Job titles and purchasing authority for a new contact
Example: A supplier contact has a senior title but identifies another person for approval for a price change.
Use titles for role context. Use explicit authority for the commercial decision, and get the authority decision from the approved source.
This article is from Righthand. The story and result are illustrative.
Two records with different meanings
A job title identifies a person’s role.
Purchasing authority identifies who can accept a specified commercial commitment.
The customer's situation
A supplier contact has a senior title but identifies another person for approval for a price change.
The owner gives the Righthand the identified source material and relevant contacts. A Righthand is an assistant with email, text, phone, and Slack communication. Introduction.
The request to the Righthand
Read the supplied role and approval information.
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Send the identified approver.
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Get approval before you send that person the price question.
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Send the owner the result in this conversation.
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Get approval before you change an accepted commitment.
The assistant reads the sources for their different meanings. It compares the relevant facts and sends the difference to the owner.
If the request permits contact, the assistant sends the identified question to the supplied recipient. Send the reply to the person responsible for the decision.
An illustrative result
The current contact can discuss the offer but cannot give approval for the changed amount.
The buyer permits contact with the identified approver.
Set access and authority for the actual task
Supplied source material can be sufficient for the first procedure. For direct account access, a connection with the applicable operation and Righthand access is necessary. Connections.
For an external action, identify the recipient and task. Ask uses an explicit instruction or approval. Connection tool permissions are another required control. Communications Policy.
Try the difference with one case
- Give the assistant one example of each source.
- Include a difference that affects the task.
- Compare the returned difference with both sources.
- Make sure that the test recipient receives a permitted message.
- Examine the work in Activity.
A satisfactory result must keep the difference and identify the next owner decision. It must not silently replace one source with the other.
When another approach is sufficient
A direct record or a human review can be sufficient when it gives the answer and no further conversation is necessary. A Righthand is an alternative when you want responsibility for the next information request and decision handoff.