Chip Royce, Flywheel Advisors
A prospective partner has a respected name, an established customer base, and products that fit well with yours.
They want to sign an agreement.
If you lead an established B2B technology company, that deserves a closer look. What will make their team put your product in front of customers once the agreement is signed?
I’d start by examining how your offer fits into the partner’s business and what their people will need to do to sell it.
Imagine a software reseller evaluating your product. During the first sales-planning meeting, the sales manager asks: “What do my reps stop selling to sell this?”
Their existing products already earn commissions. Your offer requires training, and their reps don’t yet know which customers will buy it. Even an enthusiastic executive sponsor may struggle to get the sales team’s attention.
The agreement won’t settle that question.
Before committing, examine these five areas.
1. Give the partner a commercial reason to act
Complementary products can make a partnership attractive. You still need to establish why selling your offer is worth the effort.
Will it help the partner win business they currently lose? Add profitable services? Give existing customers a reason to buy more?
A reseller that earns most of its money from implementation services may value your product differently from one that depends on software commissions.
Ask how your offer contributes to their business. Then look at whether the people doing the work benefit too.
2. Check access to the buyers who matter
A large customer base can look impressive in a partner presentation.
Find out who the partner actually works with inside those accounts. A relationship with IT procurement may provide little help if your product requires an operations leader to change how a department works.
Examine the partner’s role in the purchase. Do customers ask them for recommendations? Can they introduce your team to the people affected by the problem?
Customer overlap is useful when the partner has a credible route into the buying decision.
3. Examine what selling and supporting your product will cost
An attractive commission can lose its appeal when every sale requires extensive technical help.
Work through a representative deal together. Establish who handles the demonstration, what happens when a customer requests changes, and who supports the account after purchase.
Include your own team’s time.
If your engineers must join every sales call and resolve every implementation problem, the channel could consume more resources than you planned.
Resolve that before negotiating around revenue alone.
4. Look closely at how the partner treats customers
Reputation matters because the partner’s behavior can become your customer’s experience.
Ask how they handle a delayed implementation or a product that doesn’t meet expectations. Speak with customers and other vendors they represent.
Pay particular attention to promises. A partner that routinely overstates capabilities can leave your team responsible for commitments it never made.
Shared values become concrete when a customer is frustrated and someone has to take responsibility.
5. Confirm that your company can support the partnership
Your prospective partner may be ready while your company still has work to do.
Can their salespeople explain the offer without calling you? Do they have guidance on which customers fit? Who answers technical questions, and who owns the relationship inside your business?
If your direct sales team still struggles to explain why customers buy, examine that before expecting a partner to carry the message.
Assign ownership and prepare the support before recruitment. Otherwise, a promising partner can spend its first months waiting for your team.
Before you sign
Ask both teams to walk through a likely customer opportunity, from introduction through ongoing support.
Where do responsibilities become unclear? Which assumptions about customer access or profitability remain unproven?
Use those gaps to decide what needs resolving before you commit.
I help B2B tech CEOs assess partnership opportunities and work out whether their companies can support them. If you’re considering a channel partner, or have agreements producing little business, let’s talk through the situation.
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