How to boost your SMB’s revenue with partner solutions

Partner solutions let small businesses achieve better sales outcomes by bundling expertise, software and workflows – without adding headcount or reinventing the wheel.

Many SMBs stall when trying to build system, analytics or automation capabilities in-house. The learning curve is steep and internal resources are often stretched thin.

CRM partner solutions offer a faster path to results. They package proven workflows, tools and services into outcome-based bundles tailored to business needs.

In this article, we’ll break down what partner solutions are and why they matter for SMBs. We’ll then explore the different types and illustrate how to plan, launch and manage CRM partner solutions inside Pipedrive.

Key takeaways from partner solutions

• Partner solutions let small businesses drive revenue outcomes without reinventing tools or hiring full-time experts.

• Whether you’re moving to a CRM, connecting systems or improving workflows, there’s a packaged solution for every stage.

• Scoping and managing a CRM partner solution in Pipedrive is straightforward with fields, pipelines and automation designed for outcomes.

• Pipedrive makes it easy for SMBs to track partner impact and optimize results – try it free for 14 days.

What are partner solutions?

Partner solutions are pre-packaged bundles of software and expert services designed to deliver specific outcomes, such as reducing manual admin or boosting sales productivity.

For instance, with customer relationship management (CRM) partner solutions, rather than simply buying a tool, you get a working system built around your sales process. The goal is to deliver results fast, whether that’s cleaner data, faster lead follow-up or a full CRM rollout.

With less trial-and-error and more built-in expertise, partner solutions give SMBs a head start toward scalable growth.

Why do partner solutions matter for SMB growth?

Partner solutions help SMBs grow faster without more hires.

Small teams often lack the in-house skills and bandwidth to master every new tool or process. Recent Pipedrive data shows 84% of SMBs are already using or considering AI/automation to reduce hiring needs.

In other words, they’re hungry for any advantage that makes their lean team go further. Partner solutions deliver that advantage by helping small businesses:

• Bridge skill and headcount gaps. Finding qualified automation and CRM experts can be hard. Instead of recruiting a full-time specialist, invest in a packaged solution.

• Speed up sales cycles. SMB sales cycles are shorter by nature. An experienced partner can make them even quicker with ready-made demos and sales pitch materials.

• Plug in niche expertise. A partner steeped in your industry can build a system setup that handles unique requirements (e.g., supply chain configuration for manufacturing) right out of the box.

• Improve customer experience. A partner solution ensures all pieces (software system, integrations, training) work seamlessly from day one. This way, end customers enjoy a smoother experience.

Partner solutions matter because they let SMBs speed up growth without increasing headcount or risk. You get expert-driven efficiency, meaning shorter deals and richer customer journeys, all by leveraging proven, packaged workflows.

4 common partner solution types for SMB revenue teams

SMBs can choose from a range of partner solutions to reduce setup friction, plug skill gaps, unify tools and optimize sales revenue without adding full-time headcount.

For instance, partner solutions address different outcomes across the CRM lifecycle like setting up, entering a new market, connecting tools or sharpening customer conversion. Many SMBs start with one and expand into others as their business needs evolve.

Here are four types of common partner solutions and some use cases.

1. Implementation and onboarding solutions

SMBs making the leap from manual tools to dedicated software often need a partner to turn early chaos into a streamlined workflow or sales pipeline from day one.

When a business outgrows spreadsheets, shared inboxes or a legacy CRM that never quite fit, the transition can feel overwhelming.

A partner can handle the heavy lifting and help with:

• Importing data (contacts, deals, products)

• Designing initial pipelines

• Setting up basic automations (e.g., email follow-ups, lead rotation)

• Training the team

For example, certified Pipedrive partner Seamless Automation specializes in helping small teams move quickly with guided setup and personalized onboarding.

Here’s how Seamless Automation’s owner, Kris Zielinski, explains the solutions:

Seamless Automation offers implementation packages that cover data migration, sales process mapping, pipeline configuration and hands-on team training.

By outsourcing the early setup work, SMBs get a system that’s ready to scale without the typical delays or data issues.

2. Vertical/industry bundles

When time and headcount are limited, vertical solutions give SMBs a head start with ready-to-use pipelines and processes tailored to their niche.

