# Partnership Strategy > Identifies, prioritizes, and structures business partnerships that produce measurable revenue - matching partnership type to goal, setting economics with real rev-share ranges, and enforcing a pilot-before-contract rule. Use when someone asks "should we partner with X", "how do we structure a reseller deal", "what rev share is normal", "our partnerships never produce anything", or "which partners should we prioritize". Do NOT use for choosing between partnerships and other distribution channels - use channel-strategy instead - or for the overall market-entry plan a partnership sits inside - use go-to-market-planner instead. - Skill: `skillmedev/partnership-strategy` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add skillmedev/partnership-strategy` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/skillmedev/partnership-strategy/raw - Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector PASS) - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Marketing & Growth - Author: SkillMedev (https://skillmd.com/u/skillmedev) - Updated: 2026-09-22 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/skillmedev/partnership-strategy --- # Partnership Strategy Most partnerships are press releases that produce nothing: signed with fanfare, staffed by nobody, dead within two quarters. A real partnership creates measurable value for both sides and has a named owner accountable for a number. This skill separates strategic partnerships from logo-swap theater and structures the deal so the partner's people are actually incentivized to sell. ## Operating procedure Fit-test before structuring, pilot before contract - in that order, because a well-structured deal with a bad-fit partner still produces nothing, and a deep contract before a proven motion locks in the failure. ### Step 1: Gather inputs 1. The goal - awareness, reach into a locked market, product stickiness, or a new revenue line. One primary goal; a partnership chasing three goals achieves none. 2. Candidate partners, if any exist, with what is known about their customer base. 3. Your ACV, margin, and sales motion - these bound what economics you can offer. 4. Capacity - who on your side would own this, at what fraction of their time. If the answer is nobody, stop here. ### Step 2: Match the partnership type to the goal - Co-marketing (shared content, events, audiences): low commitment, fast, modest upside. For awareness. - Technology / integration: your product connects to theirs, increasing stickiness and reach. Often the highest ROI for software. For retention and product depth. - Distribution / channel (they sell or resell you): high ceiling, slow to build, needs enablement. For reach into a locked market. - OEM / embed (white-labeled into their product): deep and durable, but you cede the customer relationship. Price for that loss. ### Step 3: Run the strategic fit test All four must pass before any deal talk: 1. Shared customer, non-competing product - same buyer, no cannibalization. 2. Mutual value - both sides get something they cannot easily build alone. One-sided partnerships die quietly. 3. Strategic, not opportunistic - it advances your distribution or product strategy, not just a logo for the website. 4. Capacity to execute - both sides can actually staff it. An unstaffed partnership is a press release. ### Step 4: Structure the economics Define the value exchange concretely - who provides what, who gets what - and put money where you want motion. Practitioner ranges: - Referral fees: 10-20% of first-year contract value for a warm intro that closes; one-time. - Reseller / channel margin: 20-40% off list, scaling with how much of the sale (demo, close, first-line support) the partner owns. Under 20%, their reps will not bother; the deal fails economically before it fails operationally. - Co-sell splits: full quota credit or retirement for the partner's rep on sourced deals - split commissions kill co-sell motions. - OEM / embed: per-unit or revenue-based royalty, floor-protected; you are trading margin for distribution and losing the customer relationship, so price durability in. Agree success metrics up front - sourced leads, sourced revenue, integration adoption - with a review cadence. ### Step 5: Pilot before contract The pilot-before-contract rule: never sign a multi-year or exclusive agreement before a lightweight pilot proves the motion. Default pilot: 90 days, one segment or region, a simple letter agreement, and a numeric success bar set in advance (e.g., 10 sourced qualified opportunities or 2 closed deals). If the pilot misses the bar, renegotiate or walk - do not sign the big contract hoping scale fixes what the pilot exposed. Exclusivity is only ever traded for a committed, contractual number. ### Step 6: Build the operating motion Partnerships fail from the lack of an operating motion far more often than from the contract: - Name one owner on each side accountable for the number. - Enable the partner's team: training, collateral, a clear pitch. An untrained partner sales force sells nothing. - Stand up a biweekly sync and a shared pipeline view. - Reduce friction relentlessly: the lower the effort for their reps, the more they sell. ### Step 7: Prioritize the portfolio Score every candidate on reach × fit × ease of execution (1-5 each) and concentrate on the top two or three. One deep partnership beats ten shallow MOUs. ## Worked artifact: deal one-pager template ``` PARTNERSHIP ONE-PAGER - [FILL: partner] x [FILL: your company] Goal (one): [FILL: awareness / locked-market reach / stickiness / revenue line] Type: [FILL: co-marketing / integration / distribution / OEM] Fit test: shared buyer [Y/N] mutual value [Y/N] strategic [Y/N] staffed [Y/N] Value exchange: we provide [FILL]; they provide [FILL] Economics: [FILL: e.g., 15% referral fee first-year ACV / 30% reseller margin] Pilot (90 days): scope [FILL: segment/region]; success bar [FILL: numeric]; decision date [FILL] Owners: us [FILL name, % time]; them [FILL name] Metrics + cadence: [FILL: sourced pipeline $, sourced revenue $]; biweekly sync Kill criteria: pilot misses bar by >50%, or no partner-sourced activity in 60 days ``` ## Deliverable Produce a partnership plan: target partners scored on reach/fit/ease, the recommended type per target matched to the stated goal, a deal structure with concrete value exchange and economics inside the practitioner ranges, a 90-day pilot design with a numeric success bar, and the operating motion with named owners, enablement plan, and review cadence. ## Do NOT - Do not sign for the press release with no operating plan - announcement-only partnerships damage credibility with the partner's team for the real attempt later. - Do not structure a channel deal under 20% margin and expect motion; the partner's reps optimize their own commission math. - Do not grant exclusivity without a committed contractual number in return. - Do not skip the pilot because the partner is big; big partners are the slowest to produce and the costliest to unwind. - Do not pursue a logo whose customers are not your buyers - reach without fit is zero. - Do not leave the partnership ownerless after signing; nobody's job means nothing happens. ## Quality bar - Each target passes all four fit-test gates explicitly, or is cut with the failed gate named. - Economics fall inside the stated ranges or the deviation is justified in writing. - Every deal has a 90-day pilot with a numeric bar and a decision date before any long-term contract. - One named owner per side, with time allocation, appears in the plan. - Kill criteria exist for every partnership, not just success metrics.