2024 Updates

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

• Custom contact information included in lead/contact exports

• Updated sorting for Browse Collateral

• General improvements and bug fixes

Custom contact information included in lead/contact exports

When users export their list of contacts or leads from the partner portal, the exported CSV file now includes columns for any custom data fields you've created.

Your partner account administrator creates custom contact fields in > Settings > Contact Fields.

Users can manage and export their contacts and leads from the Contacts and Leads pages, if they've been provided in the partner portal by your supplier.

For more information, see Exporting a List of Contacts and Exporting a List of Leads.

Updated sorting for Browse Collateral

We've improved the sorting of the Browse Collateral page, when it's provided by your supplier in your partner portal. Assets are sorted depending on the action being taken:

• Default - sorted by Content Date (most recent first)

  

• Search results - sorted by Relevance, with Content Date as a secondary sort for those items that have equal relevance

  

Users can use the Sort by filter at any time to sort the assets by Relevance, Content Date, or Name.

We're pleased to announce the beta release of our Portal AI Expert. If your supplier has enabled it in your partner portal, you can chat with the Expert and it'll help you with your marketing tasks by collecting the information and content your supplier’s provided for you.

The Portal AI Expert can:

• Collate all available information provided by your supplier on a particular subject
• Restructure/reformat the information as required for your own use case
• Translate a response, or have a whole conversation with you in your native language
• Allow you to copy a response for use elsewhere
• Regenerate a response to update it based on new information
• Track up to 10 conversations

For more information about working with the AI Expert in your partner portal, see Our AI Expert.

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

• Distributed Leads default to Open when accepted

• General improvements and bug fixes

Distributed Leads default to Open when accepted

When your users accept distributed leads from your supplier, either manually or via auto-acceptance, their status is now automatically set to Open. The user no longer has to manually give the lead a status upon receipt. This eliminates an unnecessary manual step for your users, and will help to reduce the chance of leads being missed because they have an empty status.

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

• Use of Social Form in Social Posts may be required

• General improvements and bug fixes

Use of Social Form in Social Posts may be required

Suppliers now have an option to require the use of a Social Form with the Social Posts they provide for you to use (contacts must complete the form with their contact details before accessing the content of the post).

If your supplier requires the use of a Social Form, you must have personalized your form to be able to activate/use the posts that include it. If they've enabled the option, you'll see this message when activating a Social Post:

For information on personalizing your Social Form, see Personalizing a Social Form.

• Link to partner portal page from logo

• General improvements and bug fixes

Link to partner portal page from logo

Your supplier can now choose to remove the first item from a partner portal navigation (e.g. the Home link), and have you click the portal logo to go to the page instead. Your portal navigation may look like one of these:

• Users can click the logo or the navigation item to go to the page, e.g. the homepage.

  

• Users click on the logo to go to the page - a specific link isn't included in the navigation.

  

• Deals listing shows all deals, regardless of type

• General improvements and bug fixes

Deals listing shows all deals, regardless of type

We've removed the restriction on Deal Types when displaying deals - users' Deals listing in the portal now includes all deals for which they are the selected partner. Previously, a user could only see deals that were raised against Deal Types (e.g. Standard, Referral) that the partner account had access to.

Note: A user still only has access to certain Deal Types when they're registering a deal in the portal.

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

• Support for changing unit prices in deals

• Option to filter Deals listing by account

• General improvements and bug fixes

Support for changing unit prices in deals

Deal line items are no longer explicitly linked to the pricing defined in their pricebook. When you add a line item to a deal, the current unit price from the pricebook is used, but is retained for that line item for the life of the deal. If your supplier updates their pricebook, any new unit prices will be used when you create new line items for the same deal, but the change won't affect line items that have already been added.

Note: to update a line item to reflect a change in its unit price, delete the existing line item from the deal and add a new one.

For more information about registering deals, see Manage Deals.

