Tool Gate · How it works
How the Rep & Distributor Scorecard gate works
How the Rep & Distributor Scorecard rolls up 5 channel partners on margin-per-hour and self-generated share: a dead-slot gate forces CHANNEL ON PAPER when a partner coasts on house accounts — which is how a healthy blended margin still reads CHANNEL ON PAPER.
How the gate works
This tool grades channel partners on margin per support hour and self-sourced new-account share. It reads 5 partners and rolls them into one verdict — the worst, never the average — and then a gate that can only make it worse.
The 5 partners
| Partner | Verdict |
|---|---|
| Ridgeline Reps | CARRYING THE LINE$629/hr margin - 89% self-sourced new accounts |
| Summit Distribution | PULLING THEIR WEIGHT$246/hr margin - 0% self-sourced (order-taker on your leads) |
| Delta Channel Partners | CARRYING THE LINE$712/hr margin - 86% self-sourced new accounts |
| Keystone Supply Cofix first | DEAD WEIGHT$130/hr margin - 0 new accounts, coasting on the name |
| Vantage Sales Group | CARRYING THE LINE$467/hr margin - 80% self-sourced new accounts |
The verdict bands
A material partner (at least 3% of channel revenue) graded DEAD WEIGHT (margin per support hour under $150) AND COASTING ON THE NAME (zero self-sourced new accounts) forces the whole channel verdict to CHANNEL ON PAPER, no matter how the blended number reads.
In the worked sample it reads CHANNEL ON PAPER — Five of six partners clear the 3% materiality floor. Blended, they earn $322 in margin per support hour - SLOTS TO RECLAIM territory. But Keystone Supply Co is 27% of channel revenue, DEAD WEIGHT at $130/hr, and has opened zero self-sourced new accounts in the period - a margin share paid on a book you already own. The dead-slot gate overrides the blended read and forces CHANNEL ON PAPER. Marked fix first on this sample: Keystone Supply Co - give it self-sourced new accounts and watch the gate clear.
Common questions
Can every partner look survivable on the Rep & Distributor gate and the company still read CHANNEL ON PAPER?
Yes. The roll-up takes the worst of 5 partners — never the average — then a worsen-only gate, the Dead-slot gate gate, escalates when trouble clusters. In the worked sample it reads CHANNEL ON PAPER because five of six partners clear the 3% materiality floor. Blended, they earn $322 in margin per support hour - SLOTS TO RECLAIM territory. But Keystone Supply Co is 27% of channel revenue, DEAD WEIGHT at $130/hr, and has opened zero self-sourced new accounts in the period - a margin share paid on a book you already own. The dead-slot gate overrides the blended read and forces CHANNEL ON PAPER.
What is a worsen-only gate?
A rule that can only lower a verdict, never raise it. One gate-triggering gap overrides an otherwise-set of survivable lines, because a single gate-triggering gap shouldn't hide behind an average of the healthy ones. Where something is short, the fix-first row names it — here, "Keystone Supply Co - give it self-sourced new accounts and watch the gate clear.".
Grades partner data you enter, not commission agreements or contracts - nothing here reviews or interprets a distributor agreement.
Embed this diagram
Free to share and embed with attribution (CC BY 4.0) — keep the link to redhub.ai.
Interactive — renders the live diagram
<iframe src="https://redhub.ai/visuals/tool/rep-and-distributor-scorecard.html" title="How the Rep & Distributor Scorecard gate works — RedHub AI" width="760" height="1785" loading="lazy" style="border:0;width:100%;max-width:760px"></iframe>
<p style="font:14px/1.5 system-ui,sans-serif"><a href="https://redhub.ai/visuals/tool/rep-and-distributor-scorecard">How the Rep & Distributor Scorecard gate works</a> — by <a href="https://redhub.ai">RedHub AI</a>, the AI that tells you when to doubt it.</p>Image + link — a static picture for any blog
<a href="https://redhub.ai/visuals/tool/rep-and-distributor-scorecard"><img src="https://redhub.ai/visuals/tool/rep-and-distributor-scorecard-share.png" alt="Diagram of the Rep & Distributor Scorecard: five channel partners rolled up to the worst, a dead-slot gate, and the channel reading CHANNEL ON PAPER." width="760" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%;height:auto;border-radius:16px"></a>
<p style="font:14px/1.5 system-ui,sans-serif"><a href="https://redhub.ai">RedHub AI</a> — the AI that tells you when to doubt it.</p>
This is how Rep & Distributor Scorecard works. More diagrams in the Visual Field Guide.