# Partner & Ecosystem Director Playbook

Reference playbook for the partner-ecosystem-director skill. Read the relevant section before producing any partnership artifact.

## Table of Contents

1. Partner Program Launch Sequence
2. Partner Recruitment and Evaluation
3. Co-Sell Methodology - Detailed
4. Technology Partner Integration Playbook
5. Partner Performance Management
6. Analyst Relations - Deep Guide
7. Influencer and Community Engagement
8. Partner Enablement - Detailed Program
9. Channel Economics Modeling
10. Partner Program Metrics
11. Common Partnership Failure Modes

---

## 1. Partner Program Launch Sequence

### 90-Day Partner Program Launch

**Days 1-30: Foundation**
- Define partner types relevant to your business and GTM model
- Model unit economics for each partner type (see section 9)
- Design deal registration process and rules of engagement
- Build minimum partner portal (can start as simple as a shared Drive folder with partner pitch deck, demo access, and deal reg form)
- Identify first 5-10 partner candidates (prioritize existing relationships - people already informally referring you or integrating with you)

**Days 31-60: Pilot**
- Recruit 3-5 pilot partners across types
- Onboard with lightweight process (learn before you formalize)
- Support their first 2-3 deals hands-on (you learn what they need by watching them struggle)
- Document: what worked, what didn't, what questions they had, what content they needed
- Get candid feedback: "What would make this partnership worth your time?"

**Days 61-90: Formalize**
- Codify partner program based on pilot learnings
- Build enablement materials (partner pitch deck, joint value prop, demo environment, content library)
- Establish partner review cadence (monthly for active partners, quarterly for all)
- Set pipeline targets for partner channel
- Begin recruiting next wave of partners based on pilot learnings
- Publish partner page on website (signals credibility to potential partners and their customers)

### When to Invest in Each Partner Type

| Partner Type | Invest When | Don't Invest When |
|-------------|-------------|-------------------|
| Technology | 3+ mutual customers asking for the integration; or the integration creates clear competitive moat | No customer demand; integration is speculative; "wouldn't it be cool if" |
| Referral | Someone is already informally sending you business or warm introductions | You're trying to manufacture referral behavior from scratch |
| Reseller/Channel | You can't cost-effectively cover a market segment directly (geography, vertical, company size) | Your direct team is more efficient at the same accounts |
| Services/SI | Customers need implementation help you can't staff, or your product requires significant customization | You can handle implementation in-house at current scale |
| Marketplace | You sell to a buyer who already purchases through a marketplace (AWS, Azure, GCP) | Your buyer doesn't use marketplaces for procurement |

### Partner Program Maturity Model

```
LEVEL 1: AD HOC (typical at <$10M ARR)
  - Informal referral relationships
  - No program structure
  - CEO/CRO manages partner relationships directly
  - 0-5% of pipeline from partners

LEVEL 2: STRUCTURED (typical at $10-30M ARR)
  - Formal partner program with deal registration
  - Dedicated partner manager (first hire)
  - Enablement materials and partner portal
  - 5-15% of pipeline from partners

LEVEL 3: SCALED (typical at $30-75M ARR)
  - Multi-tier partner program with clear incentives per tier
  - Partner marketing programs (co-events, co-content)
  - Automated deal registration and partner portal
  - Partner advisory council
  - 15-25% of pipeline from partners

LEVEL 4: ECOSYSTEM (typical at $75M+ ARR)
  - Partners are a strategic GTM channel
  - SI partnerships drive enterprise deals
  - Marketplace presence (cloud marketplaces)
  - Global partner coverage
  - 25-40% of pipeline from partners
```

---

## 2. Partner Recruitment and Evaluation

### Partner Qualification Framework

| Criterion | Score 1-5 | Weight | Notes |
|-----------|-----------|--------|-------|
| Account access | | 30% | This is the #1 factor. Without access to your ICP, nothing else matters. |
| Technical capability | | 20% | Can they sell, implement, or integrate your product? |
| Strategic alignment | | 15% | Do they benefit from your success? Is there a shared customer base? |
| Organizational commitment | | 15% | Will they assign named resources? Do they have partner infrastructure? |
| Market reputation | | 10% | Does their brand enhance yours? Are they respected by your buyers? |
| Economic viability | | 10% | Does the math work for both sides at realistic volumes? |

**Minimum composite score to pursue: 3.0 weighted average**
**Red flag: Account access below 3** - Without account access, everything else is irrelevant. Don't invest in partners who "want to learn your product" but can't bring you in front of customers.

