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The decision on the table is whether to give one partner a seat at the roadmap table, or to keep advice and delivery with separate suppliers. The cost of getting it wrong is concrete. Puma's previous partner spent twelve million euros and did not deliver what they needed. FORWARD rolled out the same scope across five countries for one and a half million.

Strategic partnership means answering for the outcome

A strategic partner is accountable for the business result, and the build is only one step towards it. We organise every engagement in three phases: Discover, Build and Run. In Discover we map what you actually need and challenge the assumptions behind the brief. In Build a fixed team delivers, with no rotations. In Run we stay on board and track the KPIs (key performance indicators) agreed at the start.

The game plan does not stop after the first phase. Every build choice gets tested against the original ambition, and when goals or market conditions shift, the plan shifts with them. That continuity is the first thing to look for when choosing the right Salesforce consultant, because a roadmap handed over at the end of a workshop has no owner once the workshop ends.

A strategic partner challenges the brief

If you ask for something we know is the wrong direction, we say so, at the table and at the moment it matters. That applies at every level. A developer who gets a ticket that will cause problems later speaks up, and the account lead questions the roadmap itself when the numbers point elsewhere.

The first time a client experiences that, there is usually a moment of silence. Then the real conversation starts. Challenge also means advising against spending: we don't sell MuleSoft when a client doesn't need it, and we don't recommend a large engagement when a simpler solution will do. Sometimes the right answer sits outside Salesforce, and a partner who can say that is worth more than one who cannot.

When a strategic partner fills a gap in your team

The need for a strategic partner depends on the technical leadership you already have. One client described our role plainly: "FORWARD stepped in like an external CTO when we had no internal tech leadership." In that situation the partner carries architecture decisions, platform choices and the order of work, and your team learns to own them over time.

The light case looks different. If you already have a strong architecture team and a clear roadmap, you need a delivery partner that respects that roadmap and flags risks in it. The difference between those roles, and what a Salesforce agency typically covers, is worth settling before the contract defines it for you.

Kevin Van der Straeten

Managing Partner

How the partnership works from week to week

A strategic partner works inside your organisation. We sit in your office, stay present in the decisions and usually bring several FORWARD people onto the same project, so there is a FORWARD team at the table alongside yours. Our knowledge of what works at comparable companies meets your knowledge of your market and your end customer.

We also bring things you have not asked for yet: a roadmap before you request one, conversion rates compared with what we see elsewhere, inspiration sessions and quarterly business reviews to agree the next step together. When the collaboration itself needs work, we fix that too. With VidaXL we ran a team building with their people mid-project, because the project needed a stronger team.

What a strategic partner asks of you

Partnership runs both ways. We ask for involvement, active input from your own business knowledge and room for an honest conversation when hard choices come up. Without those, the partner falls back to taking orders, and you lose the reason you hired one.

That is also why we turn down clients when we sense we don't share the same vision on technology and growth. A project works when both teams move toward the same end goal. When that foundation is there, we go all in, and we stay after launch.

Questions that test a strategic partner claim

Every consultancy calls itself strategic, so test the claim against how the partner behaves. These questions show quickly whether advice and accountability sit with the same people.

Will the people who shape the roadmap also be on the delivery team?
Which KPIs will you commit to track after go-live, and how often will we review them together?
When did you last advise a client to spend less, or to stay off Salesforce for part of the scope?
Who in our organisation will own the roadmap once you step back?

Credentials answer a different question. What the Salesforce Summit Partner level means for access to Salesforce itself is a separate test from how a partner behaves in your boardroom, and both deserve an answer before you sign.

Discover. Build. Run.

About the Author

Kevin Van der Straeten

Managing Partner

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