What is Salesforce AppExchange?
Salesforce AppExchange is a marketplace where you can explore different Salesforce apps, different Lightning apps, Lightning components, flow solutions, and much more. It is a store that offers solutions to your problems, and helps you extend your services with the help of the Salesforce technology.
If you do not wish to create a solution or app from scratch, there is a chance that you will find an exceptionally good app that suits your needs in Salesforce AppExchange. Speaking of security, you will find all the security features, reliability, and trust on the AppExchange platform as you would expect from the Salesforce platform.
The Salesforce AppExchange platform is used by developers, admins, and other Salesforce professionals to make the teams more productive and the processes more efficient.
AppExchange offers different types of solutions, such as apps, components, and consulting services, from top experts.
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How Does AppExchange Work?
The foremost thing that you must understand is that you must be a Salesforce partner to create a solution that is publicly available to potential customers. These partners are the creative power house behind each AppExchange solution.
These partners create solutions via extensions, which the admins select and install to suit their organization’s requirements. In the next section, you will go through how AppExchange actually works:
AppExchange is a three-step process involving creation, publication, and installation.
- Creation: A Salesforce partner starts the process by creating a solution that can be an extension, component, custom object, custom tab, etc.; this will help in improving a business process. These partners then share their solutions with other Salesforce users as an app, AppExchange solution, Bolt Solution, Lightning data, etc.
- Publication: The Salesforce partner then registers, packages, and publishes their solution on the AppExchange platform. They can also add a demo of its functionality to help customers understand what they are installing.
- Installation: Customers using Salesforce can explore, browse, and choose solutions that are apt for their problems. Customers can then install these solutions to their Salesforce ecosystem. Customers can browse solutions within AppExchange, conduct a Test Drive or review the product, install the solution, and deploy the solution to help the users access the solution.
How and When to Create a Salesforce AppExchange listing?
You can create a Salesforce AppExchange listing after creating a provider profile and uploading your package. You are allowed to list only one app or component. This helps in making things simple, as you can now maintain and upgrade your offerings over their life cycle.
AppExchange does not dilute an app’s ranking because it does not use multiple listings. This feature of offering only one listing helps your customers find your services and their reviews all in one place.
How to Install AppExchange Applications?
- Step 1: First, you have to log in to your Salesforce account and then go to the App menu and select AppExchange. Once you do that, it will directly navigate you to Salesforce appExchange.
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- Step 2: Now, you can search for the app you need. If you are in search of the app Sdocs, the screen will look like the image below:
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- Step 3: When you click on the app, you will be directly navigated to a page where you will get the app details. If you want to get the app, then click on the Get It Now button in the green color.
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- Step 4: When you click on the Get It Now button, you will have to choose the environment in which you are going to install the app. Click on Next. Accept the terms and conditions and then click on the Confirm and Install button.
- Step 5: After that, enter your environmental credentials and log in. You will be directly navigated to the Package installation details. If you wish to continue to install, click on the Continue button and then click on Next.
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- Step 6: Now, you have to select the security levels, i.e., you need to decide to whom you want to give access. Click on Next and, finally, click on the Install button. Once the installation is complete, you would be notified via email.
If you want to verify if the app is installed or not, go to Setup > Build > click on Installed AppExchange.
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Create and Publish an App in Salesforce AppExchange
Once Salesforce partners create apps in the Salesforce AppExchange, they then go for app publishing. Every partner who looks forward to publishing an app, component, or consulting service must follow several steps. They are:
- Connect a Packaging Organization to AppExchange
If you are to publish a listing on AppExchange, you must connect the packaging organization, containing your package components or app, to AppExchange. Follow these steps:
- Log into Partner Community
- Click on Organizations tab within the Publishings Page
- Next, click on Connect Organization
- Feed the login credentials for the organization containing the package you want to list
- Finally, click on Submit
- Create or Edit a Provider Profile
If you have an accurate provider profile, it gives a positive impression and helps you develop customer trust for your applications, components, and consulting services. These details could be your mission statement, your location, etc. People browsing listings would be able to access this information by clicking over the Providers tab. To edit a provider profile, head over to the Publishing page of the Partner community and click on the Company Info tab to create and edit your profile.
