partner-channel-program

The saved excerpt is a snapshot from when this skill was listed. The external source remains the complete and most current version.

---
name: partner-channel-program
description: Design the overall structure of a B2B partner or channel program from scratch - a readiness gate that can conclude not yet, partner value proposition, which motions to run (referral, reseller, services, technology), tier count, benefit stack, program-wide economics envelope, governance, and success horizon. Covers B2C analogs (dealer, franchise, ambassador). Use whenever the user mentions building a partner program, channel program design, launching a channel, a partner ecosystem program, or asks whether they are ready for partners, even if they never say program. Do NOT use for reworking tiers inside a program that already exists - use mbfinotti/partnerships-skills@partner-tiering instead.
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: Maya-Beth Finotti
  version: "1.0.6"
---

# Partner Channel Program

Design the overall architecture of a B2B partner/channel program from scratch. This skill is the architect: it decides whether a program should exist at all, which structural components it needs - motions, tiers, economics envelope, governance, horizon - and how they fit together, then hands the detailed design of each component to a specialist skill (see Reference).

The field's best-documented failure cause is structural, not tactical: launching a program to fix a direct motion that is not working. Partners amplify a working motion; they do not fix a broken one. The sequence below runs strategy before structure, and its gate is allowed to answer "not yet."

## Interview

Ask before designing anything. Ask one question per message, offering multiple-choice answers when possible. Skip a question only when the user already gave the answer.

- Is the business B2B or B2C? For consumer businesses (dealer, franchise, ambassador models) part of the design genuinely diverges - see [references/b2b-b2c-contrast.md](references/b2b-b2c-contrast.md).
- What is the ACV or price point of what partners would sell or influence?
- Is the direct sales motion already repeatable, with product-market fit proven? What is the evidence?
- What is the gross margin, and how much of it could fund partner compensation?
- Do informal partners already exist - agencies, integrators, consultants servicing your customers - or has anyone approached you about partnering?
- Who will own the program day to day, and who do they report to?
- What resourcing is committed: dedicated headcount, budget, and an executive sponsor by name?
- How are direct reps compensated today on a deal a partner touches - neutral, penalized, or undefined?
- What does success mean, and by what date must the first partner-sourced result land? Name the metric (revenue share, pipeline, coverage), the date, and who judges it then.
- Do you want a one-off win this year or a compounding asset? Both are legitimate answers; they select different motions.
- Given that resourcing, what is the effort ceiling this program must live inside - hours per week for the owner, whether standing headcount is fundable at all, and how much of the design must stay reversible?

Those last three answers re-rank step 4's motion menu - carry them there instead of re-asking:

- A hard date inside two quarters deletes reseller and services-SI: neither produces revenue that fast.
- A compounding mandate promotes technology partnerships and reseller coverage.
- A number needed this year promotes referral.
- No fundable standing headcount deletes reseller and services-SI again, and a team of one leaves referral plus at most one integration.

## Workflow

1. Run the Interview; collect every answer the gate and the architecture depend on.
2. Apply the readiness gate. Disqualifiers, any one of which means the honest answer is "not yet":
   - The direct motion is not repeatable, or partnerships are expected to fix a growth problem.
   - ACV too low to fund human-heavy partner work (very low ACV supports referral-only at most - reseller/SI motions need far more).
   - Gross margin that canno