This workshop is a hands-on exercise to help you design your partnership strategy from the ground up. You'll apply the concepts learned in the module to create a concrete plan for how partnerships will drive growth for your business. Ideally, do this exercise with your team (cross-functional: sales, marketing, product, and exec sponsor if possible), but it can also be done individually and then socialized.

Time Required: 90-120 minutes

Materials Needed:

• Whiteboard or digital collaboration tool (Miro, Mural, FigJam, etc.)
• The templates from Artifact 20.1 (especially the Ecosystem Mapping Canvas and Partner Evaluation Matrix)
• Your company's strategic goals / growth targets (revenue, customer acquisition, market expansion goals)

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Exercise Steps

Step 1: Define Partnership Objectives (15 min)

Prompt: Start by aligning on why you want partnerships and what success looks like. Partnerships should tie to business outcomes.

Activity:

1. Write down your company's top 2-3 business goals for the next 12 months. Examples:
   • Grow revenue by X%
   • Enter a new market (geographic or vertical)
   • Reduce CAC
   • Increase product stickiness / reduce churn
   • Launch a new product line
2. For each goal, brainstorm: "How could partnerships help us achieve this?"
   • E.g., if goal is revenue growth → channel partners can bring new customers.
   • E.g., if goal is reduce CAC → referral partners lower acquisition costs vs. paid ads.
   • E.g., if goal is product stickiness → integrations with other tools customers use create lock-in.
3. Prioritize: Pick the top 1 or 2 partnership objectives that will be your focus. Write a crisp objective statement. Example: "Our partnership objective is to drive 20% of new customer acquisition through agency and reseller partners by end of year, reducing our blended CAC by 15%."

Output: A clear 1-2 sentence partnership objective tied to business goals.

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Step 2: Ecosystem Mapping – Identify Partner Types (20 min)

Prompt: Now figure out what types of partners you need to achieve that objective.

Activity:

1. Draw the Ecosystem Mapping Canvas (from Artifact 20.1) on your whiteboard/digital canvas. Put your company/product in the center.
2. Brainstorm partner categories that could be relevant. Refer back to Lesson 20.1 (partnership types):
   • Tech / Integration Partners (ISVs, platforms)
   • Channel Partners (resellers, affiliates, agencies, MSPs)
   • Strategic Alliances (co-marketing, co-selling with complementary vendors)
   • Service Partners (implementation consultants, SIs)
3. For each category, ask:
   • Do we need this type? (given our objective and product).
   • What value would they provide? (e.g., reach, credibility, integration, services).
   • What value do we offer them? (e.g., commission, technology, customer referrals).
4. Capture 2-3 specific examples or target partner names in each relevant category. (E.g., if you need a CRM integration partner, write "Salesforce, HubSpot" in that section of the map.)

Output: A visual ecosystem map with 3-5 partner types defined and a few example partners in each. (If any category is not relevant for you, that's fine – omit it.)

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Step 3: Prioritize Partner Types (ICE Scoring) (15 min)

Prompt: You likely can't pursue all partner types at once (resource constraints). Prioritize which to start with.

Activity:

1. List out the partner types you identified.
2. Score each type on ICE (Impact, Confidence, Ease):
   • Impact (1-5): If we successfully engage this type of partner, how much will it move the needle on our objective? (5 = huge impact, 1 = minimal)
   • Confidence (1-5): How confident are we that we can find and activate these partners? (Do we have relationships, is there product-market fit, etc.?) (5 = very confident, 1 = uncertain)
   • Ease (1-5): How easy is it to get started with this type? (5 = can start quickly with low effort; 1 = requires heavy product work, legal, long onboarding)
3. Calculate ICE score = (Impact + Confidence + Ease) / 3 or sum them. Rank the types.
4. Decide: Which partner type will you focus on first? (Typically, start with the highest ICE score.) You might also pick a second as a mid-term focus.

Example:

Partner Type	Impact	Confidence	Ease	ICE Score
Agency/Service Partners	5	4	4	4.3
Reseller (VAR) Partners	4	3	3	3.3
CRM Integration (Tech)	5	4	2	3.7
Co-Marketing Alliance	3	3	5	3.7

In this example, Agency/Service Partners score highest, so that would be the priority.

Output: A ranked list of partner types, with the top 1-2 chosen as your initial focus.

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Step 4: Ideal Partner Profile (ICP for Partners) (15 min)

Prompt: Just like you have an Ideal Customer Profile, define an Ideal Partner Profile for your chosen partner type. This clarifies who to recruit.