Option to filter Deals listing by account

It’s now possible for you to view all the deals you've raised against a specific account. In the Deals listing in your portal, use the Account filter in the left sidebar to search for and select the required account.

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

• CAPTCHA in supplier forms

• Account name included in Deals listing

• Improved sorting of collateral by Relevance

• General improvements and bug fixes

CAPTCHA in supplier forms

You may now see CAPTCHA verification included as a default on some forms users complete in your partner portal. This helps to reduce spam submissions and requests to your supplier, by ensuring that the forms are completed by a human.

Your supplier may add CAPTCHA to these forms:

• Password Reset / Forgotten Password form
• Partner Registration and Partner User Registration forms

Contact your supplier point of contact if you have any questions.

Account name included in Deals listing

The Deals listing in the partner portal now includes details of the end customer account associated with each deal. This enables you to view your deal landscape in a single location, without having to click into each deal individually.

Improved sorting of collateral by Relevance

The Collateral pages in the partner portal are sorted by Relevance by default. We've improved the sorting so that assets of equal relevance are now listed by create date, from latest to oldest.

• Custom field values shown in template for bulk import of Leads

• General improvements and bug fixes

Custom field values shown in template for bulk import of Leads

Some fields for lead data may have multiple configured values for selection. When a user is importing their registered leads in bulk into the portal, they need to know what values for those fields are permitted. We've added this information to the template users can download as guidance for a bulk import of leads.

When a user is using the File Import option in the Registered Leads page, they can choose Download template (existing functionality). The CSV file downloaded now displays the values for any custom fields that have multiple possible values.

The individual values are separated by a semi-colon.

Note: the user must delete all values that they don't want to use, before they import the finished file.

• Communication Status information included in export of Lead data

• Opt-in emails not sent for Locator contacts

• General improvements and bug fixes

Communication Status information included in export of Lead data

We've added the field Communication Status to the CSV file exported when your users choose Export > Export Contacts in the Leads pages of your partner portal. Having this information available means your users can sort their list of leads by contact status and easily identify those who have unsubscribed from communications.

Opt-in emails not sent for Locator contacts

We've made a small change to the communication/distribution process for leads generated by a contact request from a Locator in the partner portal. The original contact no longer receives an email asking them to opt in to partner communications when you accept them as a lead (if your partner portal account requires Opt-In Authorization for communications).

• Guidance text for Lead import

• General improvements and bug fixes

Guidance text for Lead import

We've added some guidance to the Upload Leads page, where users map their lead fields to ZiftONE/platform fields while bulk importing leads. This will help users understand what they need to achieve in the page.

• Updates to T&Cs acceptance

• Editing closed for deals at Closed/Won stage

• General improvements and bug fixes

Updates to T&Cs acceptance

We've updated the way in which Terms & Conditions (T&Cs) must be accepted:

• Zift T&Cs (shown on first log in to the partner portal) - any user in your partner account can accept them. The first user to log in to the portal will be asked to accept the T&Cs on behalf of your organization, even if they don't have the Administrator role. No other users will be required to accept the T&Cs once the first user has completed the task. 
• Supplier T&Cs (if provided) - your supplier may specify that any user in your partner organization can accept their Terms and Conditions (T&Cs) for accessing their partner portal, or that the user must be an Administrator, or that all users must accept. 

Editing closed for deals at Closed/Won stage

We've updated the edit options for deals - when a deal reaches Closed/Won stage, it can no longer be edited. This matches the option for deals at Closed/Lost stage.

The Edit Deal button is removed when the deal is at that stage:

• Improved searching

• Approved / Rejected / Expired dates visible for deals

• General improvements and bug fixes

Improved searching

We have made significant improvements to our search capabilities in partner portals.

Key Benefit: The results you get when browsing or searching for content are much more relevant, and are returned to you quickly.

