Quick orientation: the goal driving this exploration

• Tell me briefly about the primary sales goal driving your interest in new vendor programs right now.
• How many new partner-sourced deals did your team close in the last quarter? Options: 0, 1-5, 6-20, 21-50, 51+
• Who usually signs off on adding a new vendor program in your organization? Options: VP of Sales, Head of Channel/Alliances, CEO/Founder, Procurement, Cross-functional committee
• Which customer verticals or accounts are you most focused on for partner-driven growth? Options: Healthcare, Finance, Retail/eCommerce, Manufacturing, Public sector, Other
• Within what target window do you want to see the first partner-sourced revenue from a newly onboarded partner—3 months, 6 months, or 9 months? Options: Within 3 months, Within 6 months, Within 9 months, Longer than 9 months

Where friction shows up in your channel today

• If your channel were under review tomorrow, what single partner-related failure would they call out first?
• Walk me through the last time a partner lost a deal because of vendor-side conflict or slow deal registration, what happened and who was affected?
• How often do certification delays push potential partner deals past your acceptable window? Options: Almost every deal, Often, Occasionally, Rarely, Never
• Who on your team is most exposed when a partner's certification stalls: sales, services, or operations? Options: Sales, Services/Delivery, Operations/Rev Ops, Channel/Alliances, Other
• Could unresolved channel conflict or weak deal protection make you decline to join a vendor program outright? Options: Yes, absolutely, Possibly, depending on scale, Unlikely, but a concern, No

Partner capability in practice: what actually matters

• What single partner capability, if missing, would make you stop evaluating a vendor program immediately?
• Describe a pilot that exceeded expectations for you—timeline, participating partners, and the signals that mattered.
• How many partners do you prefer to include in an initial pilot, two, three, or a larger cohort? Options: One, Two, Three, Four or more
• Which pilot outcome matters most to your leadership: first deal velocity, margin retention, or enablement adoption? Options: First deal velocity, Margin retention, Certification adoption, Demo-to-deal conversion, Other
• If a pilot showed a first closed deal within 90 days and an uplift of 10 margin points, would procurement and sales be ready to sign that week? Options: Yes, sign that week, Need a short review (1-2 weeks), Require further data, No

Where partner economics break the model

• Where do hidden costs show up in your current partner economics—training, delivery overruns, or lost margins? Options: Training/onboarding, Delivery overruns, Lower-than-expected margins, Marketing effort, Support/ops overhead
• List the co-marketing or MDF commitments you need per partner to make go-to-market viable. Options: None, $5k-$20k/year, $20k-$50k/year, $50k+/year
• Explain how you prefer margin tiers to be structured when a partner bundles a vendor product with their services. Options: Fixed percent by tier, Blended gross margin target, Service-inclusive models, Deal-by-deal negotiation
• What budget or margin threshold would immediately rule out participation for you? Options: Margin below category average, MDF below $X (enter amount), Excessive co-sell effort vs. return, Other
• Assuming MDF arrived later than planned, could you still commit to onboarding this quarter? Options: Yes, with contingency, Only with reduced scope, No, timing is fixed

The other routes you could take

• Name the vendor programs, incumbent relationships, or internal options you are actively considering instead of a new partner program. Options: Incumbent vendor program, Another vendor's program, Internal build of capability, Distribution aggregator, Do nothing/maintain status quo, Other
• Point to the option that requires the least change to your current processes. Options: Stay with incumbent, Do internal build, Join another vendor, Use distribution aggregator
• Under which conditions would you stay with your current approach rather than switching to a vendor program? Options: If margins stay stable, If deal protection is enforced, If internal roadmap covers the gap, If effort to change is too high
• Has anyone on your leadership team proposed building the capability internally instead of partnering? Options: Yes, active plan, Yes, discussed but not planned, No, Not sure
• Assuming an incumbent matched your target certification timeline and adjusted margins to your needs, would you still run a comparative pilot? Options: Yes, always run a pilot, Only if other gaps exist, No, incumbent match would be enough

Pilot success: the measures that move the needle

• Point to the single pilot metric that would make your leadership sign a channel agreement that week. Options: First closed deal within X days, Target margin achieved, Certification of partner reps, Demo-to-deal conversion rate
• What internal reviews or approvals must a pilot pass before the program can scale across your business? Options: Sales leadership sign-off, Procurement contract terms, Security/compliance review, Finance ROI check, All of the above
• How will you measure enablement quality: time to first certified engineer, demo conversion rate, or win rate? Options: Time to first certified engineer, Demo-to-deal conversion, Win rate in co-sold deals, Partner satisfaction
• Describe the decision path and timing: who signs, what procurement steps, and typical approval lead times?
• Would you halt further enrollment if the pilot did not produce a close within your target window? Options: Yes, pause immediately, Yes, after remediation attempt, No, continue but monitor closely