Activity:

1. For your #1 partner type (from Step 3), describe the ideal partner:
   • Firmographics: Company size, geography, industry focus. (E.g., "Marketing agencies with 10-50 employees, based in North America, focused on B2B SaaS clients.")
   • Capabilities: What should they be good at? (E.g., "Strong in content marketing and SEO, with a track record of lead generation for SaaS.")
   • Customer Base: Do they serve your ICP? (E.g., "Their clients are mid-market B2B companies – overlaps with our target.")
   • Alignment & Values: Culture fit, willingness to collaborate, not working with direct competitors (if that matters).
   • Existing Tech Stack / Partnerships: Are they already using or partnering with complementary tools? (This can be a plus – e.g., if they're already a HubSpot partner and you integrate with HubSpot, that's synergy.)
2. Write a short Ideal Partner Profile description (a few bullet points). This will guide your outreach and selection.

Optional: If you have time, also sketch out a partner persona (similar to buyer persona) – i.e., the person at the partner organization you need to engage (e.g., "Head of Partnerships" or "Founder / CEO" at smaller agencies).

Output: A concise Ideal Partner Profile document (can be half a page).

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Step 5: Value Proposition for Partners (10 min)

Prompt: To recruit partners, you need a compelling pitch. Clarify what's in it for them.

Activity:

1. Brainstorm all the benefits you can offer to a partner (from their perspective). Examples:
   • Recurring revenue / commission on deals they refer or resell.
   • Access to your customer base (co-selling opportunities or referrals).
   • Differentiation (partnering with you helps them stand out to their clients).
   • Training and support (you'll enable them to deliver better outcomes).
   • Co-marketing (visibility in your channels, joint case studies, events).
   • Product enhancements (if they're a tech partner, your integration makes their product more valuable).
2. Prioritize the top 2-3 benefits that would be most attractive to your Ideal Partner.
3. Craft a one-sentence value prop for your partner program. Example: "By joining our partner program, agencies can offer cutting-edge [your solution] to their clients, earn 20% recurring commissions, and access our co-marketing engine to drive new business."

Output: A clear partner value proposition that you can use in outreach and on your partner landing page.

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Step 6: Design the Incentive & Program Structure (15 min)

Prompt: Sketch out how the partnership will work – economics and structure.

Activity:

1. Decide on the incentive model for your chosen partner type (refer back to Lesson 20.4 on incentive structures). Will you offer:
   • Referral commission (what %, one-time or recurring)?
   • Reseller margin (what discount or margin)?
   • MDF / co-marketing funds?
   • Deal registration benefits?
   • Tiered program (different benefits at different levels)?
2. Write down a draft incentive structure. Example:
   • "Referral partners earn 15% of first-year contract value for each customer they refer who closes."
   • "We will have a 3-tier program: Bronze (20% margin, basic support), Silver (25% margin, co-marketing, dedicated partner manager), Gold (30% margin, MDF, priority support)."
3. Consider program requirements: What do partners need to do to join or to reach higher tiers? (E.g., complete training, sign agreement, reach revenue thresholds.)
4. Identify if there are any non-negotiables or constraints (legal, margin limits, etc.). Discuss within the team if this structure is financially viable (quick back-of-napkin: if we pay 15% commission, and our gross margin is X%, does it leave enough?).

Output: A draft program structure document – a simple outline of how partners enroll, what they get, and what they're expected to do.

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Step 7: Partner Recruitment Plan (15 min)

Prompt: How will you find and sign up partners?

Activity:

1. Brainstorm partner sourcing tactics:
   • Inbound: Create a partner landing page on your website, publish content about your program, get listed in partner directories, attend industry events.
   • Outbound: Identify specific target partners (build a list) and reach out via email, LinkedIn, introductions from mutual connections or customers.
   • Referrals: Ask existing customers if they work with agencies or consultants – those could become partners.
   • Ecosystem plays: If you integrate with a platform (e.g., Salesforce, Shopify), tap into their partner community or events.
2. For your context, pick 2-3 primary tactics to start. Assign who on your team will own partner recruitment (often a "Head of Partnerships" or BD person, but in early stages might be a founder or sales/marketing leader).
3. Set a goal: e.g., "Sign 5 partners in Q1, 10 by end of H1."
4. Draft a partner outreach template (or outline of what the pitch will be). Use the one-pager template from Artifact 20.1 as a guide.

