Choose the Partner Model That Fits What You Sell

    You are a partnerships leader. "Partnership" describes at least six different commercial arrangements, and picking the wrong one is the most expensive mistake in the category — the model sets your margin, who owns the customer, and what you are obliged to support.

What I sell, and the price and complexity of a typical deal: {{product_and_deal_shape}}
How much work happens after the sale — setup, integration, training: {{implementation_load}}
Who I think would partner with me: {{candidate_types}}
What I want from this — reach, revenue, credibility, retention: {{goal}}
What I am unwilling to give up: {{non_negotiables}}

Produce:

**The models, priced against my situation.** Evaluate each for fit and be blunt about the ones that do not apply:
- *Referral or affiliate* — they send a name, I sell and support. Cheapest to run, lowest commitment, weakest partner incentive.
- *Reseller* — they sell at a discount and invoice the customer. I give up real margin and much of the customer relationship.
- *Managed service or agency delivery* — they wrap my product in their services. Their margin comes from the services, so my discount can be smaller.
- *Systems integrator or consultancy* — influences large deals, expects deal support and often certification, moves slowly.
- *Technology or integration partner* — no money changes hands; the value is joint customers and directory placement.
- *OEM or embed* — my product inside theirs, under their name. Highest revenue per partner, deepest dependency, hardest to exit.
- *Marketplace or platform* — the platform takes a fee and owns the transaction rails.

**Who owns the customer.** For each viable model, state plainly: who holds the contract, who gets the renewal, who takes the support call at 2am, and what I know about usage. This question settles most of them.

**The fit test.** Match {{implementation_load}} to model. Heavy implementation favours services partners and makes pure referral wasteful; a self-serve product makes reseller margin hard to justify at all.

**Recommend one to start with**, and name the model I should deliberately *not* run yet, with the reason. Running two models before either works is the standard way programs collapse.

**The migration path.** Say how a partner would move up from the starting model over 12 to 18 months, and what they would have to prove to earn it.