### Recruitment Outreach Templates

**For Technology Partners:**
```
Subject: Integration opportunity - [Your product] + [Their product]

[Name],

We keep hearing from mutual customers that [your product] + [their product]
together would solve [specific joint use case]. [Customer names] have specifically
asked about an integration.

I'd love to explore what a partnership looks like - from a lightweight
integration to co-sell opportunities. We're seeing strong demand in
[segment] where your product and ours are frequently deployed together.

Worth a 30-minute conversation to explore?

[Signature]
```

**For Referral Partners:**
```
Subject: Formalize what's already working

[Name],

Thanks for the introduction to [customer name] last month - they're now
in active evaluation and it's looking great.

I want to make sure these introductions are worth your while. We're building
a formal referral program: [X%] on any deal that closes from your referrals,
and we handle the entire sales process.

Given your relationships in [segment], I think there's real potential here.
Can we set up 20 minutes to discuss the structure?

[Signature]
```

**For Reseller/Channel Partners:**
```
Subject: [Product category] opportunity for [their company]'s portfolio

[Name],

[Your company] is growing fast in the [category] space - [revenue/customer
traction proof point]. We're looking for partners to help us cover [market
segment] where your team has deep relationships.

The partner economics: [X%] margin on resale, full sales enablement from us,
and dedicated partner support. Our average deal is $[ACV] with [cycle length]
sales cycles.

Is expanding into [category] something [their company] is considering?

[Signature]
```

### Partner Disqualification Criteria

Remove or deprioritize partners who:
- Haven't registered a deal in 6 months despite enablement
- Consistently register deals that don't match ICP (wasting your deal support time)
- Misrepresent your product to their customers (brand risk)
- Compete with you directly on deals they registered through your program
- Can't maintain certification (signals they're not investing in the partnership)

---

## 3. Co-Sell Methodology - Detailed

### Joint Account Planning

```
FOR EACH CO-SELL TARGET ACCOUNT:

ACCOUNT: [Company name]
PARTNER: [Partner name]
YOUR CONTACT: [AE/SDR assigned]
PARTNER CONTACT: [Named partner rep]

RELATIONSHIP MAP:
  Partner's relationships: [Who they know, relationship strength 1-5]
  Your relationships: [Who you know, relationship strength 1-5]
  Gaps: [Who neither party knows but should]
  Strategy: [How to use partner relationships to reach your gaps]

JOINT VALUE PROPOSITION:
  "[Partner product] + [your product] together enable [specific outcome]
  that neither delivers alone. For [customer], this means [specific value]."

COMPETITIVE CONTEXT:
  [Who is the incumbent? Who else is the customer evaluating?]
  [How does the joint solution differentiate vs. alternatives?]

CO-SELL PLAN:
  Week 1-2: [Who reaches out to whom, which channel, what message]
  Week 3-4: [Joint meeting or separate but coordinated touches]
  Week 5-8: [Evaluation support - who provides what]
  Week 9-12: [Proposal and close - who leads commercial discussion]

ECONOMICS:
  Your expected ACV: $[amount]
  Partner expected revenue: $[amount] (margin, services, or referral fee)
  Joint value to customer: [TCO savings, reduced integration effort, etc.]
```

### Deal Registration Process

```
REGISTRATION FLOW:

PARTNER SUBMITS:
  - Account name and domain
  - Primary contact name and title
  - Opportunity description (pain point, use case)
  - Estimated ACV and timeline
  - Partner's existing relationship with the account

YOUR TEAM VALIDATES (within 48 hours):
  - Is this a real opportunity? (Not a stale account with no activity)
  - Does it match ICP? (Firmographic + use case fit)
  - Is there an existing relationship or opportunity? (CRM check)
  - Is another partner already registered on this account? (Conflict check)

DECISION:
  ACCEPT: Account protected for partner for 90 days
  REJECT: Explain why (existing opportunity, non-ICP, insufficient detail)
  REQUEST INFO: Need more detail before accepting

RULES:
  - First to register wins (verified by timestamp in partner portal)
  - Registration expires after 90 days with no activity (partner can re-register)
  - Partner must show meaningful progress within 30 days (at least initial meeting)
  - You may NOT pursue accepted accounts through direct sales during protection period
  - If deal doesn't close within protection period, account returns to open status
```

