A commission sheet recruits nobody: how to build a B2B referral partner program by interviewing partners first
A referral partner recruited with a commission sheet refers nobody. One recruited on your show refers you for years.
I've watched companies build partner programs the same way for a decade. Design a nice PDF. Set a commission rate. Email it to a list of agencies and consultants. Get a few signups. Get zero referrals. Wonder why.
On a Friday call on May 8, Charles laid out the opposite approach to a crypto company's team, and it's the one we run ourselves.
Commission sheets don't recruit partners, conversations do
The PDF approach fails for a simple reason. A potential partner who gets your rate card knows almost nothing about you. They don't know your story, they haven't seen how you think, and they have no reason to stake their reputation on you with their own clients. The commission is the only thing you've given them, and a commission alone never moved anyone to recommend a stranger.
Referrals run on trust, not math. People refer people they know, like and would be embarrassed not to recommend. So the job isn't to design a better commission. It's to create the relationship first and attach the commission second.
Interview them first
Charles's version was simple. Interview CEOs and founders who share your audience on a podcast. Then turn those guests into partners. In his words: "You can partner up with them. They can refer you client and exchange of, I don't know 10, 20%."
Look at what the interview does before any commission comes up. The partner spends thirty minutes or more talking about their business while you ask good questions. They leave feeling heard and looking good, with an episode to share. They also now know how you think and what you care about. By the time you mention a referral arrangement, they've already decided they like you.
Front end: relationship building. Back end: business development. The show is the bridge.
Who to interview: people already selling to your buyer
The best partners aren't your biggest fans. They're people who sell something different to the exact same buyer.
For a crypto infrastructure company, that's founders of wallets, exchanges, developer tools and protocols whose users are the same developers and token holders. For a B2B service, it's the agency, the consultant, the software vendor who's in the room with your buyer every week but doesn't compete with you.
Charles pitched the same idea to post-PMF companies all that week as one of three things we do: a partnership program aimed at others selling to the same audience. When you find those people, each one is a door into dozens of buyers who already trust them.
Partners also show up where you weren't looking. The same week, a fleet software client of ours ran an investor campaign into the insurance world. Some of the people who replied had no interest in investing but wanted the product, or wanted to partner. One conversation turned into a hardware company talking about bundling its devices with the client's software as a package deal. Nobody planned that partnership. A good conversation surfaced it.
The 10 to 20 percent referral cut, and why it scales
On the number: 10 to 20 percent of what the referral pays you is the range we talk about with clients. Earlier that week, a proposal Charles sent to a client set it at 20 percent for referrals from B2B founders and VCs. We've also set it up in perpetuity, so a partner keeps earning as long as the client stays.
Why so generous? Because a referred client costs you almost nothing to acquire. No ads, no list, no long sales cycle. They show up pre-sold by someone they trust. Paying a meaningful share for that is cheap. And it scales: every new partner is another set of buyers who hear your name from a source they believe.
Paying too little is the more common mistake. A 5 percent cut on a small deal isn't worth anyone's effort to remember you.
Our own flywheel between two companies
Charles and I run this between our own companies, and that's what makes me confident it works.
RaasRocket helps founders raise. GTM Ventures, which Charles and I co-founded, helps companies get in front of buyers. A founder who just raised needs customers. A company that's selling well often wants to raise. Spark Tank, our live pitch show, puts founders and investors in a room every week, and the pre-interviews feed both businesses. Each side refers the other naturally because the buyers overlap and the trust is already there.
That's what a partner program should feel like. Not a contract you remind people about. A loop where helping each other is obvious.
Running it when you can't go live
One wrinkle from that May 8 call. The crypto company was public, which meant they couldn't run live broadcasts the way a private startup could. Public companies have disclosure rules about what gets said in public, and a live show is hard to control.
The workaround we discussed: a separate podcast, recorded rather than live, hosted by an employee and focused on interviewing founders rather than the company being interviewed itself. The guest does most of the talking. The company builds relationships with people who sell to its audience. Nobody makes forward-looking statements about the company on air.
The lesson travels beyond public companies. You don't need a big brand show to recruit partners. You need a reason to sit down with the right people, a recording, and a clear conversation about referrals once the trust is there.
If you want to recruit partners the way we do, start with the conversation. Start the show that recruits partners.
Frequently asked questions
What commission should I pay referral partners?
We work in a 10 to 20 percent range of what the referred client pays, and we've set it up in perpetuity so partners keep earning while the client stays. Too small a cut and nobody bothers to remember you.
How do I find referral partners for a B2B company?
Look for companies that sell something different to the same buyer. Invite their founders onto a show or podcast first, then talk about referrals once you know each other.
Why do referral partners stop sending leads?
Usually there was no real relationship to begin with, only a commission. Partners refer people they know and trust, so build that first and keep it alive with regular conversations.