Operational readiness and gating constraints

• Identify any integration dependency or internal system that would block this engagement if not available. Options: CRM access for co-sell reporting, SAML/SSO for partner portal, API connectivity to billing, None, Other
• Do you have staff who can own partner onboarding tasks such as certification tracking and deal registration administration? Options: Dedicated channel manager, Shared responsibility across teams, No dedicated staff, Contractor/third party
• How clean and accessible is the data the vendor would need for co-selling and reporting: fully ready, partially, or requiring significant work? Options: Fully ready, Partially ready, Requires cleaning and mapping, Blocked by policy or access
• Are there legal, procurement, or compliance gates expected for a new vendor relationship? Options: Yes, strict compliance review, Yes, standard procurement, Minor contract review only, No
• Would you defer the engagement if required implementation headcount cannot be committed within 60 days? Options: Yes, defer, Proceed with reduced scope, Proceed and hire later

Timeline and the decision mechanics

• When do you need a signed partner agreement to align with your fiscal and GTM planning? Options: Within 2 weeks, Within 1 month, Within this quarter, Next quarter or later
• List the stakeholders who must be involved in the final sign-off and identify the tie-breaker. Options: Sales leader, Legal/procurement, Finance, Channel head, Executive sponsor
• How sensitive is your target go-to-market launch to missing certification deadlines: low, medium, or high? Options: Low, Medium, High, Critical
• Could you proceed if the vendor does not enforce deal registration within 48 hours? Options: Yes, but with caveats, No, enforcement is required, Only if alternate protection is provided

Mutual expectations that make or break partnership

• Name one contractual term you would insist on to protect partner-sourced business. Options: Strict deal registration, Exclusivity by vertical/account, Short dispute resolution SLAs, Guaranteed margin tiers for certified partners, Other
• Explain the escalation path you expect when a partner reports a lost deal to the vendor's direct sales team.
• How soon after agreement would you expect the vendor to assign a dedicated channel account manager? Options: Immediately (within 1 week), Within 2-4 weeks, After onboarding period, No dedicated manager required
• Could you commit to launch with a cutover plan if the vendor cannot meet your preferred certification deadline? Options: Yes, with phased roll-out, Only for core partners, No, certification deadline is a deal breaker

Final calibration: readiness to move forward

• Reflecting on the answers above, how ready is your organization on a scale from 1 to 5 to start a structured pilot with a new vendor program? Options: 1 - Not ready, 2, 3, 4, 5 - Ready now
• What would need to change in the next 30 days to move your readiness one notch higher?
• Who should be the single point of contact from your side for pilot coordination and weekly status?
• When would you like to schedule a follow-up to review a proposed pilot plan and timeline? Options: This week, Next week, In two weeks, Next month

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• Provision partner portal access and sales assets
• Deliver solution technical enablement workshops
• Issue partner technical certifications and badges
• Activate deal registration with protection enforcement
• Provide on-demand pre-sales engineering support
• Configure tiered margin, rebates, and payouts
• Disburse co-marketing funds (MDF) and tracking
• Produce joint marketing collateral and campaigns
• Run co-sold proof-of-concept or pilot
• Enable revenue-sharing and deal-split setup
• Provide localized pricing and contract documents
• Deploy partner sales playbook and battlecards

Provision partner portal access and sales assets

• Do you require single sign-on integration between your identity provider and the partner portal for partner user provisioning? Options: Yes, No
• Which specific sales assets (for example: one-page product datasheet, channel price sheet, technical install guide) must be published to the portal resource library first? Options: Datasheet, Price sheet, Install guide, Case study, Other
• How many partner user accounts should be created initially and which portal roles should they map to (for example: sales rep, enablement lead, technical contact)? Options: 1-5, 6-20, 21-100, 100+
• Who on your team will own ongoing portal content updates and approval using the portal content management system (CMS)? Options: Channel sales leader, Marketing content manager, Sales operations, Other
• When should access to gated sales assets be granted relative to partner onboarding milestones (for example: immediately at enrollment, after certification completion, or after mutual commit)? Options: Immediately at enrollment, After certification completion, After mutual commit, Custom timing
• Provide the list of existing collateral files, preferred file formats, and the target folder taxonomy you want mirrored in the portal repository.