We’ve implemented these changes:

• Search results now sorted by relevance as a default, when accessing from Browse Collateral / My Collateral / Browse Campaigns / My Campaigns:

  

• Search option in the top toolbar of your portal, which allows you to find the content you’re looking for, from any page

  

• Entering search terms in a particular way in the Browse / My Collateral, Browse / My Campaigns pages and Search bars helps you locate the exact content you’re looking for

  • Type multiple words to search for all content containing any of the selected words, in any order
  • Wrap a multi-word search in quotes " " to match the exact phrase
  • Add an asterisk * at the end of a word to look for all variations of that word

  

Approved / Rejected / Expired dates visible for deals

We've added more information to the details available for deals. You can now see the dates on which these actions took place:

• Approved
• Rejected
• Expired

• New display for Create/Edit Lead forms

• Feedback section in Lead records

• Local time displayed for Partner Events

• Warning about ad blockers

• General improvements and bug fixes

New display for Create/Edit Lead forms

There are now two possible display options for Create Lead and Edit Lead forms in the partner portal. Your supplier may have the forms set up in one of these ways:

• As a popup window

  

• As a page

  

Feedback section in Lead records

Your Distributed Leads from your supplier now display a Feedback section, when you view them in the partner portal. You can use the Edit Feedback option to add new values to the fields provided by your supplier.

Local time displayed for Partner Events

When a user views a Partner Event provided by the supplier on the portal, they see the event time displayed in their own timezone.

In this example, the Partner Event has a date/time of April 20, 2024 14:00 - Aug 31, 2024, 22:00 (BST). When viewed by a user in EDT timezone, the event shows the equivalent date and time:

The timezone is based on the user’s Timezone system setting. If they don't have a timezone setting, the display defaults to UTC.

Warning about ad blockers

Warnings displayed to portal users that have ad blockers enabled were being hidden - they have now been restored.

Ad blockers can prevent certain areas of the portal from functioning correctly - the message advises the user to disable their ad blocker to ensure access to all features and functionality.

• Updates to filters in Social Media pages

• Bulk upload of Registered Leads

• General improvements and bug fixes

Updates to filters in Social Media pages

We've made some changes to the filters available in your users' social media pages in the partner portal. To ensure that each user's social media landscape is reflected accurately, these filters are available to them in Upcoming Posts, Library Posts, and Post History:

• For the social networks to which the user is connected (instead of having a filter for all platforms, as is currently the case)

  For example, this user only has their Facebook account connected to their portal account. Their administrator has connected three accounts for the partner - LinkedIn, X, and Facebook. When the user filters for Company Posts, they see the three accounts as filters, but when they look in Personal Posts but they only have the option to filter for Facebook posts.

  Company Posts

  

  Your Posts

  

• For the tag values that are assigned to posts in the list (instead of having a filter for all configured tags, as is currently the case)

  For example, this user is working for a supplier that has tags in the Business Size, Language, Objective, Product, and Vertical categories configured, but they can only filter for those in the Vertical and Product categories, as these are the only tags actually used in posts available to them.

  

These changes prevent users from trying to find posts that don't exist, or that they can't use.

Bulk upload of Registered Leads

Your users may now have the option to bulk upload their Registered Leads into the partner portal.

Note: This option needs to be enabled by your supplier.

In the Registered Leads page, click Register New Lead > File Import.

Select the file that contains the leads - these file formats are supported: XLSX (maximum size 1MB), and XLS, TXT, or CSV (maximum size 5MB).

You can download a template for the import, which gives guidance on the information to be provided.

• Add/remove attachments for a Deal only when editing the deal

• Hide Contact removed from Lead Registration form

• General improvements and bug fixes

Add/remove attachments for a Deal only when editing the deal

We've made some updates to the way users add attachments (for additional information) when registering a Deal in the portal. The current process is not intuitive and involves several steps.

• A user can only add attachments to a Deal form when the form is in Edit mode, either when creating a new deal or clicking Edit to update an existing one. The Attachments field/Upload option is disabled if they're just viewing the Deal.
• An upload of an attachment saves automatically, without having to click additional buttons.
• Upload of an attachment updates the deal record, which in turn triggers a sync back to a CRM, if an integration is configured.