### Co-Sell Rules of Engagement

```
1. TRANSPARENCY: Both parties share relevant account intelligence openly
2. DEFINED ROLES: Written agreement on who leads which stage
3. NO SURPRISES: Never contact a partner's customer without their knowledge
4. QUALIFIED ONLY: Only co-sell on opportunities that genuinely benefit both
5. CLEAN ATTRIBUTION: Agree upfront how the deal is sourced and credited
6. JOINT PRICING: You own product pricing, partner owns services pricing - no surprises
7. CUSTOMER FIRST: If co-sell creates friction for the customer, adjust the model
8. ESCALATION: Disputes go to partner managers, never to the customer
```

---

## 4. Technology Partner Integration Playbook

### Integration Prioritization Framework

```
EVALUATE EACH POTENTIAL INTEGRATION:

CUSTOMER DEMAND (40% weight):
  - How many customers have requested this? [Number]
  - How many prospects mentioned this in evaluations? [Number]
  - Would this integration unlock a new ICP segment? [Yes/No]

COMPETITIVE IMPACT (25% weight):
  - Do competitors have this integration? [Yes/No]
  - Is lack of this integration cited in competitive losses? [Yes/No]
  - Would this integration create a defensible advantage? [Yes/No]

EFFORT (20% weight):
  - Engineering effort to build: [Hours/weeks estimate]
  - Ongoing maintenance burden: [Low/Medium/High]
  - Partner's API maturity and documentation quality: [1-5]

PARTNER COMMITMENT (15% weight):
  - Will the partner co-market the integration? [Yes/No]
  - Will they dedicate engineering resources? [Yes/No]
  - Do they have a partner program we can leverage? [Yes/No]
```

### Integration Launch Playbook

```
PRE-LAUNCH (4-6 weeks before):
  - Integration built and tested with 2-3 beta customers
  - Joint solution brief written (1-page: what it does, who it's for, how to set up)
  - Partner's sales team briefed on your product and the joint value prop
  - Your sales team briefed on their product and the joint value prop
  - Joint press release or blog post drafted

LAUNCH:
  - Publish integration documentation
  - Joint announcement (blog post, social, email to relevant segments)
  - Enable both sales teams (talk tracks for when to mention the integration)
  - Add to website integrations page
  - Update competitive battle cards if integration changes competitive dynamics

POST-LAUNCH (ongoing):
  - Track integration adoption (how many customers enable it?)
  - Track joint pipeline (deals where integration was a factor)
  - Monthly sync with partner: what's working, what's not
  - Quarterly review: is the integration driving enough value to justify maintenance?
```

---

## 5. Partner Performance Management

### Quarterly Partner Business Review

```
AGENDA (60 min):

PERFORMANCE REVIEW (15 min):
  - Deals registered: [N] vs. target [N]
  - Pipeline generated: $[X] vs. target $[X]
  - Revenue closed: $[X] vs. target $[X]
  - Win rate on co-sell deals: [%]
  - Certification status: [Current/Expired/In-progress]
  - Customer satisfaction on partner-involved deals: [Score]

DEAL PIPELINE REVIEW (20 min):
  - Active co-sell deals: status, stage, next steps, support needed
  - Stuck deals: what's blocking, how to unblock jointly
  - New opportunities identified since last review
  - Deals lost: what happened, what can we learn

JOINT PLANNING (15 min):
  - Target accounts for next quarter (agree on 5-10 to pursue jointly)
  - Joint marketing activities (co-webinar, co-content, event presence)
  - Enablement needs (new product training, updated materials)
  - Resource commitments from both sides

STRATEGIC DISCUSSION (10 min):
  - Market trends affecting both parties
  - Product roadmap alignment (upcoming integrations or capabilities)
  - Program improvement feedback (what would make this partnership more productive?)
  - Tier review: should this partner be upgraded, maintained, or deprioritized?
```