Deliver solution technical enablement workshops

• List the enablement workshop types you require (for example: product fundamentals, advanced integration, hands-on lab, sales positioning). Options: Product fundamentals, Advanced integration, Hands-on lab, Sales positioning, Other
• Confirm the maximum class size per workshop for instructor-led sessions and whether you need private cohort scheduling. Options: Up to 10, 11-25, 26-50, Private cohort only
• Estimate which technical tracks (for example: core deployment, API integration, monitoring) your teams will prioritize in the first 90 days. Options: Core deployment, API integration, Monitoring and ops, Security compliance, Other
• Identify the lab environment targets you need for hands-on workshops (for example: cloud test account, on-prem simulator, sandbox API endpoint). Options: Cloud test account, On-prem simulator, Sandbox API, No lab required
• Specify the preferred delivery format for each workshop type (for example: 90-minute live webinar, half-day instructor-led, self-paced LMS module). Options: 90-minute webinar, Half-day instructor-led, Full-day workshop, Self-paced LMS, Blended
• Select who should be invited from your organization to each workshop (for example: pre-sales engineers, sales reps, implementation engineers). Options: Pre-sales engineers, Sales reps, Implementation engineers, Technical leads, Other

Issue partner technical certifications and badges

• Choose which certification tracks you want enabled initially (for example: Certified Installer, Certified Architect, Certified Sales Specialist). Options: Certified Installer, Certified Architect, Certified Sales Specialist, Other
• Confirm the acceptance criteria that will validate successful partner certification issuance in the learning management system, including minimum exam score, hands-on lab completion, and badge assignment process.
• Indicate whether you require proctored exams, open-book assessments, or performance-based lab signoff for each certification track. Options: Proctored exam, Open-book assessment, Performance lab signoff, Combination
• Outline the certification renewal cadence you expect for badges (for example: annual renewal, 18 months, or skills-based continuing education). Options: Annual, 18 months, Skills-based renewal, No renewal
• Explain the badge delivery method your partners prefer (for example: LMS badge marketplace, downloadable certificate PDF, IDP-linked badge). Options: LMS badge marketplace, Downloadable PDF, IDP-linked badge, Other
• Name the internal report fields you need to track certification progress (for example: candidate ID, track, completion date, score).

Activate deal registration with protection enforcement

• Attach the required deal-registration form fields your CRM needs to capture (for example: account name, estimated ACV, opportunity stage, expected close date).
• Specify the registration protection policy you require (for example: exclusive protection for 90 days, lead-sharing window, or first-registered wins) and how it should surface in the opportunity record. Options: Exclusive 90 days, First-registered wins, Lead-sharing window, Custom policy
• Map the automated notifications you want when a deal is registered (for example: email to partner rep, flag to your channel team, creation of protected opportunity tag). Options: Email to partner rep, Flag to channel team, Protected opportunity tag, SMS alert
• Assign who on your team will adjudicate registration disputes and the escalation path (for example: channel ops, regional channel lead, legal). Options: Channel operations, Regional channel lead, Legal, Other
• Share the expected SLA for registration acknowledgement and protection enforcement (for example: 24 hours acknowledgement, 48 hours enforcement). Options: 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours, Custom
• Confirm whether you require integration between the deal-registration form and your source CRM to auto-create an opportunity with a protected flag. Options: Yes, integrate with CRM, No integration, manual entry, Prefer CSV import feed

Provide on-demand pre-sales engineering support

• Report the typical response time you expect from the pre-sales engineering queue when a partner requests technical join calls or architecture reviews. Options: Within 4 business hours, Within 1 business day, Within 2 business days, Other
• Provide the escalation contacts and after-hours coverage your team requires for critical pre-sales requests originating from partner opportunities.
• Identify the technical artifacts partners commonly need from pre-sales (for example: reference architecture diagram, performance benchmark, integration sample code). Options: Reference architecture, Performance benchmark, Sample code, Integration guide, Other
• Specify whether on-site proof-of-technology support is required or if remote lab-based support suffices for partner demo validation. Options: On-site required, Remote lab sufficient, Hybrid
• Indicate whether partners should submit a standardized PSE request form and which fields must be mandatory (for example: opportunity ID, business justification, technical contact). Options: Yes, mandatory form, No, ad-hoc requests, Use CRM request ticket
• Estimate the number of PSE hours you expect to consume per quarter for co-sell enablement and validation. Options: 0-40 hours, 41-120 hours, 121-300 hours, 300+ hours

