Deal Mapping glossary
The partnership and deal words people use loosely, defined plainly — and framed the way a Deal Map treats them.
The short answer
These are the terms that come up when two businesses talk about working together — strategic partner, referral, distribution, joint venture, licensing, revenue share, affiliate. Most get used loosely, which is how deals end up mismatched. Each one below is defined in plain language, and read the way Deal Mapping reads it: the structure is the result of the fit, not the starting point.
You don’t need to memorise any of this. The point of naming a deal type is to be honest about how deep it goes and what each side is really signing up for. Pick the lightest structure that makes the fit work, then earn the right to something bigger.
Map the fit first. The name of the deal comes after.
Core Deal Mapping terms
- Deal Mapping
- Deal Mapping is figuring out what side of a deal you already have, what is missing, who already has it, and whether there is a useful deal worth building between you. Instead of building the piece you lack, you find the business that already has it and test one small deal first.
- Your side
- The half of a deal you already own and could put to better use — an audience, a proven product, spare capacity, or a relationship people trust. On its own it does a fraction of what it could.
- The other side
- The missing business piece that would make your side more useful — the buyers, the offer, the distribution, the demand, or the reason to work together. Someone else usually already has it.
- Deal Map
- The tangible result of mapping. It names your side, the missing side, who already holds it, why they would care, and the first useful move — so you approach one company with a reason, not fifty without one.
- The Give
- The reason the other side would actually want the conversation. A deal only holds when both sides get something they want, so naming what is in it for them comes before any pitch.
Types of deals
- Strategic partnership
- A working arrangement between two independent businesses where each brings a side the other is missing, and both are better off for it. No new company is formed — it is a commercial deal, not shared ownership.
- Referral partner
- A business that sends you interested people and lets you close and deliver, usually for a fee or commission on what turns into business. The lightest deal to test, because nobody has to change how they operate.
- Distribution partner
- A business that actively sells or carries your product to its own buyers, taking on part of the selling itself. That is a deeper deal than a referral, where a partner only points people your way.
- Reseller
- A partner who buys your product and sells it on to their customers, often under their own account and pricing. You get reach; they get margin and a product they did not have to build.
- Joint venture
- A deal where two businesses form a shared arrangement — sometimes a new legal entity — to pursue one specific venture, sharing the cost, the risk, and the reward. Heavier than most partnerships and worth it only when the prize is big enough.
- Licensing deal
- You let another business use something you own — a product, a method, a brand, or a piece of intellectual property — in exchange for a fee or a share of what it earns. They already have the buyers; you already have the thing worth selling.
- Sponsorship
- A company pays for access to an audience or event that already trusts someone else. It works when the audience genuinely fits what the sponsor is trying to reach, and falls flat when it does not.
- Partnership marketing
- Also called co-marketing. Two businesses build a genuine offer or recommendation together, so each borrows the trust the other has already earned. Different from an affiliate link, because both sides care about more than the commission.
- Channel partner
- A business that becomes an ongoing route to market for your product — reselling or bundling it as part of how they normally sell. The word describes the role in your distribution, not a single one-off deal.
- Preferred partner
- The business a company points its customers to first for something it does not offer itself. Less formal than a contract, but valuable, because the recommendation carries that company’s trust.
Terms people mix up
- Affiliate
- Someone who earns a cut for sending sales your way through a tracked link. It is transactional by design — the relationship is the payout. A partner, by contrast, has a reason to care about the outcome beyond the commission.
- Partner
- A business with a genuine stake in a deal working — because it brings a side you were missing and gets something it wanted in return. The looser the stake, the closer it sits to an affiliate; the deeper it goes, the more it looks like a joint venture.
How to read which deal you’re in
Say you run a busy physio clinic and a local running store keeps sending you injured runners. Right now that’s a referral: they point people your way and you treat them. If you started running a monthly injury-prevention clinic inside their store, with both names on it, you’d have drifted into partnership marketing. And if the two of you opened a shared recovery studio together, with joint money and a joint name, that would be a joint venture.
Same two businesses, three different deals — each one deeper than the last. Naming where you actually are keeps everyone honest about what’s being promised, and about what it would take to go further.
How to pick the right deal type
- 1
Start from the fit, not the label
Name your side and the side you are missing before you reach for a word like “joint venture” or “distribution.” The right structure falls out of the fit.
- 2
Reach for the lightest deal that works
A referral or a small test offer proves whether anything real is here, without asking either side to commit before they should.
- 3
Deepen only when the results earn it
Move to distribution or shared ownership when the light version keeps hitting a ceiling that only more commitment could lift.
- 4
Match the paperwork to the reality
The more you pool money and risk, the more the agreement matters. A handshake fits a referral; shared ownership needs proper legal help.
Questions people ask
Which deal type should I start with?
What is the difference between a partner and an affiliate?
Do I need to pick the deal type before I reach out?
Keep going
What is Deal Mapping?
The whole idea in one page: your side, the other side, and the first move.
Strategic partnerships
How to find partnership deals that already make sense for both sides.
Written by Greg Courtepatte
Deal Mapper in Alberta. I find the missing side of a deal and help get it moving. LinkedIn