### Partner Scorecard

| Metric | Weight | Green | Yellow | Red |
|--------|--------|-------|--------|-----|
| Deals registered per quarter | 25% | ≥Target | 50-99% target | <50% target |
| Pipeline generated | 25% | ≥Target | 50-99% target | <50% target |
| Revenue closed | 20% | ≥Target | 50-99% target | <50% target |
| Certification current | 15% | All reps certified | Partially certified | Expired |
| Customer satisfaction | 10% | >4/5 | 3-4/5 | <3/5 |
| Engagement level | 5% | Proactive, responsive | Responsive but passive | Unresponsive |

**Scorecard drives tier status:**
- Consistent Green across metrics → Upgrade tier (more support, co-marketing, exec access)
- Mixed or Yellow → Maintain tier, discuss improvement plan
- Consistent Red → Downgrade tier or exit partnership (with advance notice)

### Partner Tier Benefits

| Benefit | Bronze | Silver | Gold |
|---------|--------|--------|------|
| Deal registration access | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Standard enablement materials | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Partner portal access | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Co-marketing opportunities | | ✓ | ✓ |
| Dedicated partner manager | | ✓ | ✓ |
| Joint business planning | | ✓ | ✓ |
| Executive sponsor access | | | ✓ |
| Early access to product roadmap | | | ✓ |
| Annual partner summit invitation | | | ✓ |
| Custom co-sell playbook | | | ✓ |

---

## 6. Analyst Relations - Deep Guide

### Analyst Engagement Calendar

```
JANUARY: Annual strategy briefing (Tier 1 analysts: Gartner, Forrester)
  - Full-year results, strategic direction, market perspective
  - Customer wins with metrics
  - Set the narrative for the year ahead

MARCH: Product briefing (all engaged analysts)
  - Major product release or capability launch
  - Roadmap preview for the year
  - Customer adoption data for recent features

MAY: Customer evidence briefing (Tier 1)
  - 2-3 customer stories with quantified outcomes
  - Market validation data (growth, retention, competitive wins)
  - Industry trend perspective

JULY: Mid-year briefing (Tier 1)
  - Half-year results and pipeline momentum
  - Competitive landscape update (your perspective on the market)
  - Course corrections or strategic shifts

SEPTEMBER: Product briefing (all engaged analysts)
  - Second major release
  - Integration announcements
  - Customer evidence for new capabilities

NOVEMBER: Planning briefing (Tier 1)
  - Preview of next year's strategy
  - Seek analyst INPUT on strategic direction (not just present - listen)
  - MQ/Wave/MarketScape prep if evaluation upcoming
```

### Preparing for Analyst Evaluations (MQ, Wave, MarketScape)

```
6 MONTHS BEFORE EXPECTED EVALUATION:
  - Confirm you'll be included (submit product info if required)
  - Collect 8-12 customer references (analysts typically contact 5-10)
  - Brief customers: "You may get a call from [analyst firm]. Here's what the
    evaluation covers. You don't need to prep - just share your honest experience."
  - Audit product capabilities against expected evaluation criteria
  - Identify gaps and determine if they can be addressed before evaluation

3 MONTHS BEFORE:
  - Detailed briefing focused on evaluation criteria specifically
  - Walk the analyst through your differentiation vs. each competitor
  - Provide customer references with coaching on key messages
  - Submit detailed product capability questionnaire (take this VERY seriously -
    this is often the primary input to your positioning)

1 MONTH BEFORE:
  - Final product updates that strengthen positioning
  - Demo environment ready (some evaluations include product demos)
  - Executive availability for analyst questions

DURING EVALUATION:
  - Respond to all analyst requests within 24 hours
  - Be honest about weaknesses (they will find them anyway - candor builds trust)
  - Provide data, not just claims (market share, customer metrics, growth rates)

AFTER PUBLICATION:
  - Briefing with analyst to discuss results and improvement areas
  - Internal communication: what the positioning means, how to use it
  - Sales enablement: "We were positioned as [X] because [reasons]. Here's how to
    use this in deals: [talk track]"
  - Marketing: PR, website badge/logo, social promotion
  - If positioning was disappointing: honest debrief, improvement plan for next cycle
```

