Getting to Know Your Why

• What's the main reason you're evaluating a channel partnership right now? Options: RFP from a customer, Revenue shortfall / need higher-margin line, New product category gaining traction, Strategic expansion into new geography, Customer demand for integrated solution, Other
• How urgent is solving this—what timeline are you working toward? Options: Immediate (0-30 days), Short (1-3 months), One quarter (3-6 months), Longer (6+ months)
• What would a successful outcome look like in that timeframe?
• Which of these goals matter most right now? Options: Close current RFPs, Increase gross margin, Reduce time to first revenue, Expand into verticals, Reduce direct sales burden, Build strategic alliances
• Who internally will be most measured against the success of this initiative?

If This Were a Crisis, Where's the Smoke Coming From?

• What's failing in your current go-to-market that makes a partner program the obvious fix?
• Which symptoms have you seen most often? Options: Lost deals to competitors, Scope gaps in proposals, Inability to localize support, Sales pipeline shortfall, Unmet customer RFPs, High cost of direct coverage
• Tell me about a recent deal you lost or missed because the capability wasn't in-house—what happened and why?
• How often do these capability gaps impact your quarterly targets? Options: Every quarter, Most quarters, Occasionally, Rarely
• How does this friction affect team morale, sales behavior, or partner willingness to invest?

Who Actually Holds the Keys?

• If you had to bet, which person or team would veto a partnership—and why?
• Which stakeholders will be involved in the evaluation? Options: VP Sales, Practice Director, Managed Services Lead, Technical Alliance Manager, Finance, Legal/Procurement, Marketing, Customer Success
• Who is the ultimate decision-maker, and who are the influencers we need to convince?
• What decision criteria will be weighted most heavily? Options: Margins & economics, Deal registration protections, Speed of enablement, Technical fit, Co-marketing support, Vendor responsiveness
• How will those criteria be scored or benchmarked against competing vendor programs?

What Keeps You Up at Night About Partners?

• What's the single fear that would stop you from signing on even if the economics looked good?
• Which of these partner risks feel real to your team? Options: Vendor direct team competing, Deal registration overrides, Certification takes months, Margin erosion over time, Being deprioritized as program scales, Complex compliance or contract risk
• Have you experienced any of these before? Describe what happened and the fallout.
• How damaging would a deal conflict be in dollar terms or customer impact? Options: Severe (>$250k or strategic account), Moderate ($50k–$250k), Minor (<$50k), Hard to estimate
• What assurances or contract terms would reduce that fear enough to move forward?

Where Does Success Live?

• What exact signals would make you say the pilot 'worked'—not 'felt good' but objectively succeeded?
• Which pilot metrics matter most? Options: Number of co-sold deals, Time to first deal, Partner-sourced pipeline value, Certified partner count, Win rate uplift, Average deal margin
• For the top metric you chose, what numerical target would convince you?
• How long should the pilot run before a go/no-go decision? Options: 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, 120 days, Longer
• Who will own pilot governance and reporting on your side?

If We Could Remove One Bottleneck — Which One?

• What's the one process or policy that consistently slows partner success—and why hasn't it been fixed?
• Which bottleneck feels most urgent to solve? Options: Lengthy certification, Slow registration adjudication, Limited pre-sales support, Insufficient margin, Poor co-marketing execution
• Describe the current certification path and the single most frustrating step.
• What is an acceptable certification timeline for your sales engineers to be productive? Options: <2 weeks, 2–4 weeks, 1–2 months, 2–3 months, 3+ months
• What internal resources (people, time, budget) can you dedicate to speeding that bottleneck?

Show Me the Money — Margin & Economics

• At what point do economics alone make a partner stop engaging with a vendor?
• Which margin structures are acceptable to you? Options: Flat reseller margin, Tiered margin by certification, Deal-registration uplift, Market development funds (MDF), Referral fees
• What is the minimum certified partner margin uplift you require to prioritize selling a new vendor?
• How important are co-marketing funds and MDF to your go-to-market? Options: Critical, Important, Nice-to-have, Not important
• How do payment terms, rebates, or retroactive margins impact your willingness to commit?

What Would Make You Believe We Won't Steal Your Deals?

