Commercial terms a field seller will actually run
If a seller cannot explain how they get paid, they will not mention you. Design referral, co-sell, or revenue share as a sentence, then as a payout.
Partnership contracts often die in the annex. Pages of definitions. A field rep needs one sentence: I introduce, they sell, I get X when it closes. Or: we stay in the account together. Or: they attach our product and take a cut. If the sentence does not fit in a standup, the motion will not run.
Revenue sharing is not automatically better than a referral fee. It is more reach and less control. Referral is the right first step for most startups. Co-sell is the motion you add when both sellers will stay in the deal. We compared the fee structures in revenue share vs referral fees.
Ecosystems publish their own commercial gravity. Shopify Partners and Microsoft Partner Center are examples of programs that mix referrals, incentives, and marketplace cuts. Read their current pages. Do not copy last year's tiers into this year's contract.
The 60-second version
- Write the seller sentence first. Then write the legal text that matches it.
- Referral: they introduce, you sell, you pay a fee at close.
- Co-sell: both stay in the account. You keep the customer. They bring timing and trust.
- Revenue share: they sell or attach you. More reach, less control. Use it when the motion is already proven.
- Pay on time. A late payout is how you train partners to stop sending you deals.
What finance has to be able to defend
Deal registration. Sourced versus influenced. A payout file that matches the CRM. If finance cannot defend it, the channel is a hobby. See influenced vs sourced pipeline and partnership attribution models.
Further reading
Designing that sentence for your book is part of the Partner Audit.
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