### Analyst Relationship Best Practices

```
DO:
  ✓ Treat analysts as advisors, not press - ask for their perspective
  ✓ Be honest about challenges and weaknesses
  ✓ Provide data and evidence, not marketing narratives
  ✓ Follow up promptly on all commitments
  ✓ Make customer references available willingly
  ✓ Share your market perspective (they value vendor insight on market trends)
  ✓ Maintain relationship between evaluations (don't go silent for 18 months)

DON'T:
  ✗ Pitch analysts like customers (they see through it immediately)
  ✗ Argue with their published analysis (discuss privately, not publicly)
  ✗ Overstate capabilities (they verify with customers)
  ✗ Gate customer references (makes you look like you have something to hide)
  ✗ Ignore inquiries from analysts covering your space
  ✗ Treat AR as a marketing exercise (it's a strategic relationship)
```

---

## 7. Influencer and Community Engagement

### Technical Influencer Strategy

For enterprise B2B - especially OSS companies - technical influencers often matter more than traditional analysts for reaching practitioners.

**Influencer Types and Engagement:**

| Type | Examples | Engagement Approach |
|------|---------|-------------------|
| OSS maintainers | Maintainers of related projects in your ecosystem | Contribute to their projects, sponsor their work, invite to advisory board |
| Technical bloggers/YouTubers | Developers who review and explain tools | Offer early access to new features, sponsor content (transparently), co-create tutorials |
| Conference speakers | Regular presenters at relevant conferences | Co-present, sponsor their travel, feature them at your events |
| Community leaders | Admins of relevant Slack communities, subreddits, forums | Participate genuinely in their communities, support their events, never pitch |
| Podcast hosts | Hosts covering your technology area or buyer persona | Offer executives as guests, provide interesting data/stories, sponsor if aligned |

**Engagement Principles:**
- Start by genuinely engaging with their content (not pitching)
- Offer value before asking for anything (early access, data, connections)
- Never pay for positive coverage (destroys credibility if discovered)
- Be patient - influencer relationships take 6-12 months to develop
- Track influence through: social mentions, content reach, referral traffic, community sentiment

### Community-as-Channel Strategy

For companies with developer communities, the community itself is an indirect partner:

```
COMMUNITY GENERATES PIPELINE THROUGH:
  - Word of mouth: practitioners recommend to peers
  - Content amplification: community members share your content
  - Talent pipeline: community members join your customers' teams, bring the tool
  - Event participation: community events attract potential enterprise buyers
  - Signal generation: community activity surfaces enterprise-ready accounts

TO LEVERAGE (without exploiting):
  - Invest in community health (support, events, content, contributor programs)
  - Surface community signals to GTM (see community-plg-director)
  - Create enterprise-relevant community content (case studies, architecture talks)
  - Host community events where enterprise buyers naturally attend
  - NEVER treat the community as a marketing channel (they'll leave)
```

---

## 8. Partner Enablement - Detailed Program

### Partner Onboarding Program

```
PHASE 1: FOUNDATION (Weeks 1-2)
  Day 1: Partner portal access, account setup, program overview
  Day 2-3: Product training - what it does, key use cases, competitive positioning
  Day 4-5: ICP and persona training - who to sell to, what they care about, trigger events
  Week 2: Deal registration walkthrough, demo environment access, content library tour
  
  Deliverables for partner: Partner pitch deck, joint value prop doc, demo access, content library
  Milestone: Partner can describe product value prop and identify target accounts

PHASE 2: CERTIFICATION (Weeks 3-4)
  Week 3: Sales certification
    - Pitch delivery (evaluated by your team - same rubric as internal reps)
    - Objection handling (role-play against common pushback)
    - Competitive positioning (how to handle "why not [competitor]?")
  Week 4: Technical certification (for implementation/services partners only)
    - Product architecture overview
    - Implementation methodology
    - Basic troubleshooting
  
  Milestone: Partner sales reps can pitch, demo, and handle objections independently

PHASE 3: SUPPORTED SELLING (Months 2-3)
  - Partner works first 2-3 deals with your team actively supporting
  - Joint calls where your SE provides technical depth
  - Deal reviews after each meeting (coaching on what worked and what didn't)
  - First deal closed with partner support
  
  Milestone: Partner closes first deal with decreasing support

PHASE 4: INDEPENDENCE (Month 4+)
  - Partner executes independently, your team available for escalation
  - Monthly pipeline review with partner manager
  - Quarterly business review (formal performance assessment)
  
  Ongoing enablement:
  - Monthly: Product update briefing (15 min, async-friendly video or email)
  - Quarterly: Competitive update + new content delivery
  - Annual: Partner summit/kickoff + recertification
```

