Partner Tracker: Final Structure

Purpose: Simple, action-focused tracker for partner execution
Philosophy: Track performance, not scores. Test partners with 90-day activation plans.
Date: January 2025


📊 Complete Column List (~35 Columns)

Section 1: Partner Identification (4 columns)

  1. Partner Company
  2. Partner Type (Tech Vendor, Agency, Affiliate, Recruiting, Platform, Advisor)
  3. Partner Archetype (Demand Creator, Deal Accelerator, Capability Completer, Channel Multiplier)
  4. Slack Channel

Section 2: Qualification (Simple 4-Question Filter) (4 columns)

  1. ICP Match (Yes/No) - Do their customers match our ICP?
  2. Accounts Named (Text) - List 3+ specific accounts they’ll introduce us to
  3. Intro Mechanism (Text) - How will they make intros? (sales reps, referrals, co-marketing)
  4. Economics OK (Yes/No) - Acceptable economics? (no pricing compression, no staff aug)

Qualification Rule: All 4 must be “Yes” or filled in to pursue. If any fail, polite pass.


Section 3: 90-Day Activation Plan (3 columns)

  1. Current 90-Day Goal (Text) - What are we testing? (e.g., “3 qualified convos from Snowflake reps”)
  2. 90-Day Start Date (Date)
  3. 90-Day Status (On Track, At Risk, Delivered, Failed)

Purpose: Every partner gets a 90-day test. Did they deliver? If yes, continue. If no, deprioritize.


Section 4: Relationship Context (6 columns)

  1. Partner Manager Name
  2. Partner Manager Email
  3. Partner Manager Slack
  4. Origin Story (How partnership started)
  5. Relationship Notes (Key context)
  6. Partner Program Status (Active, Testing, Paused, Inactive)

Section 5: Rep Engagement Summary (4 columns - Aggregate from HubSpot)

  1. Reps Bringing Deals (how many are actively introducing us to customers right now)
  2. Reps We’ve Engaged (how many have we talked to and are responsive)
  3. Total Engaged Reps (total count)
  4. Reps Who Deliver (how many actually bring intros/deals vs. just talk)

Why simplified: Rep names and detailed tracking live in HubSpot. Tracker shows aggregate health only.


Section 6: Action Planning (4 columns) ⭐ MOST IMPORTANT

  1. Next Action Date
  2. Next Action Type (Follow-up, Account Research, Intro Request, Deal Support, Co-Marketing)
  3. Next Action Rep
  4. Next Action Notes

Purpose: Filter by “Next Action Date < Today” to see who needs attention. This is your daily to-do list.


Section 7: Performance Tracking (5 columns)

  1. Intros Made (Count) - How many intros have they actually made?
  2. Qualified Convos (Count) - How many turned into sales calls?
  3. Deals Brought In (Count) - How many deals in pipeline?
  4. CLOSED/WON DEALS (Count) - How many closed?
  5. Pipeline Value ( in pipeline

Purpose: Track actual performance, not potential. Did they deliver or not?


Section 8: Activity Tracking (3 columns)

  1. First Touch Date
  2. Last Engagement Date
  3. Days Since Last Touch (calculated)

  1. PHASE (Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, Phase 4)
  2. HUBSPOT LINK

Simplified: Removed multiple link columns. HubSpot link is the source of truth for all partner docs.


Section 10: Notes (1 column)

  1. NOTES

🎯 Key Sections Summary

Your Actual Tracker:

  • Partner Info (5 columns)
  • Action Planning (5 columns) ⭐ Most important - daily to-do list
  • Qualification (4 columns) - Simple yes/no filter
  • 90-Day Test (3 columns) - Test, don’t score
  • Key Contact (4 columns)
  • Rep Engagement (4 columns) - How many reps are engaged/delivering
  • Activity Tracking (8 columns)
  • Status & Links (Multiple PHASE/DATE pairs + 6 link columns)

Total: ~51 columns

Opportunities to simplify:

  • Remove duplicate ORIGIN STORY column (appears twice)
  • Consolidate 6 PHASE/DATE pairs → 1 PHASE + DATE + HUBSPOT LINK
  • This would reduce to ~38 columns

📋 How to Read Your Tracker

The most important columns (use daily):

  1. PARTNER NAME - Who is this?
  2. NEXT ACTION DATE - When do I need to do something?
  3. NEXT ACTION NOTES - What do I need to do?
  4. BLOCKERS - What’s preventing progress?
  5. 90D STATUS - Are they delivering on their test?
  6. REPS BRINGING DEALS - How many reps are actively introducing us?
  7. CLOSED/WON DEALS - How many deals have they closed?

Set once, review quarterly:

  • PARTNER TYPE, PARTNER ARCHETYPE, HYPERSCALER ASSOCIATION
  • ICP MATCH, ACCOUNTS NAMED, INTRO MECHANISM, ECONOMICS
  • KEY CONTACT NAME, KEY CONTACT ROLE

Update weekly:

  • LAST ACTION DATE, LAST ACTION NOTES
  • NEXT ACTION DATE, NEXT ACTION NOTES
  • REPS BRINGING DEALS, REPS ENGAGED
  • LEADS GENERATED, CLOSED/WON DEALS
  • LAST ENGAGEMENT DATE, DAYS SINCE LAST TOUCH

Update as needed:

  • Activity tracking (MESSAGES SENT, CALLS BOOKED, etc.)
  • Status & Links (PHASE, DATE, links)

Daily Action View:

  • Filter: NEXT ACTION DATE < Today
  • Sort: NEXT ACTION DATE (ascending)
  • Purpose: See who needs attention today

90-Day Test View:

  • Filter: 90D STATUS = “On Track” or “At Risk”
  • Purpose: Monitor active partner tests

Performance View:

  • Sort: CLOSED/WON DEALS (descending)
  • Purpose: See who’s actually delivering

Needs Attention:

  • Filter: DAYS SINCE LAST TOUCH > 30
  • Purpose: Re-engage stale relationships

Active Partnerships:

  • Filter: REPS BRINGING DEALS > 0
  • Purpose: Focus on partners with active deal flow

✅ What You Already Have

You’re already tracking the right things:

  • ✅ Partner info (name, type, archetype)
  • ✅ Action planning (last/next action, blockers)
  • ✅ Qualification (ICP match, accounts, mechanism, economics)
  • ✅ 90-day tests (goal, start date, status)
  • ✅ Key contact info
  • ✅ Rep engagement (reps bringing deals, reps engaged)
  • ✅ Activity tracking (messages, calls, proposals)
  • ✅ Performance (leads, closed deals)

Opportunities to simplify (optional):

  • Remove duplicate ORIGIN STORY column (appears in Section 2 and Section 5)
  • Consolidate 6 PHASE/DATE pairs → 1 PHASE + DATE + HUBSPOT LINK
  • Move detailed activity tracking (MESSAGES SENT, CALLS BOOKED, etc.) to HubSpot
  • Result: ~51 columns → ~38 columns

You don’t need:

  • ❌ IPP scoring (ICP Alignment 0-10, Revenue Path Clarity 0-10, etc.)
  • ❌ Enterprise Partner Evaluation (3 Cs + 6 Pillars)
  • ❌ Complex scoring rubrics

Your tracker is simpler and more action-focused than the original proposal. Good call.


🎯 How to Use Your Tracker

New partner qualification (7 minutes)

  1. Ask the 4 questions (fill in columns 12-15):

    • ICP MATCH: Do their customers match our ICP? (Yes/No)
    • ACCOUNTS NAMED: Name 3 accounts they’ll introduce us to (write them down)
    • INTRO MECHANISM: How will they make intros? (sales reps, referrals, co-marketing)
    • ECONOMICS: Are economics OK? (no pricing compression, no staff aug)
  2. If all 4 pass:

