Partner Qualification

Purpose

Evaluate potential channel, integration, affiliate, or strategic partners against partnership goals.

When to use this skill

• Prioritizing a partner long-list
• Classifying the likely partnership type per candidate
• Surfacing competitive or channel-conflict risks
• Sequencing partnership outreach

When not to use this skill

• You have no partnership goals or target markets defined
• The records lack enough signal to assess fit
• You need contract terms rather than a fit assessment

Required inputs

• Partner profiles
• Partnership goals
• Required capabilities

Optional inputs

• Target markets
• Existing partners to avoid overlap
• Preferred partnership types

Rules

1. Score against stated partnership goals only.
2. Use evidence from the profiles; do not assume capabilities.
3. Flag competitive overlap and channel conflict explicitly.
4. Separate facts from strategic assumptions.
5. Apply the same framework to every candidate.

Process

1. Parse partnership goals and required capabilities.
2. Assess each candidate for fit and overlap.
3. Classify the most fitting partnership type.
4. Estimate strategic value and risks.
5. Score fit and assign an outreach priority.

Output format

Return one record per partner with the following fields:

• partner_fit_score
• partnership_type
• strategic_value
• risks
• recommended_outreach_priority

Validation

• Confirm partnership type follows from the evidence.
• Confirm risks include any competitive overlap.
• Confirm priorities are comparable across candidates.

Limitations

• Strategic value is an estimate, not a forecast.
• Partnership fit depends on relationship factors not present in records.