| name | channel-economics |
| description | Use when reviewing or rebalancing direct vs. partner-led channel economics — computing fully-loaded cost-to-serve per channel, channel ROI with cash / LTV / marginal lenses, and optimal channel mix subject to constraints. For Head of Commercial, RevOps, and VP Sales doing quarterly channel review when pipeline is mixed (e.g., 60% direct + 40% partner-led) and nobody actually knows which channel makes money after CAC, support load, partner discount, deal-velocity differences, retention differential, and overhead allocation are all loaded in. Outputs cost to serve, channel ROI verdicts (DOUBLE-DOWN / MAINTAIN / DEFUND / EXIT), a sensitivity-tested channel-mix recommendation, and the diminishing-returns inflection (e.g., 'which channel actually makes money — direct or partner?'). |
| version | 2.8.0 |
| author | claude-code-skills |
| license | MIT |
| tags | ["commercial","channel-economics","cost-to-serve","channel-mix","channel-roi","direct-vs-partner","unit-economics"] |
| compatible_tools | ["claude-code","codex-cli","cursor","antigravity","opencode","gemini-cli"] |
channel-economics
Purpose
Help Head of Commercial / RevOps / VP Sales answer three questions at the quarterly channel review:
- What does each channel actually cost to serve, fully loaded? (direct headcount, channel manager attribution, partner discount, MDF, enablement time, support load, allocated overhead)
- What is the ROI of each channel under three lenses? (cash ROI year-1, LTV-adjusted ROI, marginal ROI — next dollar of investment)
- What is the optimal channel mix subject to our strategic constraints? (minimum direct floor, maximum partner concentration ceiling, sensitivity to CAC shifts)
The skill emits per-channel verdicts (DOUBLE-DOWN / MAINTAIN / DEFUND / EXIT), a sensitivity-tested mix recommendation, and the diminishing-returns inflection point. It does not pick the strategy — humans do, with the numbers loaded honestly for the first time.
When to use
- Quarterly channel review: pipeline is 60/40 or 50/50 direct vs partner and you don't actually know which one is profitable
- Considering hiring a channel manager — need to know if the channel can clear the loaded-cost bar
- Partner program ROI question from the board ("we spent $X on MDF — what did we get?")
- A segment is over-indexed to one channel and you suspect mix dogma is blocking the other
- About to expand into a new region and need to decide direct-first vs partner-first
- M&A diligence: target company claims "partner-led at 70% gross margin" — need to validate after loading
Do not use for:
- Designing partner tiers, joint GTM motion, revshare splits →
partnerships-architect
- SDR-to-AE routing, lead scoring, MQL definitions →
business-growth/revenue-operations
- Strategic CRO decisions ("should we hire a VP Sales?", comp plan design) →
c-level-advisor/cro-advisor
- Quarterly close, GAAP revenue recognition, channel-level P&L for historical reporting →
finance/financial-analysis
- Per-deal discount approval →
deal-desk
- Pricing model design →
pricing-strategist
Workflow
Step 1 — Intake channel data
Fill assets/channel_data_template.md (≈ 20 min). Capture per channel: deal count TTM, ARR TTM, avg deal size, gross margin %, CAC, sales-cycle days, retention rate, expansion rate, partner discount %, all attributable costs (SDR / AE / SE / channel manager / CS / support / marketing / partner MDF / tooling / overhead allocation %).
