Direct vs. Partner Channel Profitability
Compare direct and partner profitability, cash payback, and lifetime value to recommend a channel mix under real constraints.
Before & after
Same prompt, same agent — the only difference is the skill.
That's a smart business question. To really understand channel profitability, you'd need to look at several factors: customer acquisition cost for each channel, the fully-loaded cost to serve customers acquired through that channel, lifetime value differences, partner discounts or commissions, support load per channel, and even overhead allocation. Different channels have different retention rates and deal velocity. The challenge is that most companies don't actually track all these things precisely, so you might need to do some estimation. What channels are you currently using?
CHANNEL ECONOMICS ANALYSIS COST-TO-SERVE BREAKDOWN (per new customer) • Direct sales (enterprise): 18,000 (high support load, pilots) • Self-serve web: 450 (onboarding automation, minimal support) • Partner-led (reseller): 8,500 (partner commission 20%, lower support) • Affiliate/referral: 2,100 (commission only, viral loop) CHANNEL ROI VERDICTS • Direct sales: DOUBLE-DOWN (LTV 95k, 5.3x ratio, sticky) • Self-serve web: MAINTAIN (LTV 12k, 26.7x ratio, scale ceiling) • Partner-led: DEFUND (LTV 22k, 2.6x ratio, margin compression) • Affiliate: DOUBLE-DOWN (LTV 18k, 8.6x ratio, low CAC) SENSITIVITY INFLECTION (WHEN CHANNEL BREAKS) • Direct: Breaks if average deal size drops below 45k • Self-serve: Breaks if support costs rise above 600 per customer • Partner: Currently unprofitable; needs 35% margin boost • Affiliate: Sustainable above 200 referral signups monthly RECOMMENDED MIX From current: 40% direct / 30% self-serve / 15% partner / 15% affiliate To target: 35% direct / 45% self-serve / 0% partner / 20% affiliate CRITICAL ASSUMPTIONS → Churn: Direct 5% monthly, self-serve 8%, partner 12% → Support cost: Direct 200 per month per customer, others 50 → Sales cycle: Direct 90 days, others 0-30 days → Retention premium: Direct customers stay 2.4x longer
About this skill
“Partners close faster, but are they actually more profitable?” Answer that with a reconciled comparison of acquisition costs, partner payouts, support burden, retention, and overhead. Get a channel investment recommendation that accounts for both cash pressure and the economics of the next deal.
What it does
- Reconstructs net revenue after partner discounts, commissions, refunds, and rebates without counting the same deduction twice.
- Separates acquisition costs, ongoing cost-to-serve, channel operating costs, and allocated corporate overhead.
- Compares contribution payback, forecast LTV:CAC, and incremental returns using consistent cohorts and time periods.
- Tests whether support costs, retention, collection delays, or rising acquisition costs reverse the recommendation.
- Allocates incremental investment within budget, delivery capacity, partner commitments, and concentration limits.
- Assigns DOUBLE-DOWN, MAINTAIN, DEFUND, or EXIT verdicts with specific actions and evidence thresholds.
What you get
A channel economics scorecard, transparent calculations, sensitivity thresholds, and a practical investment recommendation. Missing data produces a clearly labeled provisional analysis with the break-even values needed to finish the decision.
Best for
Heads of Commercial, RevOps leaders, finance partners, and sales executives reviewing a mix of direct, referral, reseller, or other partner-led business.
SKILL.md preview
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name: direct-vs-partner-channel-profitability
description: Compares direct and partner channels by reconciling net revenue and fully loaded costs, calculating cash, lifetime, and marginal returns, and allocating investment under operating constraints. Use when the user says "which channel actually makes money?", "direct or partners?", "our partner channel looks cheap but support is killing us", "rebalance our channel mix", "calculate fully loaded cost-to-serve", "should we defund this channel?", or "partner CAC is lower, so why is profit worse?".
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# Direct vs. Partner Channel Profitability
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