partner-channel-conflict

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---
name: partner-channel-conflict
description: Write the channel conflict rules that govern contested deals between direct sales and channel partners or between partners - rules of engagement, account segmentation, named-account carve-outs, deal registration as a claim instrument (protection window, tie-break, rejection grounds), compensation neutrality for direct reps, escalation and adjudication ladders, and governance cadence. Also covers consumer brands (D2C vs retail conflict, MAP policy, channel-exclusive assortment). Use whenever the user mentions channel conflict, partner disputes, deal poaching, or two routes to market claiming the same account, even if they never say conflict. Do NOT use for designing the co-sell operating model - use mbfinotti/partnerships-skills@co-selling-strategy instead.
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: Maya-Beth Finotti
  version: "1.3.9"
---

# Partner Channel Conflict Rules

Write the rules that decide who owns a contested deal when direct sales and channel partners, or two partners, claim the same account, and the governance that enforces them.

The deliverable is a rules-of-engagement (RoE) artifact plus its adjudication machinery:

- Structural boundaries.
- A registration-based claim policy.
- An escalation ladder with a named adjudicator.
- A compensation-neutrality decision.
- A governance cadence.

Diagnosis anchors on two frameworks: the vertical / horizontal / multichannel conflict typology (Stern & El-Ansary, _Marketing Channels_, 1977; current edition Palmatier, Sivadas, Stern & El-Ansary, _Marketing Channel Strategy: An Omni-Channel Approach_, 9th ed., 2019), and the latent → perceived → felt → manifest stage progression. Resolution gets harder at each later stage, which is the whole argument for writing rules before the first manifest dispute. Forrester's _Mitigating Channel Conflict: Rules Of Engagement_ is the on-point analyst artifact for the deliverable's shape.

Boundaries, said out loud:

- `mbfinotti/partnerships-skills@partner-ecosystem` detects and measures conflict zones (account overlap, coverage gaps) and hands off here. This skill starts where detection stops.
- `mbfinotti/partnerships-skills@co-selling-strategy` owns how direct and partners collaborate on shared deals. Deal registration appears here only as a conflict-prevention and claim-adjudication instrument: the protection window, the tie-break, the rejection grounds, and what happens when two parties claim the same deal.

## Interview

Ask before proposing anything: one question per message, multiple-choice when possible, skip anything the user already answered.

- B2B, B2C, or hybrid?
- What does the company sell, and through which motions - direct, resell, referral, co-sell, marketplace-transacted, D2C, retail?
- Sales org shape, and how are direct reps compensated today on a partner-involved deal - neutral, penalized, undefined? (This answer outweighs every other.)
- Which partner types exist, and roughly how many are active?
- What is the average sales-cycle length, in days? (It sizes the registration protection window - the pass threshold requires at least 75% of it, so a window set without this number is a guess.)
- Where does conflict actually show up today, with what evidence - logged disputes, partner complaints, deals lost to infighting, or only anecdote?
- Are registrations visible in the CRM system of record at opportunity creation, or only in a partner portal the direct team never opens?
- What artifacts already exist: rules of engagement, named-account list, registration policy, comp-plan language on partner deals?
- Escalation culture: when disputes escalate today, does direct sales always win?
- Who must sign off: channel chief, CRO, deal desk, legal?
- Geography - any EU presence? EU rules constrain territory, termination, and pricing clauses (flag for counsel).
- By what date must the rules be in force - is a live dispute or a deadline driving this, or is it open-ended? (A hard date promotes