Referrals: Step-by-step: Setting up Referral Profile and What to do with an FPC customer referral

In this article: Overview | Get setup to receive referrals | Partner expectations | Execute on FPC Referrals | Assignments and Reassignments | Example: Referral Notification Email | Example: FastTrack Centered UX (FCU) in Partner Center | Example: Partner Assignment Email

Overview

When your organization signs the FastTrack Partner Community Terms and Conditions, you will Opt-in to receive Standard Referrals and FastTrack Ready Benefit Referrals (only for FastTrack Ready Partner Program members). Watch the following video for a guided tour, FastTrack Partner Community Referrals Profile - YouTube.

Get setup to receive referrals

Ensure that your company has correctly setup your Referral profile to be able receive one or both referral types.

1. Verify your opt-in status is reflected correctly by going to your Referral Profile on the Community Portal. All partners should have the Referral Ready flag selected and FastTrack Ready Partners should have the FastTrack Benefit Referral flag selected. 

2. Update your Referral Attributes in Referral Profile on the FPC. The referral matching process evaluates several attributes to ensure a strong match. Update opt-in selections in the Referral Profile:

• Languages served 
• Industry (Education/Government/Non-profit)
• Target Customer Size 
• Countries served (beyond the home country of the MPN ID location) 

Be sure that your Business Profile reflects the types of referrals you wish to receive.

Please watch the following video for a guided tour, FastTrack Partner Community Referrals Profile - YouTube.

3. Assign a referral contact. During the onboarding process, the partner organization will provide a referral contact or distribution list to receive referral notification emails. This contact must be able to respond to referrals within the 2-business day SLA. If changes need to be made to this contact, partners must submit a Support ticket.

4. FastTrack Ready Partners should be prepared to deliver the FastTrack Benefit.

5. Ensure one or more contacts has access to the FCU (FRP-Centered UX) in Partner Center:

• KB-01318 FRP-Centered UX (FCU): Overview
• KB-01490 FRP-Centered UX (FCU): Referrals tab
• FRP-Centered UX (FCU): Create and update Status Notes and Contacts

Partner Expectations

Execute on FPC Referrals

1. Watch for the Referral Notification email which will be sent to the Referral contact. See example below. This is a generic email notifying the partner that there is a referral requiring a response in the FCU. Click the link in the email to respond. For information on the customer contact, workloads requested and other information on the referral.
2. Review the referral in FCU (Partner Center): Under the Referrals tab in FCU, the new referral will be displayed in the list. Select the referral to view:
   1.  Active Usage for customer workloads
   2. Engagement management notes to understand the customer’s intent
3. Accept the referral. Click on the Edit button to action the referral. See details in the Referrals tab article. 
   1. Select Accept to take the referral. Ensure the Referral Status is marked Active. It will remain active until the referral has been fulfilled.
   2. Gather customer contact information to begin engagement.
   3. Account team contacts: Where the requestor is from Microsoft, establish initial contact prior to the first customer meeting.
   4. Select Decline if you do not wish to receive the referral and it will be reassigned to a new partner. You will need to select a reason for why you are declining the referral. Note: In some cases, it may be after you have already accepted the referral when you discover that you cannot fulfill the request. At that time, you may decline the referral. 
4. Contact the customer: Within the 2-business day SLA. Ensure the Microsoft Account Team aligned to the customer is included in all correspondence.
5. Schedule customer kick-off meeting and agree on next actions:
   1. For FastTrack Benefit referrals, present what is in-scope for the FastTrack Benefit using the Kick-off deck.
   2. For all referrals, showcase value-added services.
   3. Submit CPOR claim for applicable services.
6. Deliver Benefit or non-benefit services.
7. Identify additional engagement opportunities: Closely follow the usage progress in the FRP Dashboard via FCU and check for additional workload opportunities.

Assignments and Reassignments

• Existing Assignments: When making a partner-customer match, Microsoft will check to see if there are any existing partners who have claimed that customer for CPOR. If that partner is endorsed for the workloads on the referral request, that partner will receive the referral. If the claiming partner is not endorsed, the referral will be sent to an endorsed partner.
• Split Assignments: By ensuring customers are matched with partners who have workload expertise, Microsoft can increase customer satisfaction and successful delivery. If a single partner cannot be found that is endorsed for all workloads on the referral request, the referral may be split between partners.
• We are no longer accepting direct assignment requests. Customers are free to work with the partner of their choice without a referral. Microsoft field may also make direct partner-customer connections.
• Reassignments: Referrals are created using extensive matching criteria to avoid the need to reassign. If a partner cannot support the customer engagement, they may decline the referral by selecting Edit and Decline. A reason for declining will need to be provided. The referral will then be assigned to a new partner. Note: If a customer wishes to have a different partner for a justifiable reason, the account team may submit a reassignment.
• Common reassignment reasons
  • Customer is already working with another FRP
  • Customer is unresponsive
  • Customer is unable to work with FRP due to legal/political issues
  • FRP does not support customer type (Gov/Edu)
  • Requested Language not supported by FRP

• Our response to common rejected reassignment reasons 
  • Reason: "Customer prefers to work with FastTrack Center."
    • Response: Partners are Microsoft FastTrack representatives.
  • Reason: "Account team does not wish to work with a partner." 
    • Response: The partners deliver at the same level of excellence as the FTC.
  • Reason: "Partner is at capacity."
    • Response: While we would grant this on a one-time basis, partners will be able to turn off referrals for a limited time to manage capacity issues.

Example: Referral Notification Email

Links to: Partner Center/Insights/FastTrack/Referrals

Example: FastTrack Centered UX (FCU) in Partner Center

Partner Assignment Email

Sent from Referral processor’s email (example: v-jsmith@microsoft.com)