Stakeholder research before discovery
The same business situation can create different decisions for Commercial, Operations, Finance or systems roles. Stakeholder research therefore focuses on role responsibilities and decision context.
Role and responsibility
Name, tenure and career history matter only when they change the interpretation of the conversation. Start with the role: which outcomes does this stakeholder own, what decisions sit with them and which functions do they depend on?
Business context is relevant when it affects what the stakeholder must decide, see or coordinate.
If a company runs both referral and outbound sales, Commercial, Operations and Finance may each depend on different information and handoffs. This may result from recent change or from an established operating model. The research therefore develops separate decision hypotheses for the relevant roles.
Known and unknown stakeholders
Stakeholder known: test which parts of the current business situation affect decisions that sit with that role, including recent changes where they are material.
If the stakeholder is not yet decided, the research identifies the functions affected and the roles that may need representation in discovery. Contact sourcing is outside scope.
Use of professional information
For pre-call research, role-related professional information should be used only where it materially affects the business hypothesis. Private-life information, sensitive categories and irrelevant personal detail have no place in the brief.
Qualification limits of public role data
Research can show that a role appears responsible for a decision within the current business situation. Actual economic authority, influence and Champion behaviour are opportunity facts that have to be established through interaction.
Related topics
Research for one upcoming client conversation.
The brief prepares account context, areas worth testing and questions for client validation. Delivery is within two working days.