Frequently Asked Questions
Table of Contents
What if I have additional questions about the integration or commissions?
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General
Who is TBI?
TBI is one of the leading technology service aggregators in North America and has provided a world-class partner experience for technology advisors. The company has built its business and its stellar reputation by prioritizing relationships with the advisors and providers it serves.
Who is AppDirect?
AppDirect is the leading B2B subscription commerce platform company that brings together technology providers, advisors, and businesses to simplify how they buy, sell and manage technology. More than 1,000 providers, 10,000 advisors and 5 million subscribers rely on the AppDirect ecosystem of subscription marketplaces to power their innovation, growth, and success.
Is AppDirect the same as AppSmart?
January 23, 2023 AppSmart was officially folded into AppDirect. Going forward, all of our customers know us and are served by the AppDirect name. This follows the announcement made October 18 through press release and blog. You can read more about the announcement in our January 23 press release and our January 23 blog article.
Value
What does this mean for current AppDirect Advisors?
The convergence of TBI and AppDirect further provides the scale for AppDirect to become the number one destination to sell and buy technology—with AppDirect advisors being part of the single largest technology provider in the industry. As an AppDirect Advisor, you’ll gain new opportunities for networking events, a more comprehensive enablement program through University of TBI, and even more back office and engineering support to drive your operations and sales. You’ll also gain access to new providers that will further enhance the already extensive AppDirect catalog of over 1000 solutions. This provides the best ROI from a partnership perspective for all of our advisors.
What does this mean for current TBI Advisors?
The TBI team will continue to support your accounts, in addition to the white glove support you’re used to, you will be introduced to AppDirect’s B2B platform, including a digital marketplace to find, buy and manage your customers’ solutions, as well as new back office and self-service sales tools to help simplify your business processes. With access to AppDirect's industry leading catalog of over 1000 solutions, you’ll be able to expand your portfolio with software (including SaaS), helping you drive more revenue from your customer base.
Events
How will Presidents Club & networking events be impacted?
The AppDirect and TBI 2023 President’s Clubs will each proceed as planned. Moving forward, in 2024 advisors will enjoy even more networking events and learning opportunities.
Can I attend AppDirect events?
TBI Advisors that are interested in an AppDirect event are welcome to participate, take a look at the events calendar for this year’s events.
AppDirect Platform & Back Office
What is the AppDirect Platform?
AppDirect’s platform is a hub that connects advisors, the end-customer, and providers in a way that enables them to do business in a relationship-driven marketplace. It powers more than 10,000 partners and 5,000,000 subscribers with tools to simplify and scale how they sell, buy and manage technology.
How do advisors use the platform?
As an AppDirect advisor, you’ll gain access to a digital marketplace that simplifies the way you find and buy technology solutions for your customers. Browse our industry-leading catalog and discover competitive solutions across connectivity and cloud.
You’ll also gain access to the partner portal to access your own digital back-office to manage your quotes, orders and commissions, provider resources, and digital on-demand training, all in one place. Additionally, the portal hosts our sales tools that help you discover, quote, and contract connectivity and energy services.
What is the AppDirect Marketplace?
The AppDirect Marketplace gives you the ability to browse the industry’s most robust technology services catalog, with more than 600 top providers, giving you direct and easy access to virtually any technology solution your customer needs - from connectivity to SaaS, and even energy.
AppDirect Marketplace credentials & training will be provided starting in June 2023.
How do I navigate the AppDirect Marketplace?
After signing in to AppDirect Marketplace, click on the grid icon in the upper left corner. This will bring you to your Workspace. Here you will find tiles for the advisor tools and resources you have access to through AppDirect, including your digital back-office.
What is the digital back-office, Provider Sales (previously known as AppSmart Office)?
Track and manage your quotes, orders, and commissions in a single location with your own digital back office. Gain an overall view of your business with a personalized dashboard for both connectivity and cloud sales.
Benefits of your new digital back-office:
View the status of all your quotes, orders, and commission inquiries
Order Life Cycle Management from submission to implementation in one place
Assisted quoting support resources
Commission inquiry tracking and status updates
Customer Asset Management for inventory and reporting
Automated reporting based your preferences; dashboards views
Automated notifications on quotes, orders and commission inquiries
Is AppDirect able to provide me with any additional financial resources?
In addition to ACH payments, AppDirect advisors are eligible to join AppDirect Pay. AppDirect Pay, powered by Stripe, enables advisors to receive commission payments earlier than with ACH payments. Additional benefits include:
Speed—Most advisors receive commission payments earlier than with ACH payments
Industry-leading security—Industry-leading security with payment processing powered by Stripe, one of the most secure payment service providers in the world
No extra fees—There are no additional fees to use AppDirect Pay
Simplicity—Sign to the AppDirect Marketplace, set up your account, and follow the instructions from Stripe
Within the Marketplace, you also have access to an AppDirect Card. AppDirect Card allows you to gain early access to your commissions and invest in growing your business. The AppDirect Card loads one full cycle of your average commissions on your AppCard for easy access.