Configure tiered margin, rebates, and payouts

• Select the margin tiers you intend to offer and the qualification trigger for each (for example: silver at 10% after X certifications, gold at 20% with annual revenue target). Options: Silver, Gold, Platinum, Custom
• Indicate the rebate schedule format you prefer (for example: quarterly ACH payout, credit applied to MDF, or annual true-up). Options: Quarterly ACH, Credit to MDF, Annual true-up, Other
• Outline the data points your finance team needs on each payout record (for example: invoice number, deal ID, margin percentage, payout date).
• Name the systems that should receive payout exports (for example: your ERP, accounting ledger, or partner portal payout dashboard). Options: ERP export, Accounting ledger, Partner portal dashboard, Other
• Assign the minimum annual commitment or revenue threshold required to reach each tier and indicate if you need a phased ramp option. Options: Standard minimum works, Need phased ramp, Need exception discussion
• Detail any tax documentation or W-9 equivalent requirements partners must submit before payout disbursement. Options: Tax docs required before payout, Tax docs collected annually, Tax docs not required

Disburse co-marketing funds (MDF) and tracking

• Which MDF claim types should be eligible (for example: co-branded events, paid digital campaigns, joint webinars, case study production)? Options: Co-branded events, Paid digital campaigns, Joint webinars, Case study production, Other
• Confirm the MDF approval workflow you want (for example: partner submits claim, channel ops approves, finance issues funds). Options: Partner submits -> Channel ops approves -> Finance pays, Partner submits -> Marketing approves -> Finance pays, Other
• Specify the evidence required on MDF claims (for example: invoice PDF, campaign analytics screenshots, attendee list) to release funds. Options: Invoice PDF, Campaign analytics, Attendee list, Creative mockups, Other
• Indicate the tracking tags or UTM parameters partners must use on digital campaigns so MDF-sourced pipeline can be attributed in your analytics. Options: UTM required, Optional UTM, Use partner referral code
• Allocate the maximum MDF per partner per quarter and state if you require a co-funding percentage. Options: <$5k, $5k-$20k, $20k-$50k, >$50k
• Provide the cadence and format of MDF reconciliation reports you expect (for example: monthly CSV, quarterly dashboard export). Options: Monthly CSV, Quarterly dashboard, Ad-hoc on request

Produce joint marketing collateral and campaigns

• List the campaign types you plan to run jointly (for example: vertical-targeted email nurture, industry webinar, field event). Options: Email nurture, Industry webinar, Field event, Digital paid campaign, Case study
• Share the target verticals and ICP (ideal customer profile) attributes you want the joint campaigns to focus on (for example: fintech SMBs, healthcare systems with 200-1,000 beds).
• Identify the creative assets you need (for example: co-branded slide deck, partner-specific landing page, email templates). Options: Co-branded slide deck, Landing page, Email templates, Social creative
• Recommend the primary campaign KPIs that will determine success for joint efforts (for example: MQLs generated, pipeline created, demo requests). Options: MQLs generated, Pipeline created, Demo requests, Attendee count
• Indicate the approval SLA you require for co-branded creative (for example: 3 business days, 5 business days). Options: 3 business days, 5 business days, Custom
• Detail the co-marketing asset handoff process and file formats preferred for campaign launch (for example: native PSD, PNG, HTML email). Options: PSD/AI, PNG/JPEG, HTML email, PDF

Run co-sold proof-of-concept or pilot

• Provide the pilot scope including target customer profile, success use cases, and the minimum viable feature set needed in the pilot environment.
• Confirm the acceptance criteria that will define pilot success (for example: measurement of throughput, error rate below X, user adoption threshold), and how these metrics will be captured.
• Identify the test environment requirements for the pilot (for example: sandbox with production-sized dataset, API connectivity to customer CRM, sample SSO integration). Options: Sandbox with production-like data, API connectivity required, SSO integration required, No environment needed
• Estimate the pilot duration you require and any fixed milestone dates (for example: 8 weeks with weekly health checks). Options: 4 weeks, 6-8 weeks, 9-12 weeks, Custom
• Assign who will own pilot logistics on your side (for example: project manager, technical lead, product owner) and provide contact point for scheduling. Options: Project manager, Technical lead, Product owner, Other
• Detail the data access and privacy constraints for the pilot (for example: masked PII, no export, in-region hosting requirements). Options: Masked PII, No export, In-region hosting, Standard privacy policy

