Most partnership discovery calls are wasted air.

You get on a Zoom. You spend 10 minutes on small talk. You spend 15 minutes listening to them pitch their generic slide deck. You spend the final 5 minutes promising to "circle back."

The result? You have a nice conversation, but you have zero clue if this partner can actually drive revenue.

[Internal Link Opportunity]: Link this section to Article #2: "The Coffee Chat Trap" to reiterate why unstructured meetings kill productivity.

In 2026, you don't have time for "Get to Know You" calls. You need "Qualification" calls. To do that, you need to stop asking about their Business and start asking about their Strategic Intent.

Here are the 5 questions that will instantly reveal if a partner is a "Must-Have" or a "Time-Waster."

Jump to a section:

1. The "Timing" Question

2. The "Tech" Question

3. The "Incentive" Question

4. The "Customer" Question

5. The "Resource" Question

1. The "Timing" Question

"Is this integration a 'Nice to Have' for your product roadmap, or is it a 'Blocker' for current deals?"

Why ask this: Every partner wants more integrations. But few act on them. If they say it’s a "Nice to Have," they will deprioritize you the moment a bug appears in their core product. If they say it’s a "Blocker" (i.e., "We are losing deals because we don't have this"), you have leverage. You have Strategic Intent.

[Internal Link Opportunity]: Link this section to Article #14: "Intent Data vs. Identity Data" to explain the difference between general interest and active intent.

2. The "Tech" Question

"Who is the specific engineer that would build this, and what is their availability in the next 30 days?"

Why ask this: This is the "bs detector." If they answer, "Oh, we have a dev team," that is a red flag. If they answer, "Sarah from the Platform Team would own this, and her sprint clears up next Tuesday," they are serious.

[Internal Link Opportunity]: Link this section to Article #18: "How to Use AI to Analyze Tech Stack Compatibility" to show how to validate this technically.

3. The "Incentive" Question

"How are your sales reps compensated on partner deals? Is it quota retirement, a spiff, or nothing?"

Why ask this: You can build the best integration in the world, but if the sales team isn't paid to sell it, they won't. In 2026, "Revenue Sharing" (giving the company a %) matters less than "Rep Compensation" (giving the salesperson credit). If the rep doesn't get quota relief, your partnership will die on the vine.

4. The "Customer" Question

"Can we run a quick account mapping overlap right now to see how many mutual customers we actually have?"

Why ask this: Stop guessing. If they refuse to map accounts, they are hiding something (usually a lack of customers). If they agree, and you find fewer than 10 overlaps, the partnership isn't ready. If you find 500 overlaps, you should probably hang up and send the contract immediately.

[Internal Link Opportunity]: Link this section to Article #6: "The Hidden Cost of Bad Partnership Data" to emphasize the need for real data over estimates.

5. The "Resource" Question

"If we sign today, who is the Partner Manager on your side that I will be speaking to every week?"

Why ask this: You need to know if you are getting a Counterpart or a Generic Inbox. If they say, "Reach out to partners@company.com," run away. If they give you a name, you have a champion.

[Internal Link Opportunity]: Link this section to Article #9: "The Info@ Black Hole" to warn against partners who don't assign human resources.

The Verdict

If a potential partner stumbles on these questions, they aren't ready.

Don't be afraid to say: "It sounds like the timing isn't right. Let's reconnect next quarter."

Your job isn't to be polite. Your job is to protect your pipeline from low-intent partners. These 5 questions are your shield.