Managing Partner and Referral Data: Best Practices

[Stef_N]

Hello everyone,

I am curious if any of you are utilising HubSpot as your CRM to manage the partner master database. While we use a Partner Relationship Management (PRM) system, I would like to understand how you link deals to both the partner company and the company referred by the partner and how this connection extends to contacts (do you associate a contact with both partner company that the contact was referred by and the actual company they work for?).

Do you use associated labels for this, or have you implemented a custom object?

I’d appreciate any insights you can share!

[kaseybayne]

You're not alone in this one! I've seen everything from spreadsheet manual management of partner programs (noooooo!) to some really nice integrations. Does the PRM you're using integrate with HubSpot? That will help with labeling and management. PartnerStack and Impact.com are two of the ones I've seen the most often. 

[Stef_N]

We are in the process of making a decision on the PRM and are only considering vendors that integrate with HubSpot. I was evaluating whether it would be better to build a custom object or use association labels.  I have decided to move forward with association labels, so if you have any best practices or things to avoid, please share!

[PamCotton]

Hey @Stef_N, thank you for posting in our Community!

For added structure, some teams use custom objects or properties to track referral details, but simple associations and labels might work too depending on your setup.

To our top experts, @Anton, @Teun, and @RBozeman  do you have any recommendations for @Stef_N matter?

Thank you,

Pam