What it is
Deal registration is a partner telling a company, before the sales cycle starts, that they are working an account — and the company agreeing that for a defined period, that account is theirs to work.
It exists because a partner will not spend a sales cycle on an account your direct team might close next month. Registration is the mechanism that makes the effort safe.
Registration is not paperwork. It is the promise that makes a partner willing to spend their time on you.
What a good registration records
The domain matters more than it looks. Company names are ambiguous, get typed differently by every person, and cannot be matched reliably against a CRM. A domain can.
- The account, identified well enough to match later — a company domain, not just a name.
- Who registered it, and when.
- The protection window, stated as a date rather than a policy.
- What happens if it conflicts with something already in the pipeline.
Sourced and influenced are different things
A partner who brought you an account that did not exist in your pipeline sourced it. A partner who helped you close an account you already had influenced it. Both are valuable and they are not the same, and blending them produces a number nobody can defend.
The blended figure is always bigger, which is why it is tempting. It is also the first thing a CFO takes apart.
Handling a conflict without losing the partner
Sooner or later a partner will register an account your team is already working. How you handle that once determines whether they ever register another.
Show both records side by side. Decide quickly. And whatever you decide, give a reason the partner can read — silence reads as a company protecting itself, even when the decision was correct.
A rejection without a reason costs you the partner, not just the deal.
For partners: what to insist on
- A written confirmation, with the protection end date in it. Not a promise in a call.
- A way to check status without emailing anyone.
- A stated rule for what happens if the company was already working the account.
- Commission paid on collected revenue, so you are not exposed to their billing problems — and clawback capped at what you were actually paid.