The ISV Guide to Saleforce AppExchange

 Salesforce customers from all over the world and from all industries search for solutions on the AppExchange to drive business success. Salesforce customers improve their martech experience by adding additional features and functionality to Salesforce out-of-the-box. System Integrators (SIs) and internal Salesforce sales teams and SEs also use the AppExchange to research and compare applications for their customers.

With the AppExchange’s 7000+ ready-to-install apps, solutions, and consulting services, businesses of all shapes and sizes can improve their business’s operations with add-on solutions to enhance their Salesforce investment. Since its inception in 2005, AppExchange has seen 9 Million installs, spanning categories such as sales, marketing, customer service, finance, and human resources.

Consulting firms, like system integrators and GSIs (Global System Integrators) can also list their services on the AppExchange.

The Salesforce AppExchange is available exclusively to Salesforce customers and partners. Salesforce’s 150,000+ customers – which range from small startups to major enterprises like U.S. Bank and American Express – use the AppExchange to improve their martech experience. 

Independent software vendors, or ISVs for short, can become Salesforce Partners and sell their app or services on the AppExchange. The ISV umbrella includes small startups that are just getting started, as well as established tech companies and even more traditional companies like UPS, Ford and more.

• Access to a vast customer base
• Potential for co-selling and co-marketing initiatives with Salesforce 
• Resources such as the Salesforce Partner Community and Salesforce Partner Program 
• Access to a dedicated ecosystem of passionate fans 
• 90%+ of Salesforce customers have downloaded at least one app from the AppExchange
• Sponsor events like Dreamforce and Worldtour

Like Salesforce at large, the AppExchange has its own language. The 6 main AppExchange categories include:

• AppExchange Applications. These are out-of-the-box, third-party applications. 

• AppExchange Components. Components offer you a no-code or lo-code experience, enabling you to create apps and pages with blocks.

• Bolt solutions. Every industry can benefit from pre-built templates to help you get to market faster.

• Lightning Data. Salesforce offers pre-integrated, scalable data solutions that enable sales, marketing, and operations leaders to track business performance in real time. 

• Flow Solutions. With flow solutions, businesses can automate manual processes with no-code tools. 
• Expert-led consulting services. In addition to apps, you can also find consulting services on the AppExchange to help solve pressing business problems. 

By aligning their applications with the unique needs and preferences of Salesforce customers, ISVs can capitalize on the platform’s widespread adoption to drive user acquisition and generate revenue.

Listing on the AppExchange is a true team effort. You’ll need buy-in and investment from multiple functions, from the top down. 

Development & engineering. At minimum, building a Salesforce App requires familiarity with the Salesforce platform. Depending on how complicated your solution is, knowledge of Apex (Salesforce’s proprietary programming language) and JavaScript might be required. A background in security will also be helpful. 

Cloud alliances & partnership. The Salesforce ecosystem is vast and complex, which means you’ll need to form strategic partnerships. Having a cloud alliance manager on your team, especially someone with previous experience navigating the ecosystem, will streamline your listing success. 

Marketing & GTM strategy. In addition to the app itself, you will need the full suite of GTM materials to succeed on the AppExchange. Unfortunately, getting the marketing team’s attention can be challenging. With Invisory’s templates, for instance, your partnership and marketing team can generate collateral with the right messaging, quickly and seamlessly.

Security & compliance. Your app will need to meet Salesforce’s strict security standards, which means passing the Salesforce Security Review. Failure to comply with these requirements can result in delayed launches or even exclusion from the AppExchange.

App performance. Your solution will need to keep up with Salesforce’s ongoing platform updates. This means ongoing development, testing, and maintenance is a must. Otherwise, you will miss user expectations and disappoint customers. 

Differentiation. With thousands of apps available on the AppExchange, standing out is no easy task. You’ll need to think strategically about marketing, positioning, and customer engagement to drive adoption.