Enable revenue-sharing and deal-split setup

• State the desired revenue split model for co-sold deals (for example: fixed percentage split, commission on net new, tiered split by role). Options: Fixed percentage, Commission on net new, Tiered split, Custom
• Indicate which opportunity attributes should trigger automated deal-split calculations in your CRM (for example: opportunity type, lead source, certification status). Options: Opportunity type, Lead source, Certification status, Deal size
• Outline the invoicing and payment flow you require for shared revenue (for example: partner invoices customer, vendor remits partner share, or vendor invoices and pays partner). Options: Partner invoices customer, Vendor invoices and pays partner, Split invoicing
• Identify any compliance or taxation rules that affect revenue-sharing in the partner's operating countries that must be captured on payout records.
• Select whether deal-split calculations should be visible on opportunity records for both parties in the CRM or kept internal to finance. Options: Visible on opportunity, Internal to finance
• Provide the list of deal types or product SKUs that are excluded from revenue-sharing agreements.

• Partnership Agreement
• Deal Registration Addendum
• Certification Schedule
• Incentives & MDF Schedule
• Escalation & Dispute Resolution Addendum
• Change Control & Amendment Agreement

• Technical Health Check
• Commercial Metrics Review
• Bilateral Obligations Audit
• Roadmap Alignment Review

• Confirm the next quarterly meeting date and planned agenda focus.
• Record pass, conditional, or fail status for each contractual obligation against the participation, certification, and commercial targets recorded in Program Scope.
• Agree remediation plans with explicit verification criteria and target resolution dates for any unmet obligations.
• Publish an audit evidence package and the formal audit summary for both parties' records.
• Publish the bilateral obligations audit summary with status for each obligation and remediation items.
• Create remediation tasks with verification criteria and target completion dates for conditional or failed obligations.
• Schedule a follow-up verification checkpoint to confirm remediation completion and evidence submission.
• We review product roadmap items and release timelines that affect the integration
• Confirm roadmap items and release dates that impact integration and co-sell activities and document any required preparatory actions.
• Verify joint pipeline value (USD) and partner certification completion rate (%) are tracking toward the targets recorded in Program Scope.
• Prioritize enhancement requests and agree delivery windows or escalation actions for urgent items.
• Publish a prioritized enhancement backlog with proposed delivery windows and acceptance criteria.
• Provide an updated certification progress report with expected completion dates for remaining partners.
• We confirm integration go-live and triage defects
• Confirm the integration meets the connector uptime and API response targets recorded in Program Scope or log deviations for remediation.
• Document and schedule resolution for all critical and high defects with target resolution dates.
• Validate that the shared issues channel and escalation path are operational and tested.
• Publish the integration defect log with severity, owner, and target resolution dates.
• Activate and test the shared issues and escalation channel and confirm test results in the issue log.
• Provide the first-week integration logs if error rates exceed SLA thresholds for deeper analysis.
• We review revenue share calculations and payment timing
• Verify revenue share statements reconcile to source data within the tolerance recorded in Program Scope and document any exceptions.
• Confirm joint pipeline value (USD) and count of active co-sell opportunities are progressing toward the targets recorded in Program Scope.
• Agree remediation actions and timelines for any billing, reporting, or pipeline attribution discrepancies.
• Deliver a reconciled revenue share report with supporting source extracts and variance explanations.
• Provide an updated joint pipeline export including deal stage, owner, expected close date, and value.
• Document disputed items with required evidence and target resolution dates for each dispute.
• We restate each party's contractual obligations and numeric targets
• We review SLA adherence for connector uptime and API response times
• You present evidence of your fulfillment; we present evidence of ours
• We review co-marketing outcomes and joint pipeline generated
• We review the joint pipeline and co-sell opportunity count
• We review partner certification progress and completion rate
• We review usage against minimum commitment and billing accuracy
• We review your integration adoption signals
• We record formal acknowledgment and pass, conditional, or fail status per obligation
• We document disputes or adjustments and agree next steps
• We agree remediation plans for any unmet obligations
• We triage open enhancement requests and escalation items
• We agree owners and dates for open technical blockers
• We validate the shared issues channel and escalation path