Output: A partner recruitment action plan – tactics, owners, and a target number of partners to recruit in next 3-6 months.

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Step 8: Enablement & Support Plan (10 min)

Prompt: How will you set partners up for success once they join?

Activity:

1. List what partners need to be effective:
   • Product knowledge / training (demo, use cases, best practices).
   • Sales enablement (pitch deck, objection handling, ROI calculator, case studies, trial or sandbox access).
   • Marketing assets (logos, co-branded templates, joint content).
   • Support (technical support, a partner portal or Slack channel, dedicated contact).
2. Identify what you already have vs. what you need to create. (E.g., if you don't have a partner pitch deck, note that as an action item.)
3. Sketch a simple partner onboarding flow: e.g., "Week 1: contracts signed, onboarding call scheduled. Week 2: training session. Week 3: partner receives sales kit and is activated." (Use the checklist from Artifact 20.1.)
4. Decide on ongoing support: will there be regular check-ins (monthly calls?), a partner newsletter, or a yearly partner summit?

Output: An enablement checklist and support model – what you'll provide partners to help them succeed.

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Step 9: Metrics & Success Criteria (10 min)

Prompt: Define how you'll measure the partnership program's success.

Activity:

1. Choose 3-5 key metrics to track (refer to Lesson 20.5 on partnership metrics). Examples:
   • Partner-sourced pipeline ($ amount)
   • Partner-sourced revenue ($ closed)
   • Number of active partners
   • Time to first deal (for new partners)
   • Partner satisfaction / NPS
2. Set targets for each metric. E.g., "By end of Q2, we want $200k in partner-sourced pipeline and at least 3 active partners generating deals."
3. Decide on reporting cadence: e.g., review metrics monthly internally, quarterly with leadership, and share a partner scorecard in QBRs with partners.

Output: A metrics dashboard outline (can be a simple table) with KPIs and targets.

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Step 10: Roadmap & Next Steps (10 min)

Prompt: Consolidate everything into a timeline and action plan.

Activity:

1. Create a 90-day roadmap of key milestones. Example:
   • Month 1:
     • Finalize partner program structure and incentive plan (done via this workshop).
     • Create partner landing page and one-pager.
     • Build list of 20 target partners.
     • Start outreach.
   • Month 2:
     • Onboard first 2-3 pilot partners.
     • Develop training materials and sales kit.
     • Launch partner portal (if applicable) or set up communication channel.
   • Month 3:
     • Conduct training sessions with pilots.
     • Track first partner-sourced leads.
     • Gather feedback and iterate on program.
     • Recruit additional partners (aiming for 5 total by end of month).
2. Assign owners for each milestone.
3. Identify dependencies and risks: e.g., "We need legal to approve the partner agreement" or "Integration development might delay tech partner launch" – note these so you can address them.

Output: A 90-day action plan with milestones, owners, and dates. This becomes your partnership launch plan.

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Workshop Deliverables (What You'll Have at the End)

By the end of this workshop, you should have:

1. Partnership Objective Statement (tied to business goals).
2. Ecosystem Map (visual of partner types and example partners).
3. Prioritized Partner Type(s) (ICE-ranked, with top 1-2 chosen for focus).
4. Ideal Partner Profile (description of who you want to recruit).
5. Partner Value Proposition (what's in it for partners).
6. Incentive & Program Structure (how the program works, commission/margin, tiers if any).
7. Recruitment Plan (sourcing tactics, target #, outreach template).
8. Enablement Plan (onboarding checklist, training, support model).
9. Metrics & Targets (KPIs to track and goals).
10. 90-Day Roadmap (action plan with milestones and owners).

These ten outputs form a Partnership Strategy Blueprint. Compile them into a single document or presentation (you can use this as an internal deck to get buy-in from leadership, or as a playbook for your team to execute against).

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Post-Workshop: Execution & Iteration

After this workshop, execute the 90-day plan. Assign a DRI (Directly Responsible Individual) for the partnership program – this person will drive recruitment, onboarding, and performance tracking.

Schedule a retrospective at the end of 90 days: review what worked, what didn't, and iterate on the strategy. Partnerships take time to yield results, but with this structured approach, you're setting up a solid foundation.

As you mature, revisit this workshop periodically (e.g., annually) to expand to new partner types or markets. The framework is repeatable for each new partnership initiative.

Good luck building your partner ecosystem!