90 days from when?
A deadline partners can't misread has three parts: a number, a unit, and the event the count starts from.
Almost every partner guide we audit has a sentence like this one: “Registered deals are protected for 90 days.”
It looks complete. It isn’t. A partner reading it has to guess two things. Are those calendar days or business days? And 90 days from what: the day they submit the registration, the day you approve it, or the day the opportunity was created in your system?
Each guess moves the deadline by weeks. When a second partner registers the same deal on day 95, both of them will be sure they’re right.
The three parts
A deadline partners can’t misread has three parts:
- A number: 90.
- A unit: calendar days or business days.
- A start: the event the count begins from.
| Reads two ways | Reads one way |
|---|---|
| Deals are protected for 90 days. | Deals are protected for 90 calendar days from the day we approve the registration. |
| Submit claims within 45 days. | Submit claims within 45 calendar days after the activity ends. |
| Partners have 30 to cure. | Partners have 30 calendar days to fix a breach, counted from the day we send notice. |
The longer versions are only a few words longer, and each removes a question your partner team would otherwise answer every week.
Why it matters more now
Partners used to read your guide once and then ask their partner manager. Now many of them ask software first: a search assistant, or the AI tool built into their own CRM. That software has to pick one reading of “90 days”, and it will state its pick with confidence. If the guide doesn’t say which reading you meant, you’ll find out from a dispute.
A quick check
Search your guide for “days”, “weeks”, “within” and “after”. For every hit, ask:
- Does it say calendar or business?
- Does it name the event the count starts from?
- Does the FAQ give the same number?
If any answer is no, that’s the sentence to rewrite first.