Head of Partnerships 30-60-90 Day Plan (Template)
A head of partnerships 90-day plan splits the first quarter into three jobs: diagnose the channel you inherit (days 1–30), design the program and start recruiting (days 31–60), then sign or reactivate the first partners and agree what to scale (days 61–90). The plan is judged on leading indicators, such as qualified partners signed and first registered opportunities, because partner-sourced revenue rarely arrives inside the first quarter.
Most 30-60-90 templates are written for any new manager, or for someone joining a mature partner team with a portfolio already assigned. This one is for the more common situation in scale-ups: you are the first senior person who owns partnerships, and the company expects a channel, not just a set of relationships.
Start with your situation, not the template
The first 90 days look very different depending on what you walk into. Before writing a plan, place yourself in one of three situations.
| Situation | What you usually find | What the first quarter is for |
|---|---|---|
| No program yet | A few founder-led partner conversations, no agreements, no commercial model | Choosing partner types and markets, designing the model, signing the first partners |
| Inherited, dormant partners | Signed agreements, little or no partner-sourced pipeline, unclear ownership | Separating active from inactive partners, fixing the model, reactivating or exiting |
| Working program to scale | Some partners selling, manual processes, conflict with direct sales | Tiering, operations, reporting, and a hiring plan for the team |
The phases below apply to all three. The weight of each phase changes: a dormant channel needs a longer diagnosis, a new program needs more time on design and recruitment.
Days 1–30: diagnose
The goal of the first month is to understand where partner revenue could come from and why it is not coming yet. Avoid signing anything or announcing a new program in this phase. Decisions made before the diagnosis are usually the ones you have to reverse.
Internal interviews
Talk to every team that touches partners:
- Leadership: what they expect from partnerships, in which markets, and by when. Write the answer down and check it back with them.
- Sales: which deals partners have influenced, where they compete with partners, and what would make them bring a partner into a deal.
- Customer success and services: which customers were implemented by a partner, and how those accounts perform.
- Product: the integration roadmap and which platforms customers ask to connect with.
- Finance and legal: how partner fees or margins are paid today, and what the standard agreement allows.
Partner and data review
- List every signed partner with agreement date, partner type, market and last registered opportunity.
- Pull every deal in the CRM where a partner was involved, even informally.
- Call the five most relevant partners yourself. Ask why they sell, or why they stopped.
- Note what is missing: deal registration, a partner pitch, pricing for partners, a named contact.
Day-30 deliverable
A short written diagnosis, agreed with your manager: the partner types and markets to prioritise, what to keep and what to stop, and two or three measurable goals for the quarter. This is the document the rest of the plan is built on.
Days 31–60: design and start recruiting
The second month turns the diagnosis into a program that partners can say yes to, and starts the first conversations.
Design the minimum program
- Ideal partner profile: the few criteria that predict whether a partner will sell, such as customer overlap, services capacity and the platforms they already work with. The guide to partner recruitment strategy includes a scorecard you can adapt.
- Commercial model: referral fee, reseller margin or services-only, depending on the partner type. Keep it to one or two options in the first quarter.
- Rules of engagement: deal registration, what happens when sales and a partner meet the same prospect, and who owns the customer after the sale.
- Minimum enablement kit: partner pitch, pricing, objection handling and a demo path. The guide to partner enablement lists what each partner type needs first.
Start outreach
- Build a target list for the first market, ranked with the partner profile.
- Run executive outreach to the top of the list. A senior conversation with the partner's owner or practice lead moves faster than a form on a partner page.
- For inherited partners, hold a reactivation call with each one you decided to keep, with a concrete first account to work on together.
Day-60 deliverable
A one-page program (partner types, model, rules, kit) and a pipeline of partner conversations, with the stage of each one.
Days 61–90: sign, activate and decide
The third month is about evidence. By day 90 leadership should be able to see whether the channel can work, even if partner revenue is still small.