Hide Contact removed from Lead Registration form

We've removed the Hide Contact option from the form presented when partner users are registering a lead in the portal. User feedback indicated a preference for a cleaner form, with contact fields always visible for reference:

• Improved handling of Deal forms with missing required information

• General improvements and bug fixes

Improved handling of Deal forms with missing required information

We've improved the way Deal forms behave when a user hasn't completed all the required information. Previously, the Submit button was disabled until all required information had been provided but this did not provide guidance as to why the form couldn't be submitted.

Now, the Submit button remains active but, when clicked, any missing required information is highlighted in the form, with red markers. The user is taken to the first required field that is missing information.

• Updates to web plugin captured when reviewing

• General improvements and bug fixes

Updates to web plugin captured when reviewing

We've made changes to the way you personalize web plugins provider by your supplier. Previously, there were two options for reviewing a web plugin after you'd made changes:

• Apply - applied the changes and showed the new version of the plugin in the preview window
• View - showed the original saved version for review, but without the latest changes

This caused confusion as it didn't accurately reflect the current state of the plugin.

We've clarified the process - you now have these options:

• Apply (as previously)
• View - now advises that you must publish your changes before reviewing them - the updated version of the plugin opens when you confirm
• Save and Save & Next are now Publish and Publish & Next - this ensures that the plugin is published for use after updates

You can always be sure that your changes to a plugin have been captured when you navigate around the review options.

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

• New options for adding attachments to Deals

• General improvements and bug fixes

New options for adding attachments to Deals

We've extended the options for including and displaying attachments when deals are submitted via the ZiftONE partner portal. Previously, the inclusion of attachments was either required or it wasn't. Now, there are three options - your supplier may choose one of these for deal submission:

• Attachments are required - you can't submit a deal if it doesn't have an attachment
• Attachments are optional
• Only suppliers can include attachments - any attachments on a deal will be read only, and you're not permitted to submit your own

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

• Distributed filter for deals

• Option to delete draft deals

• Saved indicator when personalizing marketing content

• General improvements and bug fixes

Distributed filter for deals

You can now filter your Deals page to distinguish between distributed or registered leads. The filter Distributed has a value of Yes (to show distributed deals) and No (which will show registered deals).

Option to delete draft deals

It's now possible for users to delete a draft deal. Previously, they could only edit a draft or submit the deal if it was at Draft stage. Now, the user that created the deal is able to delete it. A Delete button is provided in the details view of the deal.

Saved indicator when personalizing marketing content

We've added an indicator to assure you that changes you've made to marketing content have been saved. The Saved message appears in the Personalization area for marketing emails, web plugins, and collateral when you've made a change then clicked Save.

For example, for a marketing email:

• Requirement to include information when submitting a deal

• General improvements and bug fixes

Requirement to include information when submitting a deal

Your supplier may require that you must include some or all of these pieces of information in any deals you submit or register:

• Attachments
• Contacts
• Line Items
• Values for required data fields

If content restrictions like this are in place for deals, you will see a message if you try to submit a deal where any of the required information is missing. The Submit Deal button is disabled until you add the required details to the deal:

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

• Confirmation of submission of custom information for your supplier

• General improvements and bug fixes

Confirmation of submission of custom information for your supplier

We've improved how we acknowledge that you have made a submission of a custom information form from your supplier. Now, when you click Save when submitting the form, the message Your form has been submitted appears directly. Previously you only saw the confirmation if you scrolled back to the top of the form.

Key Benefit: You can be confident that you have completed your submission, which will result in fewer duplicates of the same information being sent to your supplier.

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

• Introducing custom partner information forms

• General improvements and bug fixes

Introducing custom partner information forms

Custom partner information forms allow your supplier to request certain information about you that isn’t included in a ZiftONE standard user profile. This might be about you as the partner, or about each of your users. For example, they might ask each user to confirm their working hours, or the time of day at which they prefer to be contacted.

