Complete Guide On How To Get Apps Listed On Salesforce AppExchange : siddhika
by: siddhika
blow post content copied from Cyntexa
click here to view original post
Do you have a question? “I have an idea for an app, where should I begin?”. If you have this question, we know what must be going through your mind- hundreds of questions and probably loads of confusion. Here, we’re not talking about developing and publishing your application on Google Play Store or App store but on the leading cloud marketplace, i.e., Salesforce AppExchange.
Developing and listing your app on this platform is effortless. The process can be a piece of cake for you with the proper guidance.
But before diving right in, let us tell you why AppExchange is the right platform. 90% of Fortune 500 companies use this trusted enterprise cloud marketplace. It is used by 150,000+ Salesforce customers, making it a good business opportunity to market and sell your app in 100+ countries that have installed solutions over 10 million times.
If you are wondering “how to get your application listed on Salesforce AppExchange”, then end your quest here. We have covered everything that will guide you on what it takes to get your app listed on Salesforce AppExchange.
#Step 1: Begin With Signing Up
To save you time, if you are already a Salesforce consulting partner (just like Cyntexa), an ISV partner, and have access to the partner community portal, then you are already ahead of this and can start reading the next step.
However, if you have a business that doesn’t revolve around Salesforce or you are not a Salesforce AppExchange partner but have that app idea that lets you step into the Salesforce ecosystem, then your first move is to sign up for the Partner Program.
It’s easy to fill up your business details and choose an Independent Software Vendor (ISV). You will be officially welcomed to the partner community with an email sharing your login credentials.
Note: The signup process varies according to the region or country. So if you are a US-based business, its process will be different from an India-based company.
#Step 2: Let Them Know What You’re Thinking About
Now what? You may be wondering now that you are finally a part of the Partner community from where you can create the listing.
It’s essential as this is the only way your potential customers can discover apps for their business. In the partner community, go to the publishing tab and click “create a new listing.” Here you have to submit your business plan by answering a few questions. You have to mention your app name and the purpose behind it. Tell them what business pain points you are solving with your idea or how your solution extends the capability of Salesforce’s platform.
Be precise with the language and how you will leave a mark with your app—explain this by taking an example of one of our applications, Easy Rollup. Salesforce provides the basic functionality of creating a rollup summary of four types (sum, count, minimum, and maximum) on the master-detail relationship.
With Easy Rollup, we covered everything that Salesforce is missing. We allowed our customers to create unlimited rollups not just on master-detail relationships but also on lookup objects. Not only this, we even added a new rollup summary type, i.e., average. That’s how we identified our potential customer pain points and gained new customers.
The above is a pro tip to save you time, and you don’t need to spend much time making your listing dead-on because it’s yet to be public, and you can make changes anytime.
#Step 3: So, when’s the meeting?
After you’ve submitted your listing, a few representatives from the Salesforce team will schedule a call with you to discuss your business plan. On this call, you must explain in detail what you’ve mentioned in the listing form.
From our personal experience, we will list a few points you can prepare before the call. They might ask you about the following:
- From where & how you got this app idea?
- How are you planning to solve the challenges with your app?
- Are they any competitors who have a similar application?
- Are to planning to keep it free or paid? And why?
The Salesforce team can also suggest points of improvisation. So don’t worry! Relax; be confident and clear with the language and how your application stands out from the other applications on AppExchange. To make a better impact, you can also show them the prototype of your app.
#Step4: Get Done With The Legal Formalities
After the call, it’s time to move forward and complete all the legal and compliance duties. A distribution agreement must be signed, and technical calls must be conducted with a technical evangelist.
But if you are someone who isn’t providing consulting services but is planning to step into it, then submit a Due Diligence and Compliance Certification on behalf of your company. That certification will include details about your company, business practices, and relationships.
Now the Salesforce team will review these details to ensure that they match their ethics and integrity standards.
