READ ON PHILHSC.COM | READ TIME: 5 MINUTES | 16 JULY, 2025

Welcome to Partnership Wednesday #103 featuring ideas you can use to create partnerships faster, with less guesswork, and confidently close 6-figure deals.

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A LESSON TO BUILD ON

In 2019 Bayer, one of the world’s largest agricultural science companies, partnered with Planet Labs, a leader in daily satellite imagery. Together, they embedded real-time crop monitoring into Bayer’s digital platform, FieldView, across 170M+ acres. Daily images gave farmers early crop stress alerts, optimised input use, and improved yields. Bayer sped up seed R&D and secured global supply chains.

In June 2022, Planet Lab announced an expanded strategic relationship with Bayer, adding products to support sustainable agriculture and optimise seed production on a large scale.

Leadership Lesson: Don’t build the future alone. Embed it and partner upstream to add value downstream.

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AN ANSWER TO HELP YOU MOVE FASTER

How do I make it easier for my internal champion to help me close our partnership deal? I was asked this question from the crowd this week. Here’s my answer:

When pitching a partnership, you’re not selling to one person. You’re equipping a champion to sell it internally and when you’re not in the room.

Building that internal momentum requires tools, language, and structure (not just excitement).

Use these four approaches to arm your champion with what they need to help you close the deal.

1. Intent Deck (Turn Interest Into Internal Alignment)

Goal: Help your advocate articulate the strategic why, shared intent, and clear path to trust so they can secure buy-in.

Tool: The Intent Deck, a 5-slide co-created deck that sets vision, builds trust, and outlines next steps.

Structure:

• Slide 1: Who We Are – Your edge, values, and why now
• Slide 2: Why This Partnership Makes Sense – Shared opportunity + 2 benefits per partner
• Slide 3: Collaboration Principles – How you'll work together, not just what you’ll do
• Slide 4: Three Steps to Build Trust – Specific actions to earn confidence early
• Slide 5: Next Steps – Project plan + First Win in 6 months

Why it Works: When most executives get pitched a partnership they don’t see enough clarity to say “yes.” The Intent Deck provides a level of clarity and conviction to take the next step because it helps your advocate tell the right story the right way.

We cover this tool set extensively in The Partnership Lab.

2. Narrative Brief (Give Them the Right Words)

Goal: Equip your champion to confidently explain the deal in hallway conversations, steering committees, and quick updates without losing your message.

Tool: A 1-page Narrative Brief answering the 5 most likely internal questions.

Tactics:

• What’s in it for us? (Use metrics, not marketing)
• What’s it going to cost us? (Time, people, risk not only financial investment)
• Why now? (Connect to strategic priorities or industry shifts)
• Why this partner? (Signal trust, credibility, aligned values)
• What happens if we don’t act? (The risk of inaction)

Why it Works: Champions use their language to pitch your value. This tool lets them speak from their own voice while keeping your message sharp, strategic, and repeatable.

3. Side Door Memo (Preempt Internal Objections)

Goal: Help your advocate navigate informal resistance .

Tool: A confidential Side Door Memo that arms your advocate to respond to objections with maturity and clarity.

Tactics:

• List 3 likely objections + smart responses (e.g. brand risk, timing, complexity)
• Show what’s flexible vs. fixed (your “dealbreakers” vs. negotables)
• Include external proof: similar case studies, testimonials, or sector analogues
• Address political landmines: “This isn’t like [past failed initiative] because…”

Why it Works: It gives your champion the confidence to coach colleagues, not just carry your message.

4. Decision Pack (Make the Internal Ask Easy)

Goal: Give your champion a frictionless way to get decision-maker approval without rewriting your value prop.

Tool: A forwardable email with everything needed to green-light next steps.

Tactics:

• 3-sentence summary:
  → What we’re asking for
  → Why it matters now
  → How success will be measured
• Attach the Intent Deck and Narrative Brief
• Include a link to book a joint alignment call
• Add a “Next Best Alternative” to show maturity and calm nerves

Why it Works: Don’t force your champion to write the pitch again. Great partners write the email they’d send to their boss and then hand it to them.

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Did this help? If YES, leave a testimonial, it’s the best way you can help my work.

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THIS WEEK'S MOMENT (Insight for your commute)

What if Apple’s rebirth didn’t start with Steve Jobs but with a factory swap in Singapore?

In this 8-minute episode:

• How to identify what to outsource, not by failure, but by strategic irrelevance
• How to create proximity in partnerships that drives speed, trust, and results
• How to design partnerships that scale with you without becoming a liability

Get every episode of the Partnership Playbook on your next commute or workout. Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Youtube!

KNOW PEOPLE WHO FEEL STUCK?

Share this issue via text, social media, or email by copying and pasting this link:

​https://philhsc.com/partnership/16-july-2025​

See you next Wednesday,

Phil Hayes-St Clair, Business Partnerships Expert & Coach

​Find me on LinkedIn or Book a 1:1 Call​

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