Build a Partner Management CRM with DenchClaw

Build a partner management CRM with DenchClaw. Track technology partners, resellers, and integration partners with AI-assisted relationship management.

Mark Rachapoom

March 26, 2026·6 min read

Build a Partner Management CRM with DenchClaw

Partnerships are one of the highest-leverage growth channels for B2B companies, and one of the most neglected. Most companies track partnerships in a spreadsheet or, worse, in someone's inbox. When that person leaves, the institutional knowledge leaves with them.

DenchClaw gives you a structured partner management system — relationship history, deal tracking, co-marketing coordination, and AI-assisted research — running locally with no additional software cost.

Types of Partners to Track#

Before building your schema, identify which partner types matter to you:

Technology partners — integrations with complementary tools
Resellers / channel partners — companies that sell your product
Agency/service partners — implementation and consulting firms
Strategic alliances — larger companies for co-marketing or OEM deals
Referral partners — individuals or companies who refer customers

You can use a single Partners object with a Type field, or create separate objects per partner type if the workflows differ significantly. For most companies, a single object with a Type field works fine.

Step 1: Create the Partners Object#

Install DenchClaw (npx denchclaw) and create your partner object:

Create a Partners object with:
- Partner Name (text)
- Type (enum: Technology/Reseller/Agency/Strategic/Referral)
- Status (enum: Target/Exploratory/Active/Paused/Churned)
- Primary Contact (relation to People)
- Website (url)
- Industry Focus (text)
- Customer Overlap (richtext)
- Integration/Deal Details (richtext)
- Annual Partner Value (number)
- Agreement Type (enum: None/MOU/Reseller Agreement/Technology Agreement/Referral Agreement)
- Agreement Date (date)
- Renewal Date (date)
- Account Manager (text)
- Last Activity (date)
- Next Milestone (text)
- Next Milestone Date (date)
- Notes (richtext)

Step 2: Create the Partner Contacts Object#

Partners involve multiple stakeholders — the person who signs agreements, the technical champion, the co-marketing lead. Extend your People object or create a linked Partner Contacts view:

Add a Partners relation field to the People object so each person can be linked to a Partner organization.

Now you can see all contacts at HubSpot (your technology partner) in one place.

Step 3: Research Potential Partners#

Build a target partner list:

For our CRM product (DenchClaw), what are the top 20 technology partners to target? Look for: email tools, project management tools, accounting software, data enrichment tools. For each, find the partner program details and primary contact.

DenchClaw researches each company's website, finds their partner program page, and creates partner entries with relevant details.

For strategic research:

Research which CRM-adjacent tools are most commonly used by our target customers (early-stage B2B SaaS companies, 20-200 employees). Create a partner priority list based on customer overlap.

Step 4: Partner Outreach#

Partner outreach is different from sales outreach — you're proposing mutual value, not closing a transaction.

Generate outreach for 3 technology partnership targets. For each, write a first email proposing an integration + co-marketing opportunity. Keep it to 100 words. Personalize based on their product and our customer overlap.

Track partner outreach in the Partners object Status field:

After sending initial outreach, move partner status to "Exploratory". If no reply in 10 days, log a follow-up task.

Step 5: Track Active Partnerships#

For live partnerships, the most important thing is momentum — regular touchpoints, shared wins, and clear next milestones.

After every partner call:

Quarterly business review with HubSpot partnership team done. 15 referrals sent last quarter, 3 converted. They want to do a joint webinar in Q2. Next milestone: confirm webinar topic and date by March 31. Update record.

Weekly partner check:

Show me all active partners where last activity was more than 30 days ago

These are partnerships at risk of going stale. A brief check-in email keeps them warm.

Step 6: Co-Marketing Coordination#

Build a Co-Marketing object for joint initiatives:

Create a Co-Marketing object linked to Partners with:
- Initiative Name (text)
- Partner (relation to Partners)
- Type (enum: Webinar/Blog Post/Case Study/Joint Event/Co-Sell)
- Status (enum: Planned/In Progress/Live/Complete)
- Launch Date (date)
- Our Lead (text)
- Partner Lead (text)
- Goals (richtext)
- Results (richtext)
- Notes (richtext)

Track every joint initiative from initial idea to results. After completion:

The HubSpot webinar is complete. 450 attendees, 35 DenchClaw sign-ups, 8 HubSpot referrals. Log results and create a follow-up blog post as the next initiative.

Step 7: Reseller Pipeline#

For resellers, you need deal registration and revenue attribution:

Create a Reseller Deals object linked to Partners and to Customers:
- Deal Name (text)
- Reseller (relation to Partners)
- Customer (relation to Companies)
- ARR (number)
- Stage (enum: Registered/Quoted/Won/Lost)
- Registration Date (date)
- Close Date (date)
- Commission Rate (number)
- Commission Amount (number)
- Notes (richtext)

Monthly reseller analytics:

Show me reseller-sourced ARR by partner for the last 6 months as a bar chart

Which reseller has the highest close rate? Average deal size?

Step 8: Partner Health Scoring#

Create a partner health scoring action:

Add an Action field "Score Partnership Health" to Partners that evaluates:
- Activity recency (last contact within 30 days = green, 31-60 days = yellow, 60+ days = red)
- Referral or deal volume this quarter vs last quarter
- Whether co-marketing milestones are on track
- Agreement renewal within 60 days

Returns a health score 1-10 with brief explanation

Run monthly:

Score partnership health for all active partners. Show me a summary of any partners scoring below 6.

For the full DenchClaw overview, see what is DenchClaw. For managing your complete relationship network including investors and customers, see DenchClaw for founders.

Frequently Asked Questions#

Should technology partners and resellers be in the same object?#

It depends on your workflow complexity. If your processes for managing each type are similar, one object with a Type field is simpler to maintain. If they have very different fields and workflows, separate objects with cross-references make more sense.