Key Benefit: Your supplier may provide forms for you to fill in, to guide you through the process of providing the key information they need.

Notes:

• The availability of this feature is dependent on your supplier.
• Content and page names in your partner portal will vary based on your supplier’s settings.

This is an example of how a custom partner information form might be displayed in a partner portal. The page is named here as Preferred Contact Details as the supplier wants to know what is the best way to get in touch with you:

You can enter the requested information and click Save to submit it to your record.

Zift now strongly advises that, if you send marketing emails, you authenticate your email addresses/domain with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. Previously, this has been a recommendation only.

Gmail and Yahoo have implemented changes to reduce the amount of spam email relayed through their systems by requiring that email marketers authenticate their domain with SPF, DKIM and DMARC. If authentication is not in place, they will not deliver the email. Considering that these email service providers account for about a third of all emails sent worldwide, this change will significantly impact deliverability of your emails.

Please note that Zift has implemented a fallback process to handle domains that are not yet authenticated. If your domain does not have proper SPF, DKIM and DMARC in place, your sender email address will be sent from @bounce.zift123.com. For example:

sales@partnercompany.com will send from sales+partnercompany@bounce.zift123.com

This will ensure that your email will not be rejected due to domain authentication, but it may result in emails being flagged as spam due to an unexpected domain (@bounce.zift123.com).

For more information and instructions on setting up authentication, see How do I authenticate my From email address?

Since your company owns your domain, your IT team is responsible for updating your DNS records and authenticating your email domain. We recommend that you forward the information to your IT team.

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

• T&Cs accepted by individual users

• Supplier can opt partners in to supplier emails

• Email notifications when Deal is updated by supplier

• General improvements and bug fixes

T&Cs accepted by individual users

It's now possible for suppliers to request that all users accept the terms and conditions (T&Cs) when logging in to their partner portal for the first time, or when the T&Cs have been updated.

You may see this screen when logging in - check the box at the bottom of the screen to accept the T&Cs and proceed with login:

If you or your administrator accept the T&Cs, your Supplier Emails notifications may be automatically activated. Your supplier should notify you if this will happen.

Supplier can opt partners in to supplier emails

Your supplier may request that you automatically get opted in to receive email communications from them when you (or your administrator) accept the Terms and Conditions (T&Cs) for using their partner portal.

Your supplier can advise if they've enabled this option.

You can go to My Settings > Notifications in the partner portal and change the opt in status for Supplier Emails if you don’t want to receive the emails.

Email notifications when Deal is updated by supplier

Your supplier may elect to send email notifications when they (the supplier) update the stage of a deal. If they choose the option, notification sent to the Sales Rep assigned to the deal.

• Scrollable Product menu when creating a Deal Line Item

• General improvements and bug fixes

Scrollable Product menu when creating a Deal Line Item

When you're creating a new Line Item for a deal, the Product menu in the New Deal Line Item window now lists all available products. You can scroll through the whole list to find and select one, or type in the product name to find it. Previously, it was difficult for you to find the product you needed, if there was a large number.

• Removal of Preview for collateral assets

• General improvements and bug fixes

Removal of Preview for collateral assets

You may find that your supplier has disabled the Preview option for Download Only collateral assets in the Browse Collateral and Collateral Program pages (or equivalent).

This is because it is possible to download previewed files from your browser, an action which is not tracked in ZiftONE. If your supplier wants to report on how many people have downloaded their content, they must only provide the Download option to get accurate data.

You can still preview co-brandable/customizable content.

• Czech Koruna and New Taiwan Dollar currencies added

• General improvements and bug fixes

Czech Koruna and New Taiwan Dollar currencies added

ZiftONE now supports the Czech Koruna (CZK) and the New Taiwan Dollar (NT$). Contact your supplier if you want to deal in either of these currencies.

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.