendors had strong technical solutions. In the end it came down to rapport and the fact that the Magentrix technical pre-sales lead really took time to listen and understand our business, partnering approach and associated business critical processes. They were able to offer helpful insights and constructively challenge some of our planned approaches to customization, which led to several Statements of Work that resulted in the solution we have today. The willingness to constructively question us, offer ideas and listen to what we wanted was important to our success.”
The Results with Magentrix PRM
General feedback on results:
- Cost-savings:
- Using Magentrix contributed to a wider systems-consolidation initiative
- Time-savings:
- Channel managers had less admin and more face-time with partners
- Helped scale partner program efforts:
- Magentrix helped Legrand move from a 2-product category portfolio to 10 and growing
- Partner engagement:Personalizing the PX and a unified partner experience (PX):
- Customization of user experience across different ecosystem partner types
- A single, professional, branded and intuitive portal delivering a consistent and positive partner experience
- Streamlined process & procedures:
- One module, one process for all project registrations irrespective of product category
- Near real-time pipeline tracking via API sync to Salesforce CRM
- Deployment of consistent processes across all key partner business activities:
- Pipeline management
- Inbound project registrations (lead registration)
- Outbound lead referrals (lead distribution)
- Digital sales & marketing materials
- Productivity tools & configurators
- Training: Data center academy & partner accreditation
- Events tracking
- Market development funds (MDF) requests & tracking
- Empowered Legrand to meet partner needs globally:
- Currently deployed across 20+ countries, 80 partners with a user community of 650+ members
- Partner satisfaction:
- Consistently strong, positive feedback across their partner ecosystem, “The portal has been very intuitive and easy to use. I can now find everything I need quickly and all through one system so I don't have to remember multiple passwords. It's great.”
- Helps differentiate brand:
- Having an easy-to-use portal with an intuitive UX added further positive differentiation to partners working with Legrand Data Centre Solutions
Single biggest difference to partner operations? "Well, it’s two things.”
#1. The ability to build consistent processes across a number of partner-related business processes, such as:
- Deal registration
- Lead referrals to partner
- Accreditation for partners (training in the LMS)
- Submission of MDF
- And for partners to be able to centralize their day-to-day tasks to one location
- Less admin work for partner managers
- Pricing quotes updates:
- Previously, pricing was managed through Excel sheets, and reps were emailing these updates to partners whenever there was a price change.
- Data-driven accountability with Lead Distribution capability:
- “Big value:it really gives us data-driven accountability. And for me that accountability needs to be mutual (when we’re looking at project registrations [lead registration] which are inbound to us or lead distribution which is inbound to the partner).”
- Prior to the portal, they’d provide lead referrals to partners by email, or phone and it wasn’t always written down so when it came to QBRs, there could be misalignment on how many leads were distributed to the partner:
- “We would give leads to a partner and when it came to quarterly business reviews, we could say for example that, ‘We were very happy to give the partners 6 leads last quarter’ and they might say to us, ‘We only remember 4’ and then suddenly you're in a downward spiral conversation of what happened to the other 2.”
“It gives us a complete audit trail and having that accountability built into the portal gives us some of our time back. It really allows us to focus on other things like what is driving that lead generation, what is working or not working and why. But also for channel managers to be able to see what the partners see and conduct business reviews using the portal is a huge productivity gain for us.”
#2. Secondly, to have a portal that was really built with agility and growth in mind
"It really allows us to scale our business and not really have to worry about scaling the portal because we know it has the built-in flexibility to move with us as we grow. ”
Impact of some of the various modules Legrand used
#1 Deal registration & Deal Management: Time-saved, improved processes & procedures for partner team & optimized PX with Pipeline Tracking & increased visibility
“Our business consists of about 80%+ partner-sourced deals. So having a robust deal registration process was paramount for us.”
- Magentrix enables consistent partner procedures:
- Has allowed them to implement consistent processes irrespective of the product category – which was an absolutely critical requirement for Legrand.
- Channel conflict prevention:
- When a partner is bringing a potential opportunity to them, the portal (via its API interface to salesforce) automatically routes the request to the channel team in the country of project deployment.
- This allows the local team to undertake their due diligence on whether to accept or reject the project registration request. Core to its channel policy (and to help avoid unnecessary channel conflict) is that Legrand only ever issues a project registration acceptance to one partner
- “Prior to the Magentrix portal, our world was much simpler. But there is absolutely no way, with our current business complexity, that we can operate without it. The Magentrix portal really gives us a reliable tool that has enabled us to deploy consistent processes that work across EMEA.”
- More partners sending leads: “Although I can’t say it’s because of the portal, however, the volume of deal registrations has grown significantly. And the old system simply could not have handled that.”
- Efficiency & easy experience for partners:
- “The feedback from partners is having the ability to see their pipeline of business with us – particularly for partners that are transacting multi-million dollar business with us – has been very easy and intuitive.”
- The portal serves as a huge time-saver for the partners because they can quickly identify the assets or tools to help them accomplish tasks such as tracking their pipeline.
- “We simply didn’t have this functionality before.”
- Visibility for Legrand’s partner team & transparency for the partners:
- Gives partners an intuitive way to track their business with Legrand.
- The level of insight is also helping the channel managers.
When Legrand’s channel managers are visiting partners, the meetings are done partly by consulting the portal (and looking at the pipeline, project registrations, lead referrals and MDF requests), “Being able to visualize that part has been a huge asset for us and our partners.”
#2 Training LMS: Optimization of partner enablement efforts
- Faster launch of partner accreditation program:
- The LMS has allowed Legrand to launch an Accreditation Program for partners quite quickly.
- They use it to maintain and update existing materials
- As well as continue to invest in new training
- Visibility for Legrand’s partner team:
Legrand appreciates that Magentrix provides the ability to test the level of understanding & comprehension that a user (partner) has acquired through taking a learning path.
And the fact that all of that data is mapped across to the Contact and Account records in Salesforce has been immeasurably valuable to them.
- Easier PX:
- The feedback from their partners is that they find the way the courses are presented in the portal is very intuitive and they like that they can stop and pick up where they left off at any time.
- Personalizing the PX:
- They’re using an integrated third-party AI software to deliver partner training in select languages (via an avatar)
- “This capability has been extremely well received by partners making it much easier for them to consume our training content.”
#3 Playbooks: Personalized + easier PX with partner resources
- Personalized + easier PX:
- Gave them the ability to structure digital assets for partners in a number of different ways.
- “By being able to segregate certain types of digital assets into respective Playbooks, it makes it easy for partners to find the information they’re looking for.”
- “One of the features that is used a lot is the fine-tuned search capability. You can search by brand, topic… It’s been a big time-saver for our partners. It makes finding the right information and the right tools significantly much easier. That all helps with our daily business activity.”
#4 Pop-up alerts: Enabling easier partner communication + increasing partner awareness & partner engagement
They now have a way to efficiently direct a partner’s attention to important news and key topics such as new product launches and training modules.
“They are short messages and it is a nice way to make sure that the partner will be informed. We can even track the number of partners who clicked on the alert.”