    • Add partner to tracker
    • Fill in 90D GOAL (column 16): “3 qualified convos from Snowflake reps”
    • Fill in 90D START DATE (column 17): Today’s date
    • Fill in 90D STATUS (column 18): “On Track”
    • Fill in NEXT ACTION DATE (column 9): Date of first action
    • Fill in NEXT ACTION NOTES (column 10): “Intro call with partner manager”
  3. If any fail:

    • Polite pass
    • Don’t add to tracker
    • Move on

Daily workflow (Monday morning - 15 minutes)

  1. Open tracker, filter by “NEXT ACTION DATE < Today”

    • This shows who needs attention today
  2. For each partner:

    • Read NEXT ACTION NOTES (column 10) → What do I need to do?
    • Check BLOCKERS (column 11) → Any issues preventing progress?
    • Take action (email, call, research accounts)
  3. After taking action:

    • Update LAST ACTION DATE (column 7): Today’s date
    • Update LAST ACTION NOTES (column 8): What you did
    • Update NEXT ACTION DATE (column 9): When you’ll follow up
    • Update NEXT ACTION NOTES (column 10): What you’ll do next

Weekly workflow (Friday afternoon - 30 minutes)

  1. Update performance (columns 23-26, 30-34):

    • REPS BRINGING DEALS: How many reps introduced us this week?
    • REPS ENGAGED: How many reps responded this week?
    • LEADS GENERATED: Any new leads?
    • CLOSED/WON DEALS: Any deals closed?
    • Activity tracking: Update MESSAGES SENT, CALLS BOOKED, etc.
  2. Update 90D STATUS (column 18):

    • On Track: Delivering on goal
    • At Risk: Not delivering, needs attention
    • Delivered: Hit goal, set new one
    • Failed: Didn’t deliver, deprioritize
  3. Review DAYS SINCE LAST TOUCH (column 29):

    • If > 30 days: Set NEXT ACTION DATE to re-engage

Monthly review (1 hour)

  1. Sort by CLOSED/WON DEALS (column 26) → Who’s actually delivering?

    • Focus on top performers
    • Deprioritize non-performers
  2. Filter by 90D STATUS = “Delivered” or “Failed”:

    • Delivered → Set new 90D GOAL and restart
    • Failed → Move to BLOCKERS column, pause, or remove
  3. Review overall health:

    • How many partners have REPS BRINGING DEALS > 0?
    • How many partners are “On Track” with 90-day tests?
    • Any patterns in what’s working/not working?

📝 Column Definitions (Quick Reference)

Action Planning (most important):

  • LAST ACTION DATE: When you last did something
  • LAST ACTION NOTES: What you did
  • NEXT ACTION DATE: When you need to do something ⭐
  • NEXT ACTION NOTES: What you need to do ⭐
  • BLOCKERS: What’s preventing progress ⭐

Qualification:

  • ICP MATCH: Do their customers match our ICP?
  • ACCOUNTS NAMED: 3+ specific accounts they’ll introduce
  • INTRO MECHANISM: How they’ll make intros
  • ECONOMICS: Are economics acceptable?

90-Day Test:

  • 90D GOAL: What are we testing? (e.g., “3 qualified convos”)
  • 90D START DATE: When test started
  • 90D STATUS: On Track / At Risk / Delivered / Failed

Rep Engagement:

  • REPS BRINGING DEALS: Reps actively introducing us ⭐
  • REPS ENGAGED: Reps we’ve talked to and are responsive
  • LEADS GENERATED: Total leads from all reps
  • CLOSED/WON DEALS: Total deals closed ⭐

Activity:

  • DAYS SINCE LAST TOUCH: Calculated field
  • MESSAGES SENT, CALLS BOOKED, etc.: Track outreach activity

  • Partner Playbook: partner-playbook.md - Strategy and approach
  • Partner Tracking System: partner-tracking-system.md - Full system documentation
  • Outreach Templates: templates/outreach-sequences.md - Email templates

Last Updated: January 2025
Owner: GTM / Partnerships Lead
Philosophy: Execution > Perfection. Test partners with 90-day plans, not scorecards.