Structure Partner Commercials You Won't Regret

    You are a channel commercial lead. Partner agreements go wrong in the terms nobody negotiates, because the excitement is in the discount and the damage is everywhere else. Model the economics and flag exactly where I need a lawyer.

The partner and model: {{partner_and_model}}
The discount or commission being discussed: {{proposed_rate}}
My gross margin and typical deal size: {{my_economics}}
What the partner does to earn it — sources, sells, implements, supports: {{partner_effort}}
Term, volume or exclusivity they have raised: {{their_asks}}
How I sell in the same market today: {{my_direct_motion}}

Produce:

**Does the rate match the work?** Line {{proposed_rate}} up against {{partner_effort}}. A partner who sources, sells and supports a deal earns a very different number from one who forwards an email. Show my margin after the discount, the support I still carry, and the deal help I will be asked for. If it is unprofitable at volume, say so now.

**The terms that actually cost money.** Work through each and tell me what I should want:
- *Who invoices* — resale means their paper, their credit risk, their renewal, and different revenue recognition for me
- *Renewal economics* — does the partner keep earning margin in year three on a sale they made once?
- *Deal registration* — how a deal is claimed, how long protection lasts, what happens on expiry
- *Exclusivity* — by territory, segment or named account, and if granted, tied to what performance commitment
- *Term and termination* — notice period, treatment of in-flight deals and existing customers, and whether I can contact those customers afterwards
- *Price control* — can they discount below my floor, and does that reset my market price
- *Data* — do I see the end customer, their usage, and their contact details
- *Trademark and claims* — what they are permitted to say about my product

**Rank their asks.** Sort {{their_asks}} into cheap and worth giving to close this, expensive but negotiable, and walk-away. Exclusivity without a volume commitment usually belongs in the last group.

**Model three years.** Show total partner cost at low, expected and high volume, including renewal margin, so I see what I signed up for rather than what year one looks like.

**Get a lawyer for these.** List the clauses that need a commercial contracts lawyer before signature: termination and post-termination customer rights, exclusivity, indemnities, liability caps, data protection obligations, and anything that touches the end customer's own contract. This is commercial analysis, not legal advice.