- Negotiate and sign the first partners from the target list, or renew the agreements of the partners you kept.
- Run onboarding and a joint account planning session with each new partner, naming the first three to five target accounts.
- Register the first partner opportunities and review them weekly with sales.
- Set up simple reporting: partners signed, partners active, opportunities registered, pipeline value, and meetings held.
- Write the plan for the next two quarters, including whether the function needs a second person, and which role.
Day-90 review checklist
Use this list for the review with your manager:
- Partner types and first market agreed and written down
- Commercial model and deal registration live, known to sales
- Enablement kit available to every signed partner
- First partners signed or reactivated, each with named target accounts
- First partner opportunities registered in the CRM
- Inactive partners either reactivated with a plan or formally exited
- A reporting view leadership can read without your help
- A plan and budget request for the next two quarters
The plan on one page
| Phase | Main question | Deliverable | Leading indicators |
|---|---|---|---|
| Days 1–30 | Where can partner revenue come from? | Written diagnosis and agreed goals | Stakeholders interviewed, partners reviewed |
| Days 31–60 | What will partners say yes to? | One-page program, target list | Qualified partner conversations, reactivation calls held |
| Days 61–90 | Can the channel work here? | First signatures, reporting, next-quarter plan | Partners signed or reactivated, first registered opportunities |
Common mistakes in the first quarter
- Recruiting before deciding the model. Partners ask about margin, territory and deal protection in the first meeting. Without answers, good partners walk away and weak ones sign.
- Measuring the quarter on revenue. Partner sales cycles add the partner's own time to your sales cycle. Set leading indicators at day 30 so nobody is surprised at day 90.
- Keeping every inherited partner. A long list of inactive partners hides the few that matter. Fewer, active partners are easier to support and easier to report on.
- Leaving sales out. If account executives see partners as a threat to their commission, they will not register or share deals. Agree the rules with sales leadership before the first joint deal.
- Doing everything yourself. Decide early which tasks will move to sales, customer success or a future hire, and document them as you go.
When a fractional leader runs the first 90 days
Some companies do not hire a full-time head of partnerships for the first quarter. They bring in a fractional head of partnerships to run the diagnosis, design and first signatures, then hire in-house once the channel has shown it can work. The plan above stays the same; the difference is that handover is built in from the start, and the day-90 review also decides who will run the program next.
That was the approach at ProfessionAI, where G2Market built the B2B partnership department from zero, covering strategy, target segments and first deals, while coaching the internal team to take ownership. If you are weighing the options, the comparison of how to hire a partner manager: in-house, fractional or agency covers when each model fits.
If you are about to start as head of partnerships, or about to hire one, and want a second opinion on the first quarter, book a call.
FAQ
What should a head of partnerships do in the first 30 days?
Listen and diagnose before deciding. Interview leadership, sales, customer success, product and finance, review every signed partner and partner-involved deal, and call the most relevant partners directly. End the month with a written diagnosis and two or three goals agreed with your manager.
How do you measure success after 90 days in a partnerships role?
With leading indicators rather than revenue: qualified partners signed or reactivated, partners with named target accounts, first registered opportunities, and a working deal registration process. Partner-sourced revenue usually follows activation, which often falls after the first quarter.
Should a new head of partnerships keep the existing partners?
Keep the partners that match the ideal partner profile and are willing to work on specific accounts. Give inactive partners a reactivation plan with a deadline, and formally exit the ones that do not respond. A short list of active partners is worth more than a long list on paper.
Is a 30-60-90 day plan different for a partner manager and a head of partnerships?
Yes. A partner manager joining an existing team usually takes over a portfolio and learns the program. A head of partnerships often has to decide which partner types, markets and commercial model the company should use, so more of the first quarter goes into diagnosis and design.
Can a fractional head of partnerships run the first 90 days?
Yes. It is a common way to test the channel before committing to a full-time executive. The fractional leader runs the same three phases and prepares the handover to an internal owner as part of the plan.