This template is part of the special pricing agreement exceptions hub. Gather answers with the system map, confirm the signer with the who-can-license answer, and write them down here.
The blank handoff: nine lines
Copy the block, fill each line, and write "unknown" where nobody knows yet. Numbers are estimates unless someone ran a report.
Subject: Special pricing history at [distributor]: referral brief
1. Company: [full-time headcount at peak], [country], [branches or distribution centers], [years operating] 2. What the history shows: [requesting supplier special prices for named projects, applying them to orders, claiming them back, handling rejections] 3. Systems: [CPQ or quoting tool], [ERP], [supplier claim portals or claim file], [where approval letters are kept] 4. Years of history: [approvals from year to year], [claims from year to year], [where coverage changes] 5. Volumes (estimates): [approvals per year], [claims per year], [rejections per year] 6. Original dates: [whether approval dates as originally approved survived earlier price reloads: yes, partly, unknown] 7. Supplier terms: [whether supplier program agreements may restrict disclosure: to confirm with counsel] 8. Access deadline: [documented date and its source, or "none"] 9. Who can say yes: [the CEO], [co-signer], sponsor [role]
Not included: no quotes, approval letters, prices, supplier names, customer names, exports or logins.
Answering each line from a report, not a record
Every line can be answered from memory, a project plan or a standard report. If an answer needs someone to open quotes or letters, it is too detailed for the brief.
| Line | Answer from | Good entry | Too much |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Company | The director, or the company website | "About 360 staff at peak, U.S., 14 branches, since 1987" | Revenue, margins |
| 2. What it shows | The director's own description | One sentence | Process maps |
| 3. Systems | IT or the CPQ owner | Tool names as text, "retiring" where true | URLs, account IDs |
| 4. Years | System go-live dates | "Approvals since 2018; claims since 2020" | Unverified claims of "all history" |
| 5. Volumes | An existing claims or rebate report | "About 3,000 approvals a year" | A count run by opening records |
| 6. Original dates | ERP owner and pricing director | "Partly: a 2022 reload adjusted some" | Sample records |
| 7. Supplier terms | Counsel, later | "To confirm" | Clauses quoted from agreements |
| 8. Deadline | License, project plan, portal terms | "CPQ license ends March 31, per the renewal notice" | "Soon" |
| 9. Who can say yes | The director, then the CEO | "CEO with counsel; pricing director sponsors" | A CPQ administrator as signer |
Line 6 exists because pricing engines can change stored dates without anyone noticing. SAP's documentation says a new condition record may partially overlap an existing one, such as a special price valid for one month, and a partial overlap adjusts the older record's validity without a message. Dynamics 365 sales trade agreement price lines carry a From date and a To date that later agreements can overlap. An honest "partly" or "unknown" on line 6 is more useful than an assumed "yes", because the original dates are what explain why a supplier paid or refused a claim.
SAPFilled in for a fictional distributor (Illustrative)
Illustrative and fictional: a pipe, valve and fittings distributor invented to show a finished brief. It is not a real company, a forecast or a deal.
Subject: Special pricing history at a PVF distributor: referral brief (Illustrative)
1. Company: about 360 full-time staff at peak, United States, 14 branches and two distribution centers, operating since 1987 2. What the history shows: requesting supplier special prices for named plant and contractor projects, applying them to orders, claiming the difference back, and reworking rejected claims 3. Systems: a CPQ tool adopted in 2018; the ERP; about a dozen supplier claim portals plus emailed claim files; approval letters in a shared folder by supplier 4. Years of history: approvals since 2018 in the CPQ tool; ERP order lines with approval references since 2016; claims history varies by portal 5. Volumes (estimates): about 3,000 approvals a year; about 11,000 claims a year; several hundred rejections a year, from the rebate team's report 6. Original dates: partly; a 2022 price reload adjusted the stored dates on some older conditions, while letters keep the originals 7. Supplier terms: to confirm with counsel; several program agreements include confidentiality clauses 8. Access deadline: the CPQ tool is being replaced; the license end date is in the signed renewal notice, which the company will confirm 9. Who can say yes: CEO with general counsel; pricing director as sponsor
Not included: no quotes, approval letters, prices, supplier names, customer names, exports or logins.
How an executive reads it: the order and approval history is long and keyed, the claim side is uneven by supplier, the dates are partly reshaped but recoverable from letters, and supplier terms need a lawyer. That is a fair picture to take into a first meeting, and it matches what SourceX's review would test.
The two flags this brief must carry
Most of the brief is description. Two lines are flags, and they should never be dropped to make the brief look cleaner.
The dates flag (line 6). The exception that makes special pricing history useful, an expired or mismatched approval reaching an order, can only be shown if the dates in force on the order date are known. If a transformation is coming, the preservation timeline explains what to inventory before the reload.
The supplier flag (line 7). Special prices and approval letters sit under supplier program agreements. Writing "to confirm" tells the executive that counsel will be involved early and that nothing will leave the company before rights are reviewed.
Before you send it
- The pricing director has read the brief and agrees every value is theirs.
- The company appears to meet the baseline: 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded), documented operating history, rights to license and an authorized contact. Companies in the U.S., Canada and the EU qualify, as do companies in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore, South Africa, Latin America, the UAE and Saudi Arabia when at least 90% of the data is in English.
- The "Not included" line is intact, and no supplier or customer can be identified from lines 1 to 9.
- You have signed the Channel Partner Agreement. Credit goes to the first valid introduction within the 90-day window, credited when the company submits a verified application.
- Nothing implies an outcome. Buyer interest, supplier consent, the rights review result and any offer stay unknown until SourceX reviews the records with the company.
The warm introduction brief covers how to disclose your referral relationship, and whether an introduction can hurt the client relationship covers how to raise it. The client opportunity brief generator drafts similar briefs for other workflows, and specialty distribution gives sector context.
Next step
Refer a company. Earn up to $100,000. Default reward: 25% of Actual Supplier Payout, capped at $100,000 cumulatively per referred company. Eligibility and payment conditions apply, and a signed Schedule A or addendum can differ. A lead, meeting or signature alone does not trigger payment.
When all nine lines are filled and the executive on line 9 has agreed to talk, register as a partner, check the distributor against who qualifies, read the program terms, and send the brief with your introduction.