1. Create a Salesforce account. As silly as it sounds, you can’t list your app on the AppExchange without being a Salesforce user yourself. 
2. Become a Salesforce Partner. The Salesforce Partner Program is a free program that helps ISVs get started with building, listing, and eventually selling on the AppExchange. Completing the registration process is required.
3. Research if your app (or idea) fits the AppExchange mold. Not every app is right for Salesforce. In general, your offering should help enhance the Salesforce customer experience, broadly defined. 
4. Determine your GTM messaging. Now that you have your app, you’ll need to figure out how to position yourself in the marketplace – and against your competition. Without the right messaging, your listing might fall on deaf ears. (Invisory can help here!).
5. Build out your AppExchange listing. In order to publish to the AppExchange you’ll need to publish a world-class listing that includes your key value proposition, differentiators, collateral and more.
6. Come to a pricing decision. Some ISVs offer their app free, especially at the beginning. Others offer a monthly/annual subscription plan. 40% off AppExchange apps are available for free, so you’ll want to make sure yours is truly making a difference if you’re charging customers. Offering your app for free is a great way to gather initial user feedback.
7. Submit your listing for security review. We’ll talk about this more below, but before you get listed, ensuring that your app meets AppExchange’s rigorous security standards is a must. This can take 6-8 weeks, or longer if changes are required.
8. Hit the “Publish Listing” button. Publish your listing is just the first step of your Salesforce GTM strategy. At this point, you’ll be able to configure your pricing and licensing settings, integrate with a payment system, and publish your app so potential customers can begin installing your solution.
9. Maintain a positive reputation. Now that you’re listed, the challenging part comes in. You will want to make sure that your landing page is updated with your app’s latest features. At this stage, carefully monitoring customer feedback is key, since you’ll want 5-star reviews to stand out. If bugs are negatively affecting performance, for instance, you will want to address those quickly.
10. Go-to-market! Marketing your AppExchange solution can be challenging. You’ll need battlecards, 1-pagers, competitors matrixes, and so much more. While Salesforce offers some resources, ISVs realistically will need a cloud & alliance team to build relationships at Salesforce, as well as marketing resources.

Protecting customer data is a top priority for Salesforce. This means all AppExchange listings must undergo a rigorous security review. Salesforce will test for common threads leveraged by hackers and malware, such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting, non-secure authentication and access control protocols, and Salesforce-specific vulnerabilities, and more. 

Before submitting for review, make sure you have a bullet-proof security strategy, read Salesforce Security Review Guidelines, connect with Salesforce’s Security team if you have questions, and prepare all of the required documentation.

Learn more about AppExchange’s security review on Trailhead.

• $150 annual listing fee (paid apps)
• $2550 fee for Security Review (one-time payment)

If your app is free or your listing falls under “Consulting Partners,” then there is no fee.

If your AppExchange listing is not selling, you’re not alone. Many ISVs struggle to get traction, at least at first. 

Curious to learn more about how Invisory’s 30-60-90 day approach has helped companies like Box and GridMate reach success on the AppExchange? Download our eBook, “Mastering the Salesforce AppExchange Launch with Invisory: Leveraging Opportunities and Mitigating Risks in the First 90 Days,” for checklists, in-depth guides, and more. 

30 days post-launch

In the 30 days after your listing is live, you’ll want to establish lead capture and follow-up processes, enable your team with GTM resources, launch new campaigns, and start building strong partnerships with SIs.

60 days post-launch

Two months after your initial launch is a great time to evaluate early results, measure KPIs, gather feedback, identify trends, and adjust your sales strategy. It’s also a great time to begin participating in the Salesforce community. 

90 days post-launch

By the 90-day point, you should be thinking about Salesforce win-tiles, co-selling with Partner Account Managers (PAMs), developing new content, managing risks, and fostering partnerships.

The revenue share with Salesforce is:

• 15%, if the customer pays with a bank transfer
• 15%, plus $.30 per transaction fee, if paid by credit card

Salesforce does not charge setup fees, monthly service charges, or credit storages. Read more about AppExchange Revenue Sharing.

Salesforce AppExchange is home to 7000+ apps, solutions, and consulting services. Around 3000 apps are paid. 

Popular Salesforce AppExchange Apps include DocuSign, Quip, Cloudingo, Adobe Sign, Conga, Mailchimp, and of course Salesforce itself. 

Common AppExchange use cases include marketing automation, data validation, connectors, components, expanse management, and B2B consulting services led by experts.