Individual
Framework
Free
Multi-Threading Discovery Framework
A structured framework for mapping and qualifying every stakeholder in a deal, not just the friendly contact who took your call, so you stop finding out about the real decision-maker after you've already lost to them.
How to use it
Fill in the stakeholder map as you identify each of the 6 roles, score each person on the Influence × Support grid, and use the get-introduced script the first time you need to move from your original contact to someone new.
What's inside
- The 6-role stakeholder map with what each role cares about
- Discovery questions that surface each role
- The Influence × Support scoring matrix
- The stakeholder map template
- Multi-threading trigger points
- Red flags indicating single-threading risk
- Get-introduced script for reaching new stakeholders
The Problem This Solves
Single-threaded deals: where your only relationship is with one friendly, engaged contact, are the single biggest predictor of a stalled or lost complex deal. The contact who took your call is rarely the only person with a vote.
Step 1: Map the 6 Roles
| Role | What They Care About |
|---|---|
| Economic Buyer | ROI, budget risk, strategic fit |
| Champion | Looking good internally for backing this, solving the pain they personally feel |
| Technical Evaluator | Integration risk, security, maintainability |
| End User | Daily friction, learning curve, whether it makes their job harder or easier |
| Procurement/Legal | Contract risk, vendor terms, compliance |
| Influencer/Skeptic | Being right, protecting the org from a bad decision (or advancing their own agenda) |
Step 2: Discovery Questions That Surface Each Role
- "Besides you, who else would need to sign off before this could move forward?" (Economic Buyer + Procurement)
- "Who on the technical side would need to weigh in on something like this?" (Technical Evaluator)
- "Who's actually going to be using this day to day?" (End User)
- "Has anyone tried to bring in something like this before, what happened?" (Influencer/Skeptic history)
- "When something like this has been approved before, who's typically in the room?" (whole committee, indirectly)
- "Who would be the hardest person in the building to convince?" (Skeptic, directly)
Step 3, Score Every Stakeholder: Influence × Support
Plot each identified stakeholder:
- Influence: High / Medium / Low, how much their opinion moves the final decision
- Support: Champion / Neutral / Skeptic / Blocker
Priority order for your time:
- High Influence + Skeptic/Blocker → address directly and early, don't avoid
- High Influence + Neutral → invest the most discovery time here
- High Influence + Champion → arm them with what they need to sell internally
- Low Influence + any → maintain lightweight touch, don't over-invest
Step 4, Stakeholder Map Template
| Name | Role (1-6) | Influence | Support | What They Care About | Last Direct Contact | Next Action | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Step 5, Multi-Threading Trigger Points (force a new thread when...)
- Deal has been "in discovery" more than 30 days with only one named contact
- Your single contact can't answer a budget or process question ("I'll have to check")
- Deal size crosses a threshold that structurally requires committee approval
- Your contact goes quiet for more than 5 business days at Proposal stage or later
Red Flags Indicating Single-Threading Risk
- You've never had a live call with anyone above your contact's level
- Your contact answers "I think so" more than once to a budget/authority/timeline question
- No one else has been copied on email or attended a call in 3+ weeks
- Your contact discourages you from reaching out to others ("Let me handle that internally")
Get-Introduced Script
Through your champion:
"[Champion name], to make sure this lands well with [target stakeholder], would it make sense to loop them in directly: a quick three-way call, or I can send something short they can review on their own time? Whichever's easier for you."
Direct outreach once introduced (or independently):
"Hi [Name], [Champion] suggested I loop you in given your role in [function]. I don't want to waste your time repeating everything from scratch: happy to send a 2-minute summary of where things stand, or grab 15 minutes if that's easier. What's more useful for you?"