Will TBI partners be charged to use the AppDirect platform?
Access to the Marketplace and partner portal (including digital back-office and self-service tools and resources) are provided to all advisors at no charge. We are committed to providing our advisors with value added tools, resources and an industry-leading catalog to expand their end customer experience.
When will I get access to the Marketplace?
As part of our integration planning and testing process, we will be doing a full review of your TBI account to ensure proper mirrored set-up for your Marketplace account. Onboarding and implementation will begin in June 2023.
What is the process for Marketplace activation?
All accounts will be provisioned and set-up by our data operations team as part of the integration process. You’ll receive a more detailed email with further instructions in June. In the interim, below is a high level overview of account activation actions to be taken:
Step 1: Activate your account. You will receive an activation email from the AppSmart Marketplace to create your username and password.
Step 2: Sign in to the AppDirect Marketplace.
Step 3: Finalize the “Getting started” process by following the actions outlined in your advisor Dashboard (as seen in widget below).
Can a customer sign up for the Marketplace on their own?
No. Every customer that comes into the AppDirect Marketplace MUST be tied to an Advisor.
I have provider logos on my website that reflect TBI's providers. Can I add logos for AppDirect providers?
All provider logo use requests should be routed through your Business Development Manager [Channel Manager] to get approval from our marketing and provider management teams as each provider agreement involves "use of logo" clauses.
Integration
When will TBI be integrated into AppDirect?
Our integration process has already begun, you may start to see your current support and relationship resources with AppDirect emails. Integration will be a journey over the remainder of 2023, finalizing December 2023. Below you’ll find estimated integration journey milestones as a preliminary guide for the first six months:
March - NetSuite Commission Alignment of Provider Names, Provider Account Numbers and Payment Timing
April - TBI Partner’s AppDirect Marketplace account assignment and training
June -Marketplace Tools and Back Office (Provider Sales) Training & Operational Alignment: Quotes; Orders via AppDirect digital back office
July - Commission Alignment: Estimated July Commission Cycle cut over to AppDirect Marketplace
Aug. - Estimated first live AppDirect Marketplace combined commission statement payment, August 7th
How will I know about upcoming integration actions?
We’ll continue to update you through Email Communications and Biweekly Integration Q&A Meetings (look out for a Zoom invite). We are offering Integration sessions to provide you with all of the training and support you need regarding the process.
When are the integration sessions?
Integration sessions will be held bi-weekly starting Wednesday March 15th-December 13th.
Will I still be working with the same Business Development Manager (BDM)?
Yes we value your established relationships. Our goal throughout the integration process is to continue to align all relationships and introduce expanded resources with this partnership like the AppDirect SaaS Product Sales Specialists.
My BDM is no longer with TBI. When will I be assigned a new BDM?
If your BDM is no longer with TBI please feel free to reach out to Chris Shubert, christopher.shubert@appdirect.com for new resource alignment.
When can I start selling suppliers that are only available through AppDirect?
Today, the AppDirect provider portfolio has over 1000 providers and our goal is empowering advisors to go deep and wide into their end customer relationships. Your Business Development Manager will be happy to help you assess opportunities and evaluate or engage AppDirect providers.
How will my back office experience change?
Your back office experience will remain largely the same, with additional digital resources to increase efficiencies and streamline your day to day. Our operational teams will be combining best practices from each organization to provide an elevated back-office experience.
Will we be keeping NetSuite?
As part of our integration, we will transition from NetSuite to the AppDirect platform’s digital back-office, as we unify our systems, people and best practice processes.
Commissions
What is changing and when?
The convergence of TBI and AppDirect will not immediately impact your commission experience or the experience you have daily working with TBI. Starting in July (which pays in August), we will transition from NetSuite to AppDirect Provider Sales, the advisor tool that optimizes quoting, orders, and commissions. Until then TBI commissions will continue to be calculated in NetSuite.
Once the full migration to AppDirect Provider Sales is complete, commissions will no longer be processed for advisor payment out of NetSuite. Commissions will now be migrated over to AppDirect Provider Sales for commission calculation, statement generation, and payment processing. At this point, you will be able to activate your Marketplace account and update your commission payment to AppDirect Pay, allowing you to change banking information with ease.
Will any changes be made to the information provided by TBI in NetSuite?
