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 shared)
NDAs: [already in place / to be signed before detailed discussions]
IP ownership: [Clarify who owns jointly developed materials, integrations, content]

8. Risks & Mitigations

Risk	Likelihood	Mitigation
Partnership champion leaves [Partner]	M	Ensure VP-level sponsorship; build multiple relationships
Integration takes longer than planned	M	Scope technical work in Phase 1; set realistic launch commitment
Low adoption of the integration	M	Include in onboarding for both products; co-market to existing customers not just new
Partner signs with our competitor	L	Discuss exclusivity options; prioritise quick launch to create switching costs
Commercial model becomes imbalanced	L	Quarterly review with clear exit terms if targets are consistently missed

9. Proposed Next Steps

#	Action	Owner	By when
1	[Partner] reviews this proposal and provides feedback	[[Partner name]]	[Date]
2	Both parties sign NDA (if not already in place)	[Legal, both sides]	[Before next meeting]
3	Technical discovery call — assess integration feasibility	[Engineering leads]	[Date]
4	Commercial terms negotiation	[Partnership leads / VP]	[Date]
5	MOU / partnership agreement drafted and signed	[Legal]	[Date]
6	Integration and launch planning begins	[Both teams]	[Date]

Quality Checks

Value proposition for the partner is written from their perspective — not yours
Commercial model includes specific numbers, not just structure
"What we're not proposing" section prevents misaligned expectations
Go-to-market plan has named owners and dates, not "TBD"
Success metrics are agreed bilaterally — not set unilaterally
Risks section includes the most uncomfortable risk (partner signs with a competitor)

Example Trigger Phrases

"Write a partnership proposal for [Company] to partner with [Partner]"
"Draft a co-marketing partnership brief between us and [Partner]"
"Create a reseller partnership proposal for [Company]"
"Build the business case for a strategic partnership with [Partner]"
"Structure a technology integration partnership proposal"

Anti-Patterns

Do not write the value proposition from your own perspective — the "For Partner" section must be written from the partner's point of view, in the language of their goals and their customers
Do not leave commercial terms as structure without numbers — a proposal that says "revenue share" without stating the percentage is not a proposal, it is a conversation opener
Do not omit the "What we're not proposing" section — leaving unstated assumptions creates misaligned expectations that derail negotiations later
Do not set success metrics unilaterally — metrics that only your company controls or cares about will not earn partner commitment
Do not write a go-to-market plan with "TBD" owners — every activity must have a named owner on at least one side before the proposal goes out

Partnership Proposal