Failure Library · authority
A helpful contact is not the same thing as decision access.
Teams often protect the relationship by continuing through the same contact. The pipeline then reports “engagement” while every meaningful decision remains somewhere else.
What to inspect
Can the contact