• If we wanted your unconditional trust, what's the single contractual or operational promise we'd have to make?
• Which registration protections are non-negotiable? Options: Enforced within 48 hours, First right to quote, Territory exclusivity, Escalation path with SLA, Automatic approvals for certified partners
• Describe a past registration dispute and how you wished it had been handled.
• How quickly do you need pre-sales engineering to respond to partner requests? Options: Within 4 hours, Same business day, Next business day, Within 48 hours
• What governance model (joint steering committee, quarterly reviews, dispute board) would make you comfortable?

Decision Rhythm & Timeline

• If momentum stalls, where does it usually die—and how do we prevent that this time?
• What is your internal approval rhythm for partner programs? Options: Immediate signoff by VP Sales, Quarterly investment review, Board/Exec approval required, Delegated to Practice Lead
• What legal or procurement steps typically lengthen partnership timelines?
• How soon could you sign a pilot agreement if terms align? Options: Immediately, Within 2 weeks, Within 1 month, 1–3 months, Longer
• What would be the top reasons you'd delay or cancel a pilot after starting?

Your Questions — What Do You Need From Us to Say Yes?

• What are the one or two non-negotiables you need answers to before committing?
• What additional proof points (case studies, references, technical demos, financial models) would you like to see?
• Which support channels would you expect during the pilot? Options: Dedicated channel account manager, Priority pre-sales engineering, Co-branded marketing materials, Technical onboarding workshops, Joint executive sponsorship
• Who on your team should we keep closely informed, and how do they prefer updates (email, weekly call, dashboard)?
• How would you prefer to finalize next steps after this discovery? Options: Pilot proposal & SOW, Executive briefing, Workshop to design program, Legal term sheet, Other

• Solution Experience Prep: Current State & Pilot Goals
• Registration Protections Workshop (Proof)
• Certified Margin & Economics Review
• Pre-sales Acceleration & Pilot Runbook (Validation Demo)

• Vendor to provision the pilot dashboard and grant partner access to monitor metrics in real time.
• Vendor to provision a sandbox registration instance and seed it with the mock registration used in the simulation.
• Both parties to approve final registration SLA wording and sign-off owner names for the pilot.
• Vendor to publish the dispute evidence checklist and escalation contact list to partners.
• Re-state Future State Metric
• Confirm the certified margin schedule and that it delivers the promised uplift vs category averages.
• Validate deal-level ROI for 2-3 target accounts, showing net incremental partner profit.
• Agree on certification timeline, acceleration options, and owner commitments to meet pilot timing.
• Agree how co-investment will be applied during the pilot to reduce time-to-first-co-sold deal.
• Vendor to deliver a populated margin calculator using partner-provided deal numbers.
• Partner to commit to certification candidate names and available dates for bootcamp sessions.
• Vendor to draft the certification acceleration plan and associated costs or credits for the pilot.
• Recap Preconditions (Current state, Consequence, Future state)
• Demonstrate a one-business-day pre-sales join and confirm named resource availability.
• Validate the pilot runbook end-to-end against partner scenarios and obtain explicit acceptance.
• Agree on the pilot kickoff date, duration, metrics dashboard, and primary owners.
• Ensure the pilot will generate the evidence needed to prove registration protection, margin uplift, and faster pre-sales support.
• Schedule pilot kickoff meeting and publish runbook, dashboard link, and communication cadence.
• Vendor to assign and confirm the named pre-sales engineer and channel AM for the pilot.
• Both parties to sign the pilot SOW and SLA addendum before the kickoff date.
• Introductions & Objectives
• Capture a one-sentence current state that everyone can repeat back.
• Agree quantified consequences (money, time, risk) tied to that current state.
• Obtain 2-3 detailed target account scenarios and timelines from the partner.
• Define 3 clear pilot success signals and the data that will be used to measure them.
• List required pre-work deliverables and owners to prepare the Solution Experience.
• Partner to share dossier for each target account (contacts, RFP text, deal size, timeline) within 3 business days.
• Vendor to compile recent registration history and sample SLA response times for review.
• Vendor to draft a pilot SOW template populated with the agreed success signals.
• Recap Current State & Desired Future State
• Demonstrate an enforceable registration process that meets the partner's protection needs.
• Validate governance and dispute resolution paths with concrete timelines and owners.
• Map registration outcomes to each target account and show how prior failure modes are eliminated.
• Obtain agreement on SLA wording and assign the owner responsible for enforcement during the pilot.
• Crystal-clear Current State
• Pre-sales Support Flow & SLA
• Certified Margin Structure Overview
• Registration Flow Walkthrough
• Deal-level ROI Modeling (Partner Scenarios)
• Live Runbook Walkthrough Using a Target Account
• Consequence Quantification
• Dispute Resolution & Escalation Flow
• Map to Partner Scenarios (Diagnosis -> Proof)
• Target Account Scenario Review
• Pilot Success Dashboard & Metrics
• Certification Track & Acceleration Plan
• Pilot Goals & Success Signals
• Force Validation & Acceptance
• Live Validation Simulation
• Co-investment & MDF / Co-sell Economics
• Agree SLA Language & Owners
• Validation & Acceptance Criteria
• Pilot Kickoff Logistics & Owners
• Pre-work and Data Checklist