### Partner Content Library

```
SALES CONTENT (partner-facing, for their sales conversations):
  - Partner pitch deck (your product, positioned for partner audiences)
  - Joint value prop (partner + you, combined story)
  - Competitive battle cards (tailored for partner context)
  - Demo scripts (guided demo path for partners)
  - ROI calculator (partner can use with their customers)
  - Customer case studies (organized by industry and use case)

MARKETING CONTENT (for partner's marketing activities):
  - Co-branded email templates
  - Social media copy and images
  - Joint webinar templates
  - Partner-branded landing page template
  - Logo usage guidelines

TECHNICAL CONTENT (for implementation partners):
  - Implementation guide
  - Integration documentation
  - Troubleshooting runbook
  - Best practices guide
  - Architecture reference diagrams
```

---

## 9. Channel Economics Modeling

### Economic Models by Partner Type

**Referral Partner Economics:**
```
YOUR ECONOMICS:
  Average deal: $[ACV]
  Referral fee: [10-20%] of first-year ACV
  Cost per referral deal: $[ACV × fee %]
  Compared to: Direct CAC of $[amount]
  Margin impact: [Positive if referral fee < direct CAC]

PARTNER ECONOMICS:
  Revenue per referral: $[ACV × fee %]
  Effort per referral: [Low - introduction + occasional co-selling]
  Break-even: [# referrals needed per year to justify relationship investment]
  Attractiveness: High effort-to-reward ratio if they have access to your ICP

VIABILITY TEST:
  Is the referral fee attractive enough to motivate the partner?
  Is the partner's account access sufficient to generate [N] referrals/year?
  Is the total program cost less than acquiring the same deals through direct?
```

**Reseller/Channel Partner Economics:**
```
YOUR ECONOMICS:
  List price: $[ACV]
  Wholesale price to partner: $[ACV × (1 - margin %)]
  Your revenue per deal: $[wholesale price]
  Compared to: Direct revenue of $[ACV] minus direct CAC
  Margin impact: [Acceptable if wholesale + partner overhead < direct CAC + direct overhead]

PARTNER ECONOMICS:
  Revenue per deal: $[ACV × margin %]
  Typical margin: 20-40% depending on involvement level
  Cost to sell: [Their sales rep time, overhead, marketing]
  Break-even: [# deals per year to cover their dedicated resources]
  
VIABILITY TEST:
  Can the partner sell [N] deals per year to justify their investment?
  Is your margin sacrifice less than what you'd spend acquiring these deals directly?
  Does the partner bring access to accounts you can't efficiently reach?
  Rule of thumb: A reseller should generate 3x the pipeline of a direct rep
  to justify the margin discount.
```

**Services/SI Partner Economics:**
```
YOUR ECONOMICS:
  Product revenue: $[ACV] (you capture 100% - partner doesn't take product margin)
  Benefit: Faster implementation, better customer outcomes, reduced support burden
  Cost: Enablement investment, partner management time
  
PARTNER ECONOMICS:
  Services revenue: $[implementation hours × rate]
  Typical: 0.5-2x the first-year product ACV in services revenue
  Ongoing: Annual support/optimization retainers
  
VIABILITY TEST:
  Is there enough implementation complexity to justify a services partner?
  Can the partner deliver quality implementations (or will bad implementations cause churn)?
  Does having a services partner accelerate your sales cycle or expand your addressable market?
```

### Partner Program Budget Framework

```
EARLY STAGE (0-5 partners, <$5M ARR):
  Partner manager: $0 (CEO/CRO manages directly) or fractional
  Enablement: $5-10K (materials, demo environments)
  Referral fees: Variable (paid on closed business only)
  Total fixed: <$15K/year
  
GROWTH STAGE (5-20 partners, $5-20M ARR):
  Partner manager: $120-180K (first dedicated hire)
  Enablement: $20-50K (portal, training, content)
  Co-marketing: $25-50K (joint events, co-branded content)
  Referral/margin: Variable
  Total fixed: $165-280K/year
  
SCALE STAGE (20-50+ partners, $20M+ ARR):
  Partner team: $400-800K (manager + channel sales + partner marketing)
  Enablement: $50-100K
  Co-marketing: $100-250K
  Partner summit: $50-100K
  Technology/portal: $50-100K
  Total fixed: $650K-1.35M/year
```

