Getting Started with Vendasta (Start Here)

Welcome! This end-to-end guide takes you through many of the core actions that will help you to grow your revenue with Vendasta.

Looking to complete a full platform setup under your brand? Read our guide on how to set up and white label the platform. 

To learn more about specific workflows in greater depth, check out some of our other Getting Started Guides. 

Note: Some of these steps may include features that are only available on specific subscription tiers. To see an updated list of which features are available on each tier, refer to our pricing page: vendasta.com/pricing 

Checklist

1. Start selling
   • Ready-made packages
   • Marketplace products
2. Prospecting
   • Find and add accounts
   • Create Snapshot Reports
   • Send Snapshots with AI Analysis
3. Activate your customers
   • Invite users
   • Order products and get paid
   • Business App connections

Start selling

With Vendasta, you're set up to start selling right away with a collection of ready-made packages and products ready to go. If you want to take full control and customize your store, check out the Store Build Guide. To dive in quickly, take a look at some of the basics.

Ready-made packages

Your store is automatically populated with a number of packages that include some of the most important solutions for small businesses. You can change the existing packages if you wish.

1.  Go to Marketplace > Packages.
2. To edit an existing package, click the vertical ellipsis ⋮ and click Edit.
   • Click Unpublish and Archive  if you wish to remove a package.
3. Here you can click + Add item to add products, click the X next to an item to remove it, adjust retail price and marketing copy.

To view and add our latest recommendations, follow these steps:

1. Click the Recommended Packages tab.
2. Click any package to view its contents.
3. Click Add to Store to include this package amongst your offerings.
4. Choose Save and publish to add it immediately or Save as draft to edit it before setting it live.

Each of our 2024 Digital Success packages include all of the powerful features of Business App Pro, allowing you to bundle services on top of a core set of features that help your customers manage their daily work.

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Marketplace products

Find everything you need about a product including sales assets, pricing information, and support contacts by viewing the product page.

To access a product page go to Marketplace > Discover Products and click on any product. At the top, you'll find sales and marketing assets under Screenshots & Files. Down the right you'll find pricing, contact information, and add-ons. At the bottom, you'll find FAQs. 

If you wish to order a product from the Marketplace for one of your customers, you need to make sure that you have selected Start selling on that product. 

Note that access to some products in the marketplace may be limited based on your current Vendasta plan.

1. Go to Marketplace > Discover Products.
2. Click a product you're interested in.
3. Click the Start selling button.
4. Click the checkbox if you wish to add it your Store page.
5. Click Done or Add to store.

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Prospecting

Here are some of the core steps you can take to kick off your prospecting efforts. This video showcases all of the steps for adding accounts, creating Snapshot Reports, and sending them all at once.

Find and add accounts

Accounts can be added in groups and individually. This workflow showcases how to add many accounts at once into a list. To learn more about adding individual accounts or importing them via a csv file, go here. 

1. Go to Partner Center > Accounts > Manage Accounts
2. Click Find accounts.
3. Search for businesses by type or location. (For example, you could search for “Dentists near me”).
4. Click the checkboxes next to any of the businesses that you want to prospect.
5. Click Continue.
6. Click Create accounts.
7. Wait a few moments for the accounts to be added as part of a list.

The system will grab information about these businesses right from their Google profile and add that information right into the platform for you. Some information is not readily available from a Google Business Profile, so you will still want to look for additional information about the business such as email addresses or contact names.

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Create Snapshot Reports

Snapshot Report is a needs assessment tool that will let you know about the gaps in the business’s online presence. Because your prospects were added as a part of a list, you can create Snapshot Reports as part of a quick bulk action.

1. Go to Partner Center > Accounts > Lists
2. Click on the ⋮ vertical ellipsis menu next to the list you created.
3. Click on Create/Refresh Snapshot Reports
   • Note that additional charges may apply
4. Wait for information to start populating.
   • It can take up to 24 hours for the information to be fully populated and up to date.
   • The Snapshot Report will continue to refresh with information for 7 days from its creation.
   • Snapshot Reports can be refreshed after the 7 days–additional charges apply.