• Provision Partner Portal Access
• Issue Demo and Sandbox Licenses
• Deliver Technical Certification Course
• Conduct Onsite Technical Workshop
• Provide Live Pre-Sales Engineering Support
• Approve and Protect Deal Registrations
• Enforce Deal Registrations within 48 Hours
• Disburse Co-Marketing Funds
• Deliver Co-Branded Marketing Kit
• Configure Partner Margin and Rebates
• Deploy Sales Playbook and Battlecards
• Integrate with Partner CRM for Lead Routing

Provision Partner Portal Access

• Which partner roles should have portal access? Options: Partner Admin, Sales Rep, Technical/Engineer, Marketing, Executive, Other
• How many partner users do you expect to provision initially? Options: 1-5, 6-25, 26-100, 100+
• Do you require single sign-on (SSO) or federated identity for partners? Options: Yes, No
• What access tiers or permissions should be available (e.g., view, edit, admin)? Options: Read-only, Contribute, Admin, Custom
• Which systems should the portal integrate with (select all that apply)? Options: Partner CRM, LMS/Training, Ticketing/Support, Marketing Automation, Analytics/BI, None, Other
• Are there branding or localization requirements for the portal (languages, logos)? Please describe.

Issue Demo and Sandbox Licenses

• How many demo or sandbox licenses are required for each partner initially? Options: 1-5, 6-25, 26-100, 100+
• What should the default duration be for sandbox access? Options: 7 days, 14 days, 30 days, Custom
• Which environments or feature sets must be included in the sandbox (select all that apply)? Options: Full feature set, Limited feature set, API access, Sample data only, Custom modules
• Do sandboxes require data anonymization or production data import approvals? Options: Yes, No
• Will license usage be monitored and reported back to partners? If yes, what metrics matter?
• Are there IP, export, or compliance restrictions to enforce on demo environments? Options: Yes, No

Deliver Technical Certification Course

• Which audiences should the certification target? Options: Pre-sales Engineers, Implementation Engineers, Support Engineers, Sales Reps, Architects, Other
• How many certification levels are required (e.g., Associate, Professional, Expert)? Options: 1, 2, 3+, Custom
• Preferred delivery format for the course? Options: Self-paced eLearning, Live Virtual Instructor, In-person Instructor, Blended
• Estimated number of partner candidates for the first cohort? Options: 1-10, 11-50, 51-200, 200+
• What passing criteria and recertification cadence do you require? Options: Percentage score, Practical lab, Case study, Other
• Are there prerequisites or baseline skills partners must have before certification?

Conduct Onsite Technical Workshop

• What is the primary objective of the onsite workshop (enablement, PoC, architecture design)? Options: Enablement/Training, Proof of Concept, Solution Architecture, Customer Pilot Enablement, Other
• How many days should the onsite workshop run? Options: Half-day, 1 day, 2-3 days, 4+ days
• Typical attendee profile and headcount from partner side?
• What facilities or equipment must be provided onsite (network, lab machines, internet)?
• Which hands-on deliverables do you expect (lab guides, reference architecture, configuration scripts)? Options: Lab guides, Reference architecture, Configuration scripts, Checklists, Other
• Are there any travel, security, or NDA constraints for onsite delivery? Options: Yes, No

Provide Live Pre-Sales Engineering Support

• What SLA response time do you require for pre-sales support requests? Options: Same day, Within 1 business day, Within 4 business hours, Immediate (on-call)
• During which hours should pre-sales support be available? Options: Business hours (local), Business hours (vendor timezone), 24/7, On-demand by appointment
• Which channels should be supported for requests (select all that apply)? Options: Email, Phone, Portal ticket, Live chat, Scheduled call
• What types of pre-sales assistance are in scope (demos, architecture guidance, proposals, PoC support)? Options: Demo, Architecture/Design, Proposal co-authoring, PoC/Trial support, Pricing guidance
• Estimate the number of pre-sales support requests per month for the pilot phase. Options: 0-5, 6-20, 21-50, 50+
• Who is the escalation owner if pre-sales support SLA is missed?