#Step 5: Here Comes The Coding Work
You have an idea, but the essential step is turning it into a real app. For that, put your engineering and development team into action. Have a team of the best developers, business analysts, and quality assurance specialists. Make them understand the vision behind creating this app to bring them on the same page, create a development strategy, ensure all features are present to boost its functionality, have a well-thought-out UI & UX, and test and re-test until no bugs remain in the app. Suppose you want to avoid going through the hassle of recruitment or development. In that case, you can also reach out to PDO (Product Development Outsourcers) or Salesforce Consulting Partner who have experience building these applications and ease your overall experience of creating them.
When building an app, you probably want it to remain on the market. If so, then remember to make improvements constantly. Keep in mind that the future release features are easily integrable with the current application.
#Step 6: Free or Paid? The process differs!
Okay, so the cost of developing and listing an application on Salesforce AppExchange differs from free or paid. Let us clear this up with our real-life experience of ours. We have two applications, Easy Rollup and ChargeOn. The former is a free application, and the latter is currently free but is in the process of getting paid.
After our application, Easy Rollup passed the security review process; we didn’t have to pay any extra fees to move further and make our listing live. But now, when we have to make ChargeOn’s paid version live, the Salesforce team will require us to sign an agreement along with the security review fees of $2550 and program fees of $150.
#Step 7: It’s Review Time
It’s the security review that frightens the team. But it would be best if you went through the storm to get to the rainbow. The AppExchange security review tests the following:
- Security condition of your application.
- Identify all the security vulnerabilities that the app is exposed to.
- SOQL and SQL injection.
- Cross-site scripting and access control protocols.
- Record-sharing violations (i.e., specific to the Salesforce platform only).
There is no compulsion that your app will be approved in the initial review process. However, if the Salesforce team finds any flaw, they will ask you to make the required changes. Make changes and send it for a follow-up review. Your app will undergo this process until it is bug-free.
Chill down and be patient, as the security review process may take four to six weeks. Still, once your application clears the security review, you’ll receive a congratulatory email for all the blood, sweat, and tears.
#Step:8 It’s Finale Time/ Here Comes The Finale
Now that everything is done, who will use your application? How would you let them know about it? How would you attract it?
Too much pressure, right? Well, don’t take it. You must follow a few tips to make your AppExchange listing stand out. From our personal experience, we focussed on various things to make our listing exceptional from the competitors:
- SEO is the key: It helps improve the appearance and positioning of applications in the search results. For this, we used all the relevant keywords in our description. Use all those keywords and phrases you think the customer might use while looking for a solution.
- Eye-catching Images: AppExchange allows you to upload at least 14 images to represent what you are selling. Please don’t sell the product; sell the solution or benefits they will be getting with your product through the images.
Keep each screen simple and limit the number of words. Ensure that only the most essential information and critical phases are included.
- Use the resources section wisely: Your Salesforce AppExchange listing includes a resources section where you can add all the relevant information about your product, including user guides, demo videos, installation guides, etc.
Summing Up!
Developing and listing an application on the Salesforce AppExchange platform can be challenging. But with the proper knowledge and guidance, it can be accessed as a,b,c. It is the right platform for reaching global businesses by providing them with their desired solution.
Please stay connected with the Salesforce team during the process, listen to their instructions, and build the app correctly. Decide whether you want to take it to live as a free or paid app by doing thorough market & business research.
That’s all; best of luck with your future application. If you face any queries throughout this journey, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our Salesforce AppExchange consultants.
The post Complete Guide On How To Get Apps Listed On Salesforce AppExchange appeared first on Cyntexa.
December 08, 2022 at 05:30AM
Click here for more details...
=============================
The original post is available in Cyntexa by siddhika
this post has been published as it is through automation. Automation script brings all the top bloggers post under a single umbrella.
The purpose of this blog, Follow the top Salesforce bloggers and collect all blogs in a single place through automation.
============================
Post a Comment