- Create or Edit an AppExchange Listing
Within an AppExchange listing, you can market your consulting services, components, and applications. To perform this, you must create a new AppExchange listing or edit an existing one.
To create or edit a listing, go to the Publishing page in the partner community and click on the Listings tab. It would be beneficial if you explore different tabs such as Business Plan, Text, App, Media, Trials, Component, Trials, Service Offering, Leads, Pricing, etc.
- Adding a Business Plan to an AppExchange Listing
You must add a business plan before submitting the product for security review to your AppExchange listing. Within the AppExchange Publishing Console, you can go to your product listing to add a business plan.
To edit an existing AppExchange listing, you will need User Permissions and then go to Manage Listings. If the listing is paid, you must provide pricing details before adding a business plan. Failing to do so will make you incapable of providing compliance information. If the listing is free, there is no need to offer compliance information.
- Make Your AppExchange Listing Effective
It is essential to make your listings attractive and unique to attract more customers.. To make your listing more effective, you can combine customer-oriented writing, compelling visuals, and good packaging. You can make your listings more effective by following these simple steps:
- Customers must understand the use case of this solution and how it will solve their problems.
- Adding visuals, such as screenshots, demos, videos, etc., will make the listings more attractive.
- The listings should be very easy to read.
- Aim for simple, clean designs that are appealing to the eyes.
- Always preview the listings before publishing them.
- Choosing an Installation Option
Always aim for making the installation options easier for the customers. If the installation options are easier, then customers are more willing to pay for your services. These are three installation options:
- Directly from AppExchange
- From your website
- Customer will have to call you for installation
- Register Your Package and Choose License Settings
If your package is registered and set up with License Management App (LMA), you will receive a license record every time your application or component is installed. Licensing is an efficient way of tracking your app or component regarding who is using it and for how long they are using it.
- Submit Your Package for Security Review
To offer your solutions through an application, component, or consulting service, you must pass the AppExchange Security review to be able to distribute your services for even a free trial. The review ensures that the services you offer are safe to install for a customer.
If you want an application or component that needs to be security reviewed, follow these steps:
- Login to Partner Community
- Click on the Packages tab in the Publishing Page
- Find the package that you want to submit, and click on Start Review
- Follow the steps in the Security Review Rizard to complete the submission
Once you complete all these steps, a Salesforce Partner operations team from AppExchange will contact you within the next two days.
Pricing of Salesforce AppExchange
Pricing is a significant factor when it comes to working with Salesforce AppExchange. You provide a solution or product of value to the customer, and the customer pays you back for the service monetarily.
To set pricing for your apps, you must understand that the price should never be fixed, rather it must be dynamic throughout the life of the app. The price must be changed with each iteration or feature addition, taking into consideration the customer demand. There are three very specific steps that you must understand before setting a final price:
- Evaluating AppExchange pricing model options
- Understanding a customer’s category and their pricing expectations
- Considering the app’s price in relation to the Salesforce pricing
Now, you will go through the steps in detail:
- Evaluating AppExchange pricing models
Before setting up the AppExchange pricing models, understand the units by which you will set the price of your app. There are three options:
User: It is the most important unit that Salesforce uses to price its own products. It is ideal as customers have already purchased from Salesforce before.
Company: This unit is used when the value your app offers is on an organization-wide basis versus a per-user basis.
Custom: This unit is least used because unlike the other two options, there is no simple way to manage the IPs related to an app.
- Understanding a customer’s category and their pricing expectations
It is important to understand your customer’s category and expectations from an app that is similar to your app. Whenever a customer sees your app, they will start comparing it with an app that they have already used or reviewed, and will compare the services with the price tags. So, you must understand the app features or services that they are looking for, and then take appropriate actions in developing and pricing those services.
- Considering the app’s price in relation to the Salesforce pricing
Whenever a customer sees your solution or product, they will compare it with a related offering by a Salesforce counterpart. This is a critical piece of information that you must understand while pricing an AppExchange app. This will help in deciding a fair price for your solutions.
Conclusion
This in-depth blog about AppExchange covers how it works, how to create and edit an AppExchange listing, install AppExchange applications, how to create and publish a Salesforce AppExchange app, and how to price an AppExchange app.