If your SMB doesn’t have time to design the whole system, a vertical solution can provide a close-to-ready foundation. You just tweak it to fit your brand and go.

Vertical bundles are tailored to specific industries or niches and come with things like:

• Ready-made pipelines and custom fields

• Automations that reflect how the segment sells

• Reports and dashboards

• Playbooks with industry-specific best practices

For example, Platinum Pipedrive partner Motii offers industry-tuned CRM setups, complete with compliance-aware stages and onboarding flow.

Here’s a demo of how Motii set up Pipedrive for the financial services industry:

Motii’s financial services bundle includes compliance-aware deal stages, reporting tailored to client lifecycle management and streamlined onboarding pipelines.

Vertical bundles offer proven structures for common workflows for SMBs who need a solution that’s 80% ready out of the box.

3. Integration and automation stacks

For SMBs juggling disconnected tools, integration solutions help data move cleanly between apps by connecting their platform with the rest of the tech stack.

Many small teams find themselves capturing leads in one system, tracking sales in another and invoicing somewhere else. Integration bundles solve the app overload by linking the central software to key apps and automating data flow.

A partner can deliver solutions that sync with:

• Email marketing platforms

• Billing software

• Customer success tools

• Any other apps you use

For example, Platinum Pipedrive partner Zimple helps SMBs build scalable, low-friction workflows by integrating Pipedrive with tools like QuickBooks, Zapier and ATS systems.

Here’s an introduction to Zimple’s solutions by its Marketing Manager Henriikka Front:

Zimple specializes in helping SMBs unify systems and automate key workflows across sales, finance and operations with deep support for real-time syncing.

Integration partners streamline scattered systems into seamless processes, helping SMBs reduce busywork and eliminate costly gaps.

4. Ongoing RevOps and optimization retainers

For SMBs without a dedicated RevOps hire, ongoing retainers ensure someone is always watching the data, tweaking workflows and making the system better every month.

As your team grows, your original setup can start to buckle. Maybe stages no longer match the customer journey. Maybe dashboards aren’t showing what leadership needs.

Optimization partners step in to evolve your system over time and help you:

• Monitor reporting accuracy

• Adjust pipelines and automations

• Test new workflows and email templates

• Maintain high data quality

For example, authorized Pipedrive partner iSales Solutions offers RevOps support for SMBs using a four-step approach to optimize CRM system performance and sales processes.

Optimization can be a matter of small, expertly guided tweaks. Here’s an example of iSales Solution’s strategic expertise in action:

iSales Solutions helps growing teams keep their CRM aligned with real-world processes even as roles, services or strategies shift.

RevOps retainers keep your CRM aligned with your growth, evolving your system continuously so it reflects how your team actually sells.

When to choose a partner solution instead of going DIY

SMBs should pivot to a partner solution when the cost of lost sales productivity and data errors exceeds the price of professional implementation.

A partner solution is the smarter bet if you:

• Lack in-house expertise. If your CRM admin is just the sales manager trying to figure things out on nights and weekends, you’re losing valuable selling time.

• Need complex cross-functional workflows. Building stable automations across multiple tools and teams may require technical depth that goes beyond DIY setups.

• Require industry-specific compliance. For sectors like financial services or healthcare, partners ensure that data handling meets regulatory standards like GDPR compliance from the start.

• Demand immediate ROI. A partner solution can deploy a working revenue engine in weeks. Meanwhile, a IY learning curve can drag on for quarters.

DIY is fine for small, low-risk changes like tweaking an email template or adding a single integration. When the stakes are high (revenue-critical workflows, multi-system automations or deep data cleanups), a partner solution delivers faster, safer results.

How to scope and launch your first partner solution in 5 steps

Launching a successful partner solution requires a shift in mindset from buying software to procuring a business outcome through a structured scoping process.

Instead of “We need a CRM integration”, think: “We want faster deal cycles with fewer errors between sales and billing”. That framing focuses the conversation on results and keeps your partner accountable from day one.

With the right setup, your CRM can be your central hub for scoping, launching and tracking partner-delivered work.

Here’s how to make that happen in five structured steps.