---

## 10. Partner Program Metrics

### Partner Channel Dashboard

| Metric | Definition | Target | Cadence |
|--------|-----------|--------|---------|
| Partner-sourced pipeline | Pipeline from partner-registered deals | Per quarterly target | Weekly |
| Partner-influenced pipeline | Pipeline where partner involved but didn't source | 2x sourced | Monthly |
| Partner revenue | Closed revenue from partner-sourced deals | Per quarterly target | Monthly |
| Average partner deal size | ACV on partner deals vs. direct | Within 20% of direct | Quarterly |
| Partner sales cycle | Days from registration to close | Within 30% of direct | Quarterly |
| Active partner ratio | Partners with ≥1 deal registered in last 90 days | >50% of total | Monthly |
| Partner certification rate | Partners with current sales/technical certification | >80% | Quarterly |
| Deal registration-to-close rate | % of registered deals that close | >15% | Quarterly |
| Partner satisfaction (NPS) | Annual partner survey | >40 | Annually |
| Customer satisfaction on partner deals | CSAT/NPS on partner-involved customers | Equal to or above direct | Quarterly |

### Analyst Relations Metrics

| Metric | Definition | Target |
|--------|-----------|--------|
| Analyst mentions | Times mentioned in analyst publications | Increasing YoY |
| Evaluation positioning | Placement in MQ/Wave/MarketScape | Improving or maintaining |
| Analyst-influenced pipeline | Deals where buyer cited analyst research | Track, no hard target |
| Analyst-influenced win rate | Close rate on analyst-influenced deals vs. others | Higher than average |
| Briefing completion rate | % of planned briefings actually conducted | >90% |
| Analyst sentiment | Qualitative assessment after each interaction | Positive/improving |

---

## 11. Common Partnership Failure Modes

| Failure Mode | What Happens | Warning Signs | Prevention |
|-------------|-------------|---------------|------------|
| Hope-based partnerships | Sign partners with no economic model, expect pipeline from goodwill | Partner agreement signed but no deal flow after 90 days | Model economics before signing. Require mutual commitments with timelines. |
| Over-investment in wrong partners | Heavily enable partners who lack account access | Partner consumes enablement but doesn't bring deals | Score partners on account access FIRST. Pilot before investing heavily. |
| No deal registration discipline | Partners and direct team compete on same accounts, creating customer confusion | Customer receives outreach from both your rep and partner; internal conflict | Clear rules of engagement. CRM-enforced registration. First to register wins. |
| Partner neglect | Sign partners and forget about them. No ongoing engagement or support. | Partner stops registering deals. Goes silent. Eventually partners with competitor. | Monthly touchpoints. Quarterly reviews. Annual planning session. |
| Training-then-forget | Onboard partner once, never provide updates | Partner pitches outdated messaging, mispositions product | Quarterly enablement updates. Annual recertification requirement. |
| Misaligned incentives | Partner earns more from services than from selling your product, so they recommend alternatives | Partner pushes competitor product that requires more implementation work | Align comp structures. Include services revenue in partnership economics. Joint success metrics. |
| Analyst spray-and-pray | Brief every analyst equally regardless of influence | Budget spread thin, no deep relationships with Tier 1 analysts | Tier analysts by influence on YOUR buyers. Concentrate resources on Tier 1. |
| Confusing buyer experience | Customer gets contradictory messages from you and your partner | Customer asks "are you guys even talking to each other?" | Joint messaging alignment. Partner uses your approved messaging. Regular sync on active deals. |
| Channel conflict unaddressed | Direct team resents partners "stealing" deals; partners resent direct team poaching | Internal complaints, partner complaints, declining partner engagement | Establish rules of engagement DAY ONE. Enforce consistently. Make conflict resolution process clear. |
| Premature scaling | Hire partner team and invest in infrastructure before proving the model works | Big team, expensive portal, no pipeline to show for it | Start with 3-5 pilot partners. Prove economics. Then invest in scale infrastructure. |
