For many product leaders, the Salesforce AppExchange represents a fast track for development and go-to-market strategy. When done right, it can give ISVs a serious boost in time to market, product-market fit, and revenue.

But what separates the ghost town listings on the AppExchange from the partners who are crushing the game and driving billions of dollars in revenue?

Our latest guide, The Chief Product Officer’s Guide to Winning as a Salesforce Partner, tackles this question head on. It covers the advantages of building on the AppExchange, the nuances of building a strong partnership with Salesforce, and key insights from product leaders whose businesses are thriving on the AppExchange. 

Advantages of the AppExchange

Our CPO guide provides an in-depth discussion of the many benefits of building your product and business on the AppExchange, along with how to best leverage the unique characteristics of both the AppExchange and the larger Salesforce ecosystem. 

We discuss how the AppExchange offers a strategic advantage in several areas, including:

  • Lowering development costs
  • Reducing risk
  • Increasing speed to market
  • Building credibility with prospects and customers
  • Selling into the enterprise

Partnering with Salesforce can also lower your sales & marketing costs, particularly if your product fills a vital piece of negative space, as ISVs in this position can be pulled into Salesforce’s deals. Cloud banking leader, nCino, one of the five companies featured in our guide, has certainly benefited from this. “Salesforce does a great job of putting us in their banking plays,” Trisha Price, nCino’s Chief Product Officer, explains.

The Recipe for Success

Listing your app on the Salesforce AppExchange is a great first step, but it takes a lot more than a listing to attain the double-digit growth that some ISVs gain from their partnership with Salesforce. In the second part of our guide, we dive into what it takes to navigate the partner process with Salesforce itself and set your product and company up for success.

From understanding Salesforce’s unique language to the fundamentals of partnership agreements, license types, and shared sales processes, we provide the critical information and guidance you need to thrive as a Salesforce partner.

The Power of Shared Perspectives

Beyond the strategic recommendations contained in our CPO guide, we go a step further to provide tips and insights from product leaders who have achieved tremendous growth with Salesforce. These executives share their thoughts on the advantages of partnering with Salesforce as well as the challenges you’re likely to encounter. 

You’ll learn how you can not only meet those challenges, but transform them into a competitive advantage. Byron Jones, Senior Director of Product Management at Optimizely, provides one example: 

“Working with Salesforce, you have to consider not only the market and the demands but also the people side of things and the sheer complexity of the organization. You have to be able to communicate the vision of the value that you’re trying to bring to the world and do that in an effective way that other people buy into it too and are able to come along on that journey.” 

In addition to Trisha and Byron, you’ll learn from the deep experience of successful product leaders including Vincent Cabral, VP of Product at Nintex; Dan Brown, Chief Product & Strategy Officer at FinancialForce; and Ray Hein, CEO & Founder of Propel. 

As Vincent — a three-time AppExchange veteran — notes, the learnings from their experience can be invaluable: “Building a partner business isn’t always easy, but experience helps you navigate it.”

Let these learnings serve as guideposts to help your company traverse every step of product development, release, and growth with Salesforce. 

Download the guide now and get started on your journey to AppExchange success.


You don’t have to navigate the AppExchange alone! We’re here to help. Get in touch today to learn how we can help you reach your goals as a Salesforce partner.