1. Define one business outcome and success metrics

Before choosing a partner or solution type, anchor your project in a single, clear business goal.

Maybe it’s “increase SDR-to-opportunity conversion” or “cut lead response time under 10 minutes”. Setting a success metric from the start keeps the project focused and measurable.

Decide how that success will show up: via pipeline stage movement, field values, time-to-close metrics or custom reports.

This is also the moment to build attribution into your CRM setup.

For example, you can use custom fields in Pipedrive to tag each deal or organization influenced by a partner solution:

Add fields like “Solution Type”, “Partner Name” and “Referral Source”. Later, you’ll use these fields to filter reports and measure which bundles drive real impact.

2. Choose the right solution type for that outcome

Once you’re clear on what success looks like, map that goal to the right type of solution.

If your team needs to launch a clean CRM setup, you’re likely looking for an implementation partner. Selling into a specific niche? A vertical bundle might save weeks of setup. Struggling with disconnected tools? You’ll need an integration and automation stack.

Avoid mismatches like buying a generic training package when what you really need is a system-wide automation fix. If in doubt, start with a discovery call and let your partner guide you.

You can use resources like Pipedrive’s Marketplace as your partner solutions finder:

Browse by implementation, integration or industry specialization and compare the services each partner packages with Pipedrive CRM.

3. Shortlist and evaluate partners

With your goal and solution type clarified, it’s time to find a partner who can deliver it.

The most successful engagements tend to come from partners with strong alignment on:

• Ideal customer profile (ICP) fit (they’ve worked with companies like yours)
  
  

• Stack compatibility (they support the tools you already use)
  
  

• Delivery capacity (they have room for your project now)
  
  

• Pricing model (flat fee, hourly or retainer, depending on what fits your buying process)
  
  

• Proof of success (case studies or client references)

To simplify the decision, create a basic solution-fit scorecard. Assign a score of 1–5 for each of the criteria and tally the total for each candidate.

Pipedrive makes it easy to track this evaluation process. You can create a custom pipeline and log each potential partner as a lead:

You can then add custom fields for specialization, fit score or pricing tier. Use notes to capture takeaways from intro calls and create a deal if you’re moving forward with a proposal.

4. Co-design workflows, ownership and handoffs

After you’ve selected a partner, a smooth rollout depends on clearly defined workflows and ownership.

Start by clarifying responsibilities. Who manages automation logic? Who follows up on leads delivered by the partner? When you don’t clearly divide roles, small gaps turn into lost deals or stale dashboards.

Pipedrive’s Workflow Automation feature can help. You can automate handoffs between partner and internal teams by triggering actions based on deal stages, field updates or form submissions:

For example, when a partner-submitted deal hits “Live”, you might auto-assign a follow-up task to your Customer Success Manager (CSM).

As your solution grows or evolves, you can build more advanced workflows across marketing, billing or even DevOps without waiting on developers or adding headcount.

5. Set up tracking and optimization from day one

Once your solution goes live, you want to know quickly whether it’s delivering on the outcome you scoped.

Decide how you’ll tag partner-influenced deals, what dashboards you’ll use and how often you’ll review performance.

For example, with Pipedrive’s Insights feature, you can build dashboards that reflect performance for solution-tagged deals (win rates, cycle time, average deal size or lead source quality):

If you’ve set up attribution fields like “Partner Name” or “Solution Type”, you’ll now be able to filter reports by those values to analyze the impact of each solution across your pipeline.

Compare solution types, partners or deal owners to spot which ones are driving the best results.

Set a monthly or quarterly review where you and your partner look at the dashboards together. You can also use this time to plan next steps, flag issues or scope the next solution.

Partner solutions FAQs

Final thoughts

Partner solutions are the fastest way for SMBs to level up their sales operations without months of setup or hiring specialists.

You don’t need to piece together tools or reinvent processes. A partner can deliver a complete setup that drives real business results. Whether it’s onboarding, automation or reporting, the right solutions bundle turns your CRM into a revenue system.

Pipedrive gives you the visibility and structure to manage, measure and grow with partner solutions at every stage. Try Pipedrive free for 14 days and accelerate your revenue goals.