Relationship Attributes for a Contact

On a contact's card on a relationship map, four attributes are available to be set:

Political Status
Buying Role (opportunity relationship maps only)
Decision Orientation (account relationship maps only)
Support
Coverage

The following tables describe the options available for each attribute. Also provided below are the decision trees that are applied when you choose the Help me select option (highlighted below) via the contact's information panel.

Political Status

Outside Political Structure

A typical outside-political-structure contact:

doesn't own initiatives
can't answer strategic questions
may have a relatively junior job title
is delegated tasks on a project

A person outside the political structure "watches and wonders what happened".

Political Structure

This indicates a person with influence who is trusted by the inner circle to "makes things happen".

A typical contact inside the political structure:

owns initiatives
has a job title that reflects that they are an insider
has a path to influence

The number of buyers with this political status is usually correlated with the complexity and the size of the opportunity.

You typically have two to five political-structure contacts per opportunity. Political-structure contacts are key players.

Inner Circle

This indicates a person who "controls outcomes". You may see them mentioned in the company's annual report or in the press.

Inner-circle people have influence and decide what will happen in the organization. They typically own the company's 'macro' goals.

On an opportunity relationship map, the deal's approver is often at the top of the inner circle. This is the person who approves and funds projects and initiatives. A second inner-circle contact has the approver’s ear when they're deciding which projects to approve.

Inner-circle contacts are key players.

The number of inner-circle contacts is usually correlated with the complexity and size of the account or opportunity.

You typically have two to three inner-circle contacts per opportunity.

Buying Role (opportunity relationship maps only)

The Buying Role Buying Role is a relationship attribute for contacts on an opportunity relationship map. The default options shipped with Opportunity Manager are: 'User', 'Evaluator', 'Decision Maker', and 'Approver'. Additional roles can be created, if necessary, but the software only uses the default values for scoring calculations. attribute is specific to opportunity relationship maps.

In addition to the buying roles in the table below, your org can be configured to include additional buying roles.

Decision Maker and Approver	This attribute indicates someone who has the characteristics of both a decision-maker and an approver (see below).
Decision Maker	This attribute indicates someone who has the ability to commit the company to a vendor or to a certain strategic direction. They have accountability for selecting the solution. They typically write the necessary requirements. A decision maker is always in the political structure or inner circle. They can't be outside the political structure.
Approver	This attribute indicates someone at senior level who has the ultimate accountability for success of the project. They review the decision, give it their blessing, and typically release the funds. In large organizations, there may be multiple levels of approvers with dollar thresholds that delineate their approval responsibility – these individuals are not the ultimate approver. You need to have the ultimate approver on your map. (If a buyer can say "no" and over turn a decision-maker's decision, they are an approver.) The approver is at the top of the map, and is in the inner circle.
Evaluator	This attribute indicates someone who has the ability to say "No" to the buying decision, but can’t say "Yes". The best an evaluator can do for you is to recommend your solution. Evaluators can block the competition or block you. Evaluators are formally assigned to the customer's evaluation project for your opportunity. They evaluate and accept based on defined standards, such as: Do you meet the RFP requirements? Have you met the defined criteria? Do you operate within our standards (such as Six Sigma)/company policy/business practices?
User	This attribute indicates someone who will directly use your product or service or solution.

Decision Orientation (account relationship maps only)

The Decision Orientation Decision Orientation is a relationship attribute for contacts on an account relationship map. It indicates what will influence the contact's decision-making process. The default values aailable for this attribute are: 'Financial', 'Technical', 'Relationship', and 'Business'. attribute is specific to account relationship maps. It indicates what will influence the contact's decision-making process.

Technical	This person’s primary focus is product functionality and technical capability. They are often analytical and detail-oriented. Product demonstrations, benchmarks, and careful deliberation will be key.
Financial	This person’s primary focus is price, cost, and economics. While your product must be viable, numbers and negotiations will be key.
Relationship	This person believes they are forming a business partnership, and their focus is on the people and company that will be serving their organization. While your product must be viable, support, trust, effort, and responsiveness will be key.
Business	This person sees the big picture and overall impacts your product or solution will have on their company’s present and future. This person can properly balance the technical, financial, and relationship issues. Their vision often extends beyond their company to include their clients, their competition, and their community. Industry knowledge and articulating business versus product value will be key.

Support

This indicates the level of support you currently get from the contact.

Mentor	A mentor is someone who prefers your solution and advocates for it in your absence. They believe that your success is critical to their success. A typical mentor may: share information with you give positive feedback about your offering give you access to other contacts tell you how you can win Compared to a supporter, there is a personal dimension to your relationship with them.
Supporter	A supporter openly prefers your solution. They support you verbally with others. Compared to a mentor, they don't advocate for your offering in your absence, and there isn't the same personal dimension to the relationship. A typical supporter may: share information with you give positive feedback about your offering give you access to other contacts
Neutral	A neutral contact typically doesn't provide any feedback about your offering when asked. They may seem disengaged or indifferent to it, or say that they "don't know".
Non-Supporter	A non-supporter typically has a historical preference for: a competitor's offering business as usual another project meeting the goal through an internal initiative
Enemy	An Enemy may: openly state that they oppose your winning the deal withhold information, or even provide misinformation fail to attend meetings with you, or leave them early Compared to a non-supporter, there is an added personal element to your relationship with an enemy. Typically, an enemy is a competitor’s mentor.

Coverage

This is a measure of the time or number of contacts you've had with the contact, relative to the total time and degree of contact you've had with everyone on the relationship map.

In Depth	In-depth coverage of the person relative to your total coverage of the opportunity.
Multiple Contacts	Multiple points of contact have been made with the person.
Brief Contact	Brief contact of the person relative to your total level of contact for the opportunity or account.
No Contact	No contact with this person yet.