The Five9 partner strategy has always centered on a well-balanced mix of partners, creating a diverse ecosystem. This way, the cloud contact center provider gives its customers choices on how they engage with their CCaaS solution, according to individual preference. Essentially, the company aims to allow partners to do what they do best, while providing the most value to their mutual customers.
Andy Dignan, the company’s SVP of Global Partners & Services, says that Five9 has “global, national, and regional partners – Master Agents, Resellers, Referral and Solution Providers – that are empowered to position and sell the value of our solution.”
The company’s ecosystem includes hundreds of different partners of all shapes and sizes.
One sub-category comprises of Global and Regional System Integrators (SIs) that incorporate the Five9 technology into their digital transformation strategies for their clients.
“We work together closely to make sure the Five9 solution is integrated into the SI’s solution portfolio when they propose seamless integrations with a CRM, UC, and other technologies”
Another key component in the Five9 ecosystem is its technology partners. These include CRM providers such as Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics and UC platforms like Microsoft Teams and Zoom.
“We have also developed prebuilt integrations into top CRM providers such as Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, ServiceNow, Oracle, and Zendesk. If we don’t have an integration already built, we work with other providers through our CRM SDK. The same goes for our UC partners, Microsoft Teams and Zoom, where we have prebuilt integrations; and for other integration partners where we have an upcoming UC SDK.”
Last but not least is the company’s App Marketplace, which allows Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) to build integrations into the Five9 platform, and then provide said integrations as part of their technology stack offerings. This, according to Dignan, is a big help in raising overall market awareness of Five9.
At the end of the day, says Dignan, customer experience is a top priority for Five9, as much for its partners as for its customers. “Our CCaaS platform is about providing a core functionality of customer experience and communications. It’s important to us that both customers and partners would be able to engage with us on the level that fits their business.”
The Goal: Great Customer Experience
According to Dignan, there are two key values that Five9 looks for in its channel partners:
The first is knowledge in the CC and UC space; and the second is a commitment to delivering great customer experiences. Bottom line: the company aims to form partnerships that encourage mutual growth while providing top-notch CX.
“Our partners provide a holistic view of the customers’ needs that may extend beyond the contact center, so they can help ensure that the Five9 solution integrates and supports all parts of the business,” says Dignan.
More Support, More Education, More Opportunities
Throughout the last 18 months, Five9 has been intensively renewing its focus on its partner ecosystem, which its partners seem to be thrilled about.
“We have provided more support, more education, and more opportunities allowing our partners to broaden their portfolio,” states Dignan. This is also paying back in the form of increased channel-driven sales. “Our partners are seeing our commitment to their success, which makes them want to collaborate and grow with us. We have large global partners now asking to be part of the Five9 Partner Ecosystem, which is very fulfilling.“
The company is truly committed to giving its partners the best possible vendor and partner experience. “We want to be the best CCaaS provider our partners will ever do business with,” says Dignan.
How does one become the ideal company to do business with? Simple:
“We ask our partners what they need and then work to provide that, whether it’s sales training, technical tips, marketing support, product education, services enablement or Five9 staff and executive support.”
All of these tools comprise the Five9 partner program, also known as the X Factor program. What makes the X Factor partner program special is that it’s a direct result of partner requests.
“We are adding to the program’s value as we grow it. This is a good example of the evolution of our channel program, which includes all the various aspects that help our partners succeed.”
What’s in store for the X Factor program in the near future, then?
“Our partner program already provides an expansive toolkit of enablement content, but we want to make it even better. This is why we are launching a new portal in early 2021. This new PRM will give our partners much more functionality and flexibility and allow them to access marketing content and training on demand and get real-time views into their deals and opportunities. We are also evolving our Marketplace with more functionality and ability to truly develop into our platform and measure the success of it with partners and customers.”
“Our partner ecosystem is extremely valuable to us,” concludes Dignan,
“We have been investing in people, platform, and strategies to demonstrate our investment in our partners“