Beginning in TBI’s March commission cycle (pays in April), there will be some changes to how a Provider’s name is listed as well as what number is listed in the Account Number field on your NetSuite commission statement. Changes for Provider Names are listed here (xslx) and changes to Account Numbers listed on the commission statement are listed here (xslx).
What will be in NetSuite and what goes to AppDirect Provider Sales?
NetSuite will continue to hold your historical commission statements through to the June commission cycle. As of the July 2023 cycle, your commission statement and payment calculation will be in AppDirect Provider Sales. Historical commission statements will not migrate to AppDirect Provider Sales but remain in the legacy NetSuite system until December 2023.
When does NetSuite go away?
NetSuite will remain live for you as an advisor until December 2023. Please note you do have the ability to download your legacy information for record purposes. If you have any questions on how to download your historic commission statements, please send an inquiry to commissions@tbicom.com .
Will my gross commission rate change for certain providers?
There may be instances where AppDirect either had a higher tier or direct provider agreement that may result in a slight increase on new provider order commissions when processed via AppDirect provider agreement. Knowing this, we are reviewing all provider agreements to ensure industry best terms and rates are provided to each advisor.
Will my statement format change?
Yes. Advisors’ future commission statements will be consolidated into the commission statements in the digital back-office. Here you can a find a Sample Statement.
If I sell a deal through TBI today, what happens to my commissions throughout the contract term?
Commissions will continue to be processed, calculated and paid via the NetSuite TBI process today. As we go through the integration process these commissions will be consolidated into our AppDirect platform’s back-office commission engine.
What is the cycle timeline at AppDirect? Will my payment cycles change?
Your payment timeline will be reviewed and assessed as part of our integration transition planning. Provider statements are collected starting the first business day through the last business day of each month for processing that commission cycle. Statements and payments are released on the 7th of the following month unless on a weekend. If the 7th of the month falls on a holiday or weekend, payments will be released on the prior business day.
What happens if I was receiving AppDirect back-office and NetSuite statements before?
As of the estimated July 2023 commission cycle, your legacy NetSuite commission statement will be merged with your current AppDirect back-office statement, aligning all commissions on one statement and one payment.
How do I create a commission inquiry once integration is complete?
Once commission processes transition, advisor commission inquiries start with a ticket, ensuring that we maintain the highest level of responsiveness to our Advisors. Users can also sign in to their partner portal to digitally submit a commission inquiry. Watch this quick-start video for submitting a commission inquiry within the AppDirect digital back-office.
Commission inquiry tickets can also be opened, without signing into the Marketplace via this LINK post integration.
Will there be any double pay statements? And what is the timing of this alignment?
Double Pay Statements for Timing Alignment
In an effort to align the payment structure, TBI's advisors will be receiving two months' worth of commissions for the following providers. Below is the list of those providers along with the customer invoice periods that will be included:
- ACC - May and June invoices
- Access One - June ad July invoices
- AireSpring - May and June invoices
- Frontier - May and June invoices
- Granite Telecommunications - May and June invoices
- RapidScale - June and July invoices
- Windstream - May and June invoices
- Zayo - May and June invoices
Each month, the advisors will receive an email notification when their statements are available in the Marketplace. This happens on the 5th or 6th business day of the following month.
Example: The notice for July's commission run can be expected no later than August 8th. Each month, the current month's cycle will open for preview on the 15th of the month. If the 15th for a current month falls on a weekend, it will either open the Friday before or the Monday following.
REMINDER: Advisors need to retrieve/download any and all data desired to keep out of NetSuite by October 31, 2023. Please begin pulling the data as soon as possible as NetSuite will be shut down shortly after this date.
How can I view my statement through AppDirect?
Once the commission migration is complete, you will be able to view your commission statements by signing in to the AppDirect platform. We will provide training and quick links on your Marketplace Dashboard as well to surface that information with ease.
How will I be notified when my statement is live?
Advisors can expect automatic email notifications to alert them that the commission cycle is complete and statements are available.
Will I continue to get multiple commission statements from AppDirect?
No. The unification of commissions and processes allows for a streamlined consolidated statement, as well as a single, consolidated payment.
How will my commission statement look if I was splitting commissions with another advisor?
Splits will look the same as a non-split BAN line item on advisor’s commission statements. The only variation will be the assigned advisor, advisor commission rate, and advisor commission amount. An advisor’s commission statement will not include any reference or data points showing anyone other advisor(s) being commissioned on that BAN. Here you can find a sample of how split commissions will look.
Do I change how I communicate with TBI?
You may see that some legacy TBI employees are now using their updated @appdirect.com e-mail address. When it comes to your legacy TBI distros, continue to use those as you have in the past (ex: commissions@tbicom.com , orders@tbicom.com, etc.)