To create a Snapshot Report for one account, go to Partner Center > Accounts > Manage Accounts click on the + report icon next to the account name.

Tip: While waiting for information to populate, it’s a great time to make some quick edits to the Snapshot Report. If you’ve added a number of prospects that are part of the same business category, you can flag them as competitors. Check out our Snapshot Guide for more.

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Send Snapshot Reports with AI Analysis

Prerequisite: Before sending out any emails through the platform, make sure you have configured your email settings to assure maximum deliverability. These steps are showcased in detail here.

A personal touch can go a long way and leveraging artificial intelligence gives you the chance to personalize your outreach while being efficient with your time.

1. Go to Partner Center > Accounts > Manage Accounts
2. Click on the Snapshot Report icon next to the account
3. Click Edit report.
4. Click the “paper airplane” Share icon.
5. Add sender name and email (your information).
6. Add the contact email.
7. Click Suggest content.
   
   • Clicking the down arrow next to Suggest content gives you additional options.
   • Suggest general content will craft an email based on the overall information in the Snapshot Report.
   • Suggest section-specific content will allow you to choose sections of the Snapshot Report and craft a more targeted email.
8. Review and update the email content that has been generated.
9. Click Send.

Activate your customers

Invite users

Adding a customer as a user to an account will give them access to Business App and allow you to bill them. 

1. Go to Partner Center > Accounts > Manage Accounts.
2. Find the account you want to add the user to. If there are no users assigned to the account, you can click the Add User icon  next to the account name.
   • You can also click on the account name, scroll to the Users section, then click Add Users.
3. Add an existing user from the list or click Create New User and add their information
   • When creating a new user, you can choose to Send welcome email to send an invite into Business App.
   • Once you have all of their information added, click Create User. 

Learn more.

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Order products and get paid

This video showcases the workflow to order products whether you are collecting payment before activation or not.

1. Go to Partner Center > Accounts > Manage Accounts. 
2. Click the account that you want to place an order for.
3. Click Order products.
4. Select the products and/or packages that you want to order.
5. Complete any order information required.
6. If you are using Vendasta Payments and collecting payment, then you can bill your customer at this time.
   • Update the retail prices as needed.
   • Under Collect payment, choose to "Send order for customer review & collect payment online."
   • Select a user to bill
   • Add an expiry date of terms, if necessary
7. Select a product activation date.
   • Note that if using the payment collection methods in Step 6, then the products will only activate on/after that date if the payment has been collected.
8. Check and update the wholesale billing info if necessary (this is your payment to Vendasta).
9. Click Send Order.

The Vendasta platform allows you additional flexibility for full order management of your sales team; to learn more about that type of workflow, check out Getting Started: Onboard your customers.

Learn more about ordering products.

If you are ordering fulfilled services, like those from our Marketing Services team, after the order is complete, you will be presented with a fulfillment form, an easy way to capture information with the help of your customer. Learn more about fulfillment forms.

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Business App Connections

Setting up connections for your customer in Business App is crucial for retention. Something as simple as connecting their Google Business Profile helps them to see value and increase functionality across many products and features.

To access the Business App Connections for your customer, follow these steps:

1. Go to Partner Center > Accounts > Manage Accounts
2. Click on the ⋮ vertical ellipsis menu on the far right of the account in the table.
3. Click Open Business App.
4. Click Settings.
5. Click Connections.
6. Click + next to the app or external account you wish to connect.

From here, there may be some different steps depending on the connection you wish to make, but in general you or your customer will need their login credentials and will need to give permission for information to be shared with Business App (often shown as an unbranded app called Social Reputation).

Learn more about connecting accounts to Business App here:

• Connecting social media accounts
• Connecting Google Analytics Account in Business App
• Connect QuickBooks in Business App
• Troubleshooting Facebook and Instagram connection errors

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Need help?

Support On-Demand can answer your questions or put you in touch with those who can. You can us at support@vendasta.com. Learn more.