Automation · Revenue operations
How to build partner onboarding
A partner signs the agreement, then waits three weeks for portal access, and by the time it arrives they have moved on to a vendor that answered faster. How to set a partner up everywhere on the day they sign, the prompts that build it, and what keeps the CRM and the portal agreeing about who the partner is.
Built with Tray Headless
- System DocuSign
- Step Create the partner
- Step Same record everywhere
- Step Portal access
- System Impartner
The signed agreement starts everything: the partner account in the CRM, portal access for each named contact, a partner manager, and the first training.
The short answer
What is partner onboarding?
Partner onboarding has four parts: the signed agreement as the one starting point, so nobody sets a partner up from an email; one partner record created in the CRM and copied to the partner portal with the same id, tier and terms; access for each named contact at the partner, with the training they need assigned straight away; and a named partner manager told the same day, with a first check-in booked. What breaks most programs is the second part. When the CRM and the portal are set up by hand, they disagree about the partner's tier within a month, and the payout argument starts there.
Stage 1 of 6: Onboard the partner. Part of Partner integrations, end to end : every stage, the systems it runs on and the guide that builds it.
What matters here
- Start from the signed agreement. A partner set up from an email has terms nobody can find later.
- Create the partner once, in the CRM, and copy it to the portal with the same id. Two hand-made records drift.
- Give each named contact access on the day the agreement is signed. Three weeks of silence loses partners.
- Assign the first training straight away. A partner who can't sell your product yet will sell someone else's.
- Name a partner manager the same day. A new partner with no human contact assumes nobody is there.
Who this is for
You run partner or channel operations. New partners are set up by hand across the CRM, the partner portal and the training system, and the first weeks depend on who remembers what.
How it works in practice
From the agreement being signed to the partner selling.
- 1
The partner agreement is signed
The signature, not an approval email, starts onboarding, and the agreement's terms come with it: tier, discount, territory.
- 2
The partner is created in the CRM
As a partner account, linked to the agreement, with the tier and terms as fields rather than notes.
- 3
The same partner is created in the portal
With the CRM's id, so the two records are always one partner.
- 4
Each named contact gets access
Portal login, the partner's deal registration form, and the first training assigned in the learning system.
- 5
A partner manager is assigned and told
By territory or tier, in Slack, with a first check-in booked for week one.
- 6
Progress is watched for thirty days
First login, first training finished, first deal registered, with a nudge when one hasn't happened.
What partner onboarding is made of
Four parts. The second keeps every later stage honest.
One starting point
The signed agreement, read for tier, discount, territory and named contacts, so the terms are on the record from day one.
One partner, two places
Created in the CRM, copied to the portal with the same id, and kept in step when the tier or terms change.
Access for every named contact
Portal login and first training, assigned from the agreement's contact list, never from a forwarded email.
A named partner manager
A partner manager named by territory or tier, told the same day, with a check-in booked.
The Tray Headless prompts
Paste these into Claude Code or Codex with the Tray Headless plugin installed. Each stage runs on its own. The systems named in them are the worked example rather than a requirement, and every prompt says so.
Once per project, run
/tray-workflows:set-workspace
to pick the workspace these build in. Point it at a sandbox first.
- 1
Read what the agreement holds
The terms have to be fields, not a PDF somebody remembers.
Headless skills
build-workflowUse build-workflow. The systems in play are DocuSign, Salesforce, Impartner, Docebo and Slack, or whatever we run in those seats. Before you plan anything, tell me which of them are already authenticated in the workspace. Look at the last five signed partner agreements. List what each holds that onboarding needs: partner company, tier, discount or referral rate, territory, products, named contacts and their roles. Tell me which of those are form fields in the envelope and which are only in the document text. The ones only in the text become fields before we build anything else.
- 2
Create the partner once, then copy it
Two hand-made records drift within a month.
