How do I find the right person to contact?

Search '[company name] partnerships' or '[company name] business development' on LinkedIn. For small companies: Founder or CEO directly. For larger companies: Head of Partnerships or BD. Direct LinkedIn message before sending the full proposal.

Should I include revenue projections?

Only with real data to support them. Unsubstantiated projections reduce credibility. If you have case studies from similar partnerships, share those instead. Otherwise describe the mechanism and let the partner calculate value for their context.

How long to wait before following up?

Follow up once after 5–7 business days. A second follow-up after another 7 days. After 3 follow-ups, a brief 'should I stop reaching out?' message tends to generate a response. Beyond that, move on.

Formal proposal first or verbal pitch first?

Verbal pitch or 2-sentence email first, proposal document second. Cold proposals often get ignored — too much commitment for the recipient to process. A brief email asking for a 20-minute call is a better opener, with the proposal following after the initial conversation.

ChatGPT Business Partnership Proposal Prompt

You are a business development lead who has closed partnerships generating £10M+ in mutual value.

Category

💼 Business

Difficulty

Intermediate

Models

Last Updated

2026-06-28

Works with

ChatGPT Claude

⚙️ Fill in your variables

your company

potential partner

partnership type

mutual value

📋 Prompt

You are a business development lead who has closed partnerships generating £10M+ in mutual value.

Your company: [your company]
Partner: [potential partner]
Type: [partnership type — referral/co-marketing/integration/white-label]
Value: [mutual value — what each party gets]

Task: Write a complete partnership proposal (2–4 pages):

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The opportunity in 2 sentences + what each party brings + proposed structure
2. WHY NOW + WHY US: Market context + your specific qualification to be their partner
3. THE PROPOSAL: Specific terms (without hard numbers — leave for negotiation), timeline, ownership
4. VALUE EXCHANGE: How value is measured and shared (structure, not amounts)
5. RISK MITIGATION: How each party is protected
6. NEXT STEPS: 3 specific actions with owners and target dates

Format: Professional document, collaborative tone — this is a conversation starter, not a contract

📄 Example output

PARTNERSHIP PROPOSAL: ToolsNova × [Developer Tool Company]
Type: Co-marketing + API integration

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
ToolsNova serves 50,000 developers and technical marketers who use AI tools in their daily work. [Partner] offers the leading [category] tool used by the same audience. We're proposing a co-marketing partnership that creates genuine value for both audiences — not a logo swap, but a real integration and joint content programme.

WHAT EACH PARTY BRINGS:
ToolsNova: 50K monthly active users in AI/developer space; 155+ indexed tools; newsletter audience; organic content reach
[Partner]: [User count]; complementary tool with zero direct overlap; [specific distribution or reach]

THE PROPOSAL:
1. Technical integration: ToolsNova coding prompts generate [Partner]-compatible output by default
2. Co-marketing: 1 joint piece of content per quarter (webinar or guide)
3. Cross-referral: Both onboarding flows mention the other tool
4. Attribution: UTM links track all referrals bi-directionally

NEXT STEPS:
1. 30-min discovery call to validate integration concept [Both | By July 10]
2. Technical scoping if integration is approved [Both tech leads | By July 24]
3. Q3 content calendar planning [Marketing leads | By August 1]

🏆

Best model for this prompt

Claude

Claude (Opus 4 / Sonnet 4)

💡 Pro Tips

Lead with what's in it for them — best proposals spend more words on the partner's benefit than yours

Be specific about the mechanism — 'co-marketing' is vague; '1 joint webinar + 2 newsletter mentions per quarter' is actionable

Leave financial terms for the negotiation conversation — hard numbers in proposals create anchoring problems

Show you've done research: reference their user count, recent launch, or strategic goal to demonstrate genuine interest

⚠️ Common Mistakes

Proposals that read like sales pitches — partners are equals; tone should be collaborative, not persuasive

Asking for too much in the first proposal — start with one element and expand the relationship

No 'who owns what' section — ambiguous partnerships fail because roles are unclear

No exit criteria — what happens if the partnership underperforms? Define this upfront to prevent awkward situations

❓ FAQ

How do I find the right person to contact?
Search '[company name] partnerships' or '[company name] business development' on LinkedIn. For small companies: Founder or CEO directly. For larger companies: Head of Partnerships or BD. Direct LinkedIn message before sending the full proposal.
Should I include revenue projections?
Only with real data to support them. Unsubstantiated projections reduce credibility. If you have case studies from similar partnerships, share those instead. Otherwise describe the mechanism and let the partner calculate value for their context.
How long to wait before following up?
Follow up once after 5–7 business days. A second follow-up after another 7 days. After 3 follow-ups, a brief 'should I stop reaching out?' message tends to generate a response. Beyond that, move on.
Formal proposal first or verbal pitch first?
Verbal pitch or 2-sentence email first, proposal document second. Cold proposals often get ignored — too much commitment for the recipient to process. A brief email asking for a 20-minute call is a better opener, with the proposal following after the initial conversation.

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