Approve and Protect Deal Registrations

• What evidence should partners provide to register a deal (POC, email thread, RFP, opportunity link)? Options: Customer email, RFP document, Signed MOU, CRM opportunity link, Other
• What registration window do you want (how long is a registration valid)? Options: 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, Custom
• Who approves registrations and at what authorization level? Options: Channel Manager, Sales Director, Automated System, Other
• How should registration conflicts be handled when multiple partners claim the same account? Options: First in wins, Evidence review, Joint-coverage model, Manual arbitration
• Do you require integrations to synchronize registrations with partner CRMs? Options: Yes, No
• Are there product, deal size, or geography exclusions for registration protection? Please list.

Enforce Deal Registrations within 48 Hours

• Do you commit to a 48-hour acknowledgement SLA for registrations for all partners or a subset? Options: All partners, Certified partners only, Tiered by partner level, Pilot partners only
• What constitutes acknowledgement (automated email, CRM update, portal status change)? Options: Automated email, Portal status change, CRM update, Direct phone/email from manager
• Which exceptions should allow extended review beyond 48 hours? Options: Incomplete evidence, Large enterprise deals, Disputed accounts, Compliance review, None
• What penalty or remediation applies if 48-hour enforcement is missed (escalation, priority review, margin adjustment)? Options: Escalation to GM, Priority review, Temporary protections, No penalty
• Should enforcement be automated (rules) or manually reviewed by a channel manager? Options: Automated rules, Manual review, Hybrid
• Do you need audit reporting showing registration acknowledgement and resolution times? Options: Yes, No

Disburse Co-Marketing Funds

• What is the overall co-marketing budget allocated per partner or per tier? Options: Fixed amount per partner, Budget by tier, Approval-based, No set budget
• What co-funding ratio do you want to offer (vendor:partner)? Options: 100% vendor, 75:25, 50:50, Other
• Which activities are eligible for co-marketing funds (events, digital ads, content, SDR support)? Options: Events/trade shows, Digital advertising, Co-branded content, Demand gen/SDR, Webinars
• What approval process and timelines are required for fund requests? Options: Auto-approve under threshold, Channel manager approval, Marketing committee, Other
• What reporting and ROI evidence must partners submit to receive funds? Options: Campaign metrics, Lead lists, Invoices/receipts, Other
• Payment cadence for co-marketing reimbursements? Options: Pre-paid, Reimbursement after campaign, Milestone-based, Credit against future purchases

Deliver Co-Branded Marketing Kit

• Which assets are required in the co-branded kit (one-pager, slide deck, email templates)? Options: One-pager, Pitch deck, Email templates, Case studies, Social media assets, Other
• Do you require editable templates (PowerPoint, InDesign) or locked PDFs? Options: Editable templates, Locked PDFs, Both
• Which languages or regional variations are needed for materials? Options: English only, Multi-language (specify), Region-specific messaging
• Will partner portal distribution or an external DAM be used to deliver kits? Options: Partner portal, External DAM, Email delivery, Other
• Are co-branding guidelines and legal approvals required prior to partner use? Options: Yes, No
• Do you want tracked asset usage metrics (downloads, shares) for analytics? Options: Yes, No

Configure Partner Margin and Rebates

• How many partner tiers should you define and what are they called? Options: 1, 2, 3, 4+
• What margin differentials do you want for certified vs non-certified partners? Options: No difference, 5 points, 10 points, Custom
• Which actions trigger rebates or SPIFFs (certification, volume thresholds, attainment)? Options: Certification, Quarterly revenue targets, New logos, Co-sell wins, Other
• Payment cadence for rebates and margin adjustments? Options: Monthly, Quarterly, After quarter close, Annual
• Are audit and reconciliation rights required to validate partner claims? Options: Yes, No
• Are there special margin rules by geography, product, or distributor channel? Please specify.