Headless skills
build-workflowtray-gotchasUse build-workflow and tray-gotchas. When a partner agreement is completed in DocuSign: Find or create the partner account in Salesforce. Match on domain first, so a company that is already a customer becomes a partner too rather than a duplicate Set the tier, rate, territory and products from the agreement, and link the envelope Create the partner in Impartner with the Salesforce account id as its external id From then on, the CRM is where tier and terms change. When they do, update the portal. Never the other way round.
- 3
Give every named contact access
Three weeks of silence loses partners.
For each named contact on the agreement, create them as a contact on the partner account, give them a portal login, and enrol them in the first training path for their role in Docebo: sales, technical or both. Email each one their login and what to do first, from the partner manager's name rather than a no-reply address. If a contact's email domain doesn't match the partner's, stop and ask the partner manager before giving access.
- 4
Name a manager, then watch the first thirty days
A partner with no human contact assumes nobody is there.
Assign a partner manager by territory and tier from a table partner operations owns. Tell them in Slack with the partner, the tier, the contacts and the agreement, and book a first check-in in week one. For thirty days, check: first portal login, first training finished, first deal registered. If any hasn't happened by day ten, tell the partner manager. Report weekly how many partners onboarded and how many reached each step.
Days from signature to first registered deal is the number that says whether onboarding works.
What it connects to
The agreement is the start. The CRM holds the partner, the portal shows it to them.
DocuSign
Start onboarding when the partner agreement is completed, and read the tier, terms and named contacts.
Reads
Salesforce
Hold the partner account, its tier and terms, and its contacts, as the record every other system copies.
Reads and writes
Impartner
Create the partner and each contact's login in the portal, with the CRM's id, and keep tier and terms in step.
Writes
Slack
Tell the partner manager about a new partner, and nudge them when a first step hasn't happened.
Writes
Same build, other stacks
The design does not change if you run something else in one of these seats. The same prompts build it against Microsoft Dynamics 365, Microsoft Teams, HubSpot or Google Chat.
Connections in this build
Field mapping, templates and common problems for each pairing: DocuSign + Salesforce, Impartner + Salesforce, Docebo + Salesforce and DocuSign + Slack.
Named systems are the ones most teams run, not the only ones that work. Each is an authentication in your Tray workspace, referenced by name, so the workflow never holds a credential. Where we have a connector page, the name links to it.
Running it in production
This is the partner's first impression of working with you.
It runs the moment the agreement is signed
At any hour, so a partner signing on a Friday evening has access before Monday.
One partner record, copied, never retyped
The CRM's id travels to the portal and the training system, so tier and terms can't disagree.
Credentials stay in the workspace
The portal, CRM and signing tool are separate authentications in your workspace, never in the build.
Partner ops own the tables
Training paths by role and managers by territory open in Tray Build, so a change in the program is a table edit.
Questions people ask
How fast should partner onboarding be?
Access on the day the agreement is signed. Partners talk to several vendors, and the one that answers first gets the attention.
Should the CRM or the partner portal hold the partner record?
The CRM, because that is where deals, payouts and reporting already live. The portal gets a copy with the CRM's id, and changes flow one way.
What if the partner is already a customer?
Match on domain before creating anything, and mark the existing account as a partner too. Two accounts for one company split the history and confuse deal registration.
How do you know onboarding worked?
Days from signature to first registered deal, and how many new partners reach first login, first training and first registration within thirty days.
Related guides
Revenue operations
How to build partner certification tracking
Bring partner training and certifications back to the CRM and the partner portal, so tiers, deal registration and renewals reflect who at the partner can actually sell. The prompts.
Revenue operations
How to build partner deal registration
Check submissions against pipeline in seconds, protect for a fixed window, expire visibly, and settle conflicts with a rule rather than an argument. The prompts.
Legal and compliance
How to build a contract lifecycle sync
Extract the obligations rather than storing a PDF, put renewal and notice dates where somebody will see them, and never let the signed version drift. The prompts.
Last reviewed October 2026.