Partnership Proposal Skill
This skill produces a complete B2B partnership proposal covering the partnership rationale, mutual value, partnership model, commercial terms, governance, and a joint go-to-market plan. Output is ready to share with a prospective partner or use as the basis for a business case to internal stakeholders.
Required Inputs
Ask the user for these if not provided:
- Your company — name, what you do, and the audience you serve
- Prospective partner — name, what they do, and their audience
- Partnership type — technology integration / co-marketing / reseller / referral / strategic alliance / OEM
- Partnership goal — what does each party get? (new customers / revenue / product capability / market reach)
- Proposed commercial model — revenue share, referral fee, licensing, co-investment?
- Urgency or context — is there a specific event, product launch, or competitive reason for this partnership?
Output Structure
Partnership Proposal: [Your Company] × [Partner Company]
Prepared by: [Name, Role at Your Company] Date: [Date] Partnership type: [Technology / Co-marketing / Reseller / Referral / Strategic Alliance] Proposal status: [Initial proposal / For negotiation / Final]
Executive Summary
[3–5 sentences. Answer: what are we proposing, why now, and what does each party stand to gain? Write this so a busy executive can understand the proposal in 60 seconds without reading further.]
Headline value for [Partner]:
[One sentence — the most compelling thing this partnership does for them]
Headline value for [Your Company]:
[One sentence — the most compelling thing this partnership does for you]
1. The Opportunity
Market context: [Why does this partnership make sense now? What's happening in the market that creates a window for this to work?]
Shared customer: [Describe the customer both organisations serve — the overlap that makes this logical. Include size of the shared addressable market if you have it.]
Problem neither of us solves alone: [What can't either party do for the shared customer independently that the partnership would enable?]
2. What We're Proposing
Partnership model:
| Element | Description | |---|---| | Type | [Technology integration / Co-marketing / Reseller / Referral / OEM] | | Scope | [What specifically are we partnering on? — product features, joint campaigns, distribution, etc.] | | Exclusivity | [Exclusive in [region/segment] / Non-exclusive / Right of first refusal] | | Duration | [Initial term — e.g. 12 months, renewable] | | Geographic scope | [UK / EMEA / Global / Specific markets] |
What this looks like in practice:
[3–5 bullet points describing what the partnership actually means day-to-day. Make it concrete and operational — not abstract. e.g.:]
- [Our product will natively integrate with [Partner's product] — the integration will be live in [timeframe]]
- [We will co-market to each other's customer bases — joint webinar, co-authored content, shared newsletter placement]
- [Each company will train a dedicated partnership contact who manages the relationship]
- [[Partner] will list [Your product] in their marketplace / app directory / referral programme]
3. Value Proposition — What Each Party Gets
For [Partner]
| Value | Evidence / Basis | |---|---| | [New customer reach] | [e.g. Access to [Your Company]'s [X,000] [role] customers — [X%] of whom have expressed interest in [Partner's category]] | | [Product capability] | [e.g. [Partner]'s product gains [capability] that [X%] of their customers have requested — based on [source]] | | [Revenue opportunity] | [e.g. Estimated [£/$/€ X] in referral revenue in Year 1 based on [X%] conversion from shared pipeline] | | [Market differentiation] | [e.g. The integration creates a meaningful competitive moat vs [Competitor] who lacks this capability] |
For [Your Company]
| Value | Evidence / Basis | |---|---| | [Distribution] | [e.g. Access to [Partner]'s [X,000] customers in [segment] — a segment where we currently have [X] customers] | | [Credibility] | [e.g. Association with [Partner]'s brand accelerates enterprise sales cycles — [Partner] is trusted by [X] of the Fortune 500] | | [Revenue] | [e.g. Target [X] referral customers in Year 1 at average ACV of [£X] = [£X ARR]] | | [Product] | [e.g. [Partner]'s data / capability enhances [specific part of our product] — improving [user outcome]] |
4. Commercial Model
Proposed commercial terms:
| Term | Proposal | Notes | |---|---|---| | Revenue share | [e.g. [X%] of ARR from customers referred by [Partner]] | [Standard in this category: [X–Y%] range] | | Referral fee | [e.g. £[X] per qualified lead that converts] | [Or: flat fee per introduction vs % of closed deal] | | Licensing / access | [e.g. [Partner] provides API access at no cost in exchange for integration and co-marketing] | [...] | | Co-marketing investment | [e.g. Each party commits [£X] to joint marketing activities per quarter] | [...] | | Minimum commitment | [e.g. [X] qualified referrals per quarter / [£X] GMV per year] | [Optional — only if there's a meaningful minimum that makes sense] |
Payment terms: [Monthly / Quarterly in arrears / Annual true-up]
What we're not proposing: [Be explicit about what's off the table — e.g. equity / exclusivity in all markets / upfront payment]
5. Joint Go-to-Market Plan
Phase 1: Foundation (Months 1–2)
| Activity | Owner | Timeline | |---|---|---| | Technical integration scoped and resourced | [Engineering at both companies] | [Month 1] | | Partnership launch announcement drafted | [Marketing at both companies] | [Month 1] | | Joint customer case study identified | [CSM at both companies] | [Month 2] | | Partner enablement — each team trained on the other's product | [Partnership lead, both sides] | [Month 2] |
Phase 2: Launch (Month 3)
| Activity | Owner | Timeline | |---|---|---| | Integration live in both products / marketplace | [Engineering] | [Month 3] | | Joint press release / blog post / email announcement | [Marketing] | [Month 3] | | First joint webinar | [Both companies] | [Month 3] | | First joint pipeline reviewed | [Partnership leads] | [Month 3] |
Phase 3: Scale (Months 4–12)
| Activity | Owner | Cadence | |---|---|---| | Co-sell on named accounts | [AE at both companies] | [Monthly] | | Joint content (blog, webinar, case study) | [Marketing] | [Quarterly] | | Pipeline and revenue review | [Partnership leads] | [Monthly] | | Partnership QBR | [VP level, both companies] | [Quarterly] |
6. Success Metrics
How we'll know the partnership is working:
| Metric | Year 1 target | Measurement | |---|---|---| | Customers referred (each direction) | [X] | [CRM tracking — tagged as partner-sourced] | | Revenue from partnership | [£/$/€ X ARR] | [CRM + finance reporting] | | Integration adoption | [X% of mutual customers using integration] | [Product analytics] | | Customer satisfaction with integration | [NPS ≥ X] | [Post-integration survey] | | Joint pipeline generated | [£X] | [Quarterly pipeline review] |
Review cadence: Monthly partnership lead check-in + Quarterly business review at VP level
7. Governance & Operations
Partnership contacts:
| Role | [Your Company] | [Partner] | |---|---|---| | Partnership lead (day-to-day) | [Name, email] | [TBC] | | Executive sponsor | [Name, title] | [TBC] | | Technical lead | [Name] | [TBC] | | Marketing lead | [Name] | [TBC] |
Decision-making:
- Day-to-day partnership operations: partnership leads
- Commercial term changes: VP-level approval from both parties
- Partnership termination: CEO/MD sign-off + [X days] written notice
Legal framework:
- [ ] Partnership agreement / MOU to be drafted by [Company]'s legal team
- [ ] Data processing agreement (if personal data is shar