How to design the perfect partner lead process and cut speed to lead in half

A Salesforce Experience Cloud Playbook for Driving Accountability, Speed, and Conversions in Your Partner Program

The problem every Partner Manager dreads

You’ve got the leads.
You’ve got the partners.
You’re ready to scale through your ecosystem.

But something’s stalling.

Sales complains, “Partners aren’t following up.”
Marketing wants to know, “Where are the leads going?”
And you — the partner manager — are left chasing updates in the dark.

The issue isn’t motivation. It’s process.
Partners aren’t ignoring leads — they’re operating without a system that guides and reinforces action.

No SLAs. No automated reminders. No visibility.
Just leads being tossed into a black hole, with no way to track what’s working or why deals die.

Sound familiar?

M-Files was hemorrhaging leads

Nataliya, Partner Operations Manager at M-Files, was stuck in this exact loop.

Her team was handing qualified leads to partners — but too many just... disappeared.
Some partners never knew leads had landed in their queue. Others accepted them but stalled out.
No follow-up. No feedback. No clarity.

Result?
A partner pipeline full of potential, but no predictable motion.‍

Why weren't partners following up on leads

M-Files and partners were not the problem. The process was. Here’s what was missing:

• No SLAs to trigger action
• No reminders to keep leads moving
• No dashboards to monitor progress or stalling
• No lifecycle tracking to handle rejected or ignored leads

They’d invested in enablement — but not in accountability.

Without structure and automation, even great partners lose momentum.

The Mission

M-Files knew they didn’t want to chase partners — they wanted a process that made follow-up automatic.

Their goal was clear:

• ✅ Enforce SLAs
• ✅ Make inactivity visible
• ✅ Empower both partners and managers with real-time insight
• ✅ Create a clean, repeatable path from lead → deal registration → opportunity

And it had to live inside Salesforce Experience Cloud — right where their partner portal already operated.

The Lead Process

Here’s how the new lead process works:

→ Lead Captured via HubSpot
Different lead types are sent into Salesforce for partner assignment.

→ Lead Assigned to Partner
Partner gets notified with full lead details.

→ SLA Clock Starts
A response timer starts immediately.

→ No Response? First Reminder Sent
A gentle nudge goes out before the SLA is breached.

→ Lead Accepted
Triggers a new SLA — now the partner must qualify, nurture, or reject.

→ Still No Action? Second Reminder
Follow-up is automated and consistent.

→ Need More Time? Move to Nurture
Partners can shift the lead to a Nurture stage if needed.

→ Deal Submitted
Once enough info is gathered, the partner registers the deal for review.

→ Collaborate During Review
If M-Files needs more details, they can send the deal registration back for improvement, directly from the portal.

→ Opportunity Created
Once approved, the deal becomes a shared Opportunity — visible and actionable by both partner and manager.

→ Leads Recycling
Rejected or stalled leads are routed to a recycling queue and reassigned — nothing goes to waste.

Every step is tracked. Every delay is visible. No more guesswork.

Tools M-Files Put in Place

Here’s the toolkit that powered the change:

🛠️ SLA Rule Engine
Timers and triggers built with Salesforce Flows, tuned by lead type.

🔔 Reminder & Escalation Notifications
Automated alerts to nudge or escalate based on inactivity.

📊 Partner Dashboards
Partners see where every lead stands — and how they’re performing.

📋 Manager Dashboards
Instant visibility into SLA compliance, conversion rates, and bottlenecks.

🔁 Lead Lifecycle Automation
Automatically reassigns ignored or rejected leads.

💬 Collaboration via Notes & Alerts
Notes can be added to the lead, with email alerts to notify partners in real time.

🧠 Self-Service FAQ
A partner-facing knowledge base that reduces questions and support load.

What Changed for M-Files

Once the system was in place, results followed fast:

⏱️ Response Times Dropped
Partners began responding in hours, not days.

✅ SLA Compliance Jumped
Benchmarks were not only met — they became part of daily rhythm.

📉 Fewer Cold Leads
Leads were flagged and recycled before going stale.

🧭 Manager Visibility Soared
You could finally see who was doing what — and when.

🧭 Partner Engagement

Most importantly partners wanted to engage, because the system made it seamless.

What We Learned

Rolling out a new lead process comes with lessons. Here are M-Files' top takeaways:

• Set clear but achievable SLAs. Enough time to act but not to forget.
• Pilot with partners early. Let them stress-test it and share feedback.
• Don’t skip dashboards. Real-time visibility was the single biggest unlock.
• Map your tech stack. Ensure HubSpot (or your marketing platform) syncs cleanly with Salesforce.
  

Final Takeaway

When partners don’t follow up — or you can’t tell if they did — the root issue isn’t effort. It’s design.

What you need is a process that drives engagement by default through:

• SLAs that create urgency
• Automation that reduces manual chasing
• Dashboards that bring clarity
• Lifecycle flows that keep leads moving

That’s what we built with and for M-Files. And it worked.