As Don France points out, the cast of characters surrounding any decision usually perform one or more of five roles:

§         The contract signer;

§         The decision maker;

§         The recommender;

§         The evaluator; and

§         The influencer.

One person may play more than one role.  For example, the contract signer and decision maker are frequently one and the same.  On the other hand, more than one person may play a single role.  Several people may serve as recommenders or evaluators, for example.

What I find interesting in the process of thinking about the cast of characters is the difficulty in correctly identifying the recommenders and influencers.  We might suspect that an evaluator becomes a recommender – pro or con – and that likely does happen in many instances.  But there are many others who can play the role of recommender or influencer who may be only loosely associated with the business, at least in any direct manner.  For example, Don has stressed to me many times how important a spouse is in influencing a decision, even if he or she is quite detached from the business. 

The likely source of information about recommenders and influencers – perhaps the only source – is the decision maker, and whether he or she is willing to provide that information is never very clear.  But it seems to me that it is always essential to ask.  If we don’t ask the decision maker, then we have virtually no hope of understanding the task before us and the breadth of contacts we have to initiate in pursuing a business relationship.

The same holds with respect to enhancing an existing relationship.  However, if the relationship has been in place for some period of time, we should have properly identified the cast of characters and the respective roles they play.  Even so, it seems only prudent to confirm with the decision maker what we think we know.  Business alliances and relationships are subject to continuous shifts, even in very small companies.