• Channel Partner Agreement (CPA)
• Statement of Work (SOW)
• Commercial Terms & Pricing Schedule
• Margin & Incentive Schedule
• Deal Registration Terms & Protection Addendum
• Registration Enforcement SLA
• Certification & Enablement Commitment
• Pre-Sales & Technical Support SLA
• Co-Marketing & MDF Agreement
• Governance, Escalation & Dispute Resolution
• Data Processing & Privacy Agreement (DPA)
• IP, Branding & Usage Rights
• Audit, Reporting & Compliance Rights
• Change Order & Amendment Process
• Termination, Exit & Transition Terms
• Renewal & Expansion Framework

• Pilot Outcomes Validation
• SLA, Registration & Margin Compliance Review
• Rollout Planning & Phased Scaling
• Escalation Paths, Dispute Governance & Conflict Playbook
• Partner Feedback & Continuous Improvement Retro

• Validate the playbook via a tabletop exercise and capture required adjustments.
• Agree on specific remedial actions, owners, and deadlines for each SLA gap.
• Sign off on the SLA and measurement baseline that will carry into the phased rollout.
• Update SLA documentation and program terms to reflect any agreed baseline changes.
• Implement registration-case tracking fields in CRM to ensure 48-hour enforcement is auditable.
• Resolve top 3 margin reconciliation exceptions and report back with mitigation completed.
• Rollout Objectives & Constraints
• Agree a clear, timebound phased rollout plan with milestone dates and phase-exit criteria.
• Assign owners and resource commitments for each major rollout activity.
• Define KPIs and acceptance thresholds that will govern phase progression.
• Publish the final phased rollout plan and milestone calendar to stakeholders.
• Secure budget and executive approvals required for the first expansion phase.
• Schedule the enablement workshop series and confirm pre-sales staffing commitments for the launch window.
• Escalation Tiering & Triggers
• Produce a clear, actionable escalation playbook with tiers, triggers, and SLAs.
• Assign RACI ownership for dispute resolution and audit processes.
• Introductions & Meeting Objectives
• Finalize and publish the Conflict Playbook and integrate it into partner onboarding materials.
• Implement CRM fields and reporting dashboards to make disputes and resolutions auditable.
• Train channel managers and relevant sales leaders on the escalation workflow and SLAs.
• Partner Voice Summary
• Surface and prioritize partner-sourced improvements that materially increase adoption and time-to-revenue.
• Agree on a repeatable continuous improvement cadence and owners for tracking progress.
• Commit to concrete acceleration tactics for certification and onboarding to address partner fears of long ramp times.
• Publish a prioritized improvement backlog and assign owners with target delivery windows.
• Pilot one certification-acceleration tactic (e.g., 3-day bootcamp) and measure its impact on time-to-first-deal.
• Establish the monthly metrics review meeting and invite list to monitor rollout KPIs and partner health.
• Achieve a shared, one-sentence articulation of the current state and the one-sentence future state for scaled rollout.
• Validate each pilot success signal with specific evidence and quantify business consequence where possible.
• Decide: pilot passes, fails, or passes conditionally with an agreed remediation plan and owners.
• Produce a Pilot Validation Report summarizing metrics, gap analysis, and the decision outcome.
• Assign owners and timelines for each remediation item identified in the proof mapping exercise.
• Schedule a follow-up validation checkpoint (30–60 days) to verify remediation effectiveness.
• SLA Performance Snapshot
• Confirm which SLAs met the pilot thresholds and which require remediation prior to or during rollout.
• Deal Registration Audit
• Phased Rollout Proposal
• Current State Recap (one-sentence)
• Conflict Scenarios & Resolution Flows
• Top 3 Adoption Blockers
• Roles, RACI & Decision Rights
• Pilot Data Walkthrough
• Timeline, Milestones & Dependencies
• Margin & Certification Outcomes
• Improvement Backlog & Prioritization
• SLA for Escalation Response
• Pre-sales & Support SLA Checks
• Resourcing & Enablement Plan
• Consequence Analysis
• Certification Acceleration Options
• KPIs & Acceptance Criteria per Phase
• Tools, Audit Trail & Reporting
• Future State Definition
• Root Cause & Remediation Options
• Continuous Improvement Cadence
• SLA Baseline Sign-off
• Approvals, Budget & Communication
• Proof Mapping: Signal → Evidence
• Tabletop Exercise
• Validation & Decision