What is an example of co-selling?

An implementation consultancy has a long-standing client that needs a new analytics tool. The consultancy introduces your rep, joins discovery to explain the client's setup, and scopes the implementation, while your rep runs the demo, pricing and contract. The client buys your software and the consultancy's services in the same decision, and both teams get credit.

What is the difference between co-selling and reselling?

In co-selling, the customer signs a contract with you and the partner helps win it. In reselling, the customer buys from the partner, who buys from you or pays you a share, and the partner usually handles billing and first-line support. Co-selling keeps you close to the customer. Reselling gives the partner more control.

How are partners paid for co-selling?

It depends on who created the opportunity. A partner who brought the deal usually earns the referral fee for a sourced deal. A partner who joined a deal your team created may earn a smaller influence payment or nothing from you, and earns from their own services instead. Agree this before the deal starts, not at close.

What is account mapping in co-selling?

Account mapping is comparing your list of customers and open opportunities with a partner's list to find the overlap. The most useful overlap is accounts that are the partner's customers and your prospects, because the partner can make a warm introduction. Most teams share only matches rather than full lists, to protect each side's data.

Do you need a cloud marketplace to co-sell?

No. Cloud marketplace co-sell programs are one form of co-selling, built around buying through a cloud provider's marketplace. Any SaaS company can co-sell with agencies, consultancies, technology partners and resellers using account mapping, deal registration and a shared deal plan, without listing on a marketplace.

Deals & attribution

Co-selling: what it is, how it works and a worked example

How co-selling works for a SaaS company without a cloud marketplace: account mapping, who does what at each deal stage, how both sides get credit and paid, and a worked example.

Updated October 7, 2026 · 5 min read

Short answer

Co-selling is when your sales team and a partner's team work the same deal together toward one close. The partner brings the relationship, context or implementation services, your rep brings product expertise and pricing, and both sides agree up front who leads, who does what at each stage and how each is credited and paid.

What co-selling means

Co-selling is a deal motion where your rep and a partner's rep sell to the same customer at the same time, toward one decision. Neither side hands the deal to the other. Both stay involved until it closes.

It sits between the two simpler partner motions:

Motion	Who sells	Who the customer signs with	How the partner earns
Referral	Your team	You	A referral fee
Co-selling	Your team and the partner together	You, plus the partner for their services	A referral or influence fee, plus their own services revenue
Resale	The partner	The partner	A margin or discount

Cloud providers run co-sell programs tied to their marketplaces, and you will see the term used heavily in that context. This guide is about the broader motion that any SaaS company can run with agencies, consultancies and technology partners, with or without a marketplace listing.

When co-selling makes sense

Co-selling costs more time than a referral, because two teams are on the deal. It is worth it when:

The deal is big enough. As a rough rule, deals well above your average contract value, where an extra stakeholder meeting pays for itself.
Implementation decides the sale. The buyer needs to know who will set it up, and the partner is the answer.
The partner has the relationship. They know the buyer, the politics and the budget cycle.
Your product fits into a bigger project. The partner is selling a program of work, and your software is one part of it.

For small, simple deals, a referral is usually better for both sides.

Account mapping: finding deals to co-sell

Co-selling starts with knowing which accounts you and a partner have in common. Account mapping compares your customer and opportunity lists with the partner's and sorts the overlap.

Your side	Partner's side	What to do
Prospect	Customer	Best co-sell target. Ask the partner for a warm introduction
Open opportunity	Customer	Invite the partner to influence the deal
Customer	Prospect	Give the partner a reference or introduction, which builds goodwill
Customer	Customer	Look for expansion or a joint case study
Prospect	Prospect	Plan joint outreach, but expect lower win rates

Share matches, not full lists. Neither side should hand over its whole CRM. Start with 10 to 20 shared accounts per partner, pick the best five, and agree who reaches out first.

Who does what at each stage

Write this down for each co-sell deal. Most co-sell deals that fail do so because both reps assumed the other was doing the next step.

Stage	Your rep	Partner rep
Introduction	Prepares a short intro note and a reason to meet	Makes the introduction and sets the first meeting
Discovery	Runs discovery on product needs	Shares context on the buyer, their stack and the decision process
Demo and evaluation	Runs the demo and the trial	Joins to answer implementation questions
Proposal	Prices the software	Scopes and prices services, and presents them together
Negotiation	Handles the software contract	Handles the services contract and supports the business case
Close	Gets the software signed	Gets the services statement of work signed
Handover	Introduces your customer success team	Starts the implementation

Agree one deal lead. Usually the side with the stronger relationship with the buyer leads communication, and the other side follows that plan.

Credit and compensation

Co-selling breaks down quickly if either rep loses money by doing it. Settle three things before the first meeting:

Attribution. Is the deal partner-sourced or partner-influenced? That depends on who created the opportunity, not on who did more work. The partner-sourced vs partner-influenced guide sets out the rules.
Your rep's credit. Give your rep full quota credit on co-sell deals. If they earn less with a partner involved, they will avoid partners.
The partner's pay. A sourced deal earns your referral fee. An influenced deal earns a smaller influence payment or nothing from you, and the partner earns from services. Either way, write it into the deal registration so nobody argues at close.

A worked example with numbers

Cobalt Consulting implements analytics tools for mid-market companies. You map accounts with Cobalt and find that Fjord Analytics is a Cobalt client with no open opportunity in your CRM.

Week 1. Cobalt registers Fjord Analytics and introduces your rep, Sam. Because no opportunity existed, the deal is partner-sourced.
Week 2. Discovery. Cobalt's consultant explains Fjord's data stack, which saves Sam a second discovery call.
Week 4. Sam runs the demo. Cobalt answers migration questions.
Week 6. A joint proposal: $60,000 a year for your software and a $25,000 fixed-fee implementation from Cobalt.
Week 9. Fjord signs both.

The money:

Your first-year revenue: $60,000.
Cobalt's referral fee, at 15% of first-year revenue on a sourced deal: $9,000.
Cobalt's services revenue: $25,000, billed directly to Fjord.
Sam's quota credit: $60,000, the same as a direct deal.

If Sam had created the opportunity and Cobalt joined later, the same deal would be partner-influenced. Under a program that pays a $1,000 flat influence payment, Cobalt would earn that plus its $25,000 services fee.

Running a co-sell cadence

A 30-minute pipeline call every two weeks with each active co-sell partner. Review shared deals, stuck stages and new matches.
One shared deal thread. Keep notes and next steps where both reps can see them, not in two private inboxes.
A joint plan per partner. Target accounts, number of introductions per quarter and who owns what. A joint business plan template gives you the structure.
A clear rule for overlaps. When a co-sell partner and another partner both want the same account, your channel conflict rules decide it.

Common mistakes

Co-selling every deal. Two teams on a $5,000 deal wastes both teams' time.
No agreed lead. The buyer gets two follow-up emails with different next steps.
Settling credit at close. By then, both sides remember their own contribution as the decisive one.
Sharing full customer lists. Share matches and protect both sides' data.

Tracking it without spreadsheets

Co-selling needs three things that are hard to keep in a spreadsheet: a list of shared accounts, a record of which partner registered which deal and when, and one place where both reps see the deal's stage and notes. A partner portal with account mapping, partner introductions and deal registration with a shared message thread covers all three, and syncs the closed deal to your CRM so attribution and commission come from the same record.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What is an example of co-selling?: An implementation consultancy has a long-standing client that needs a new analytics tool. The consultancy introduces your rep, joins discovery to explain the client's setup, and scopes the implementation, while your rep runs the demo, pricing and contract. The client buys your software and the consultancy's services in the same decision, and both teams get credit.
What is the difference between co-selling and reselling?: In co-selling, the customer signs a contract with you and the partner helps win it. In reselling, the customer buys from the partner, who buys from you or pays you a share, and the partner usually handles billing and first-line support. Co-selling keeps you close to the customer. Reselling gives the partner more control.
How are partners paid for co-selling?: It depends on who created the opportunity. A partner who brought the deal usually earns the referral fee for a sourced deal. A partner who joined a deal your team created may earn a smaller influence payment or nothing from you, and earns from their own services instead. Agree this before the deal starts, not at close.
What is account mapping in co-selling?: Account mapping is comparing your list of customers and open opportunities with a partner's list to find the overlap. The most useful overlap is accounts that are the partner's customers and your prospects, because the partner can make a warm introduction. Most teams share only matches rather than full lists, to protect each side's data.
Do you need a cloud marketplace to co-sell?: No. Cloud marketplace co-sell programs are one form of co-selling, built around buying through a cloud provider's marketplace. Any SaaS company can co-sell with agencies, consultancies, technology partners and resellers using account mapping, deal registration and a shared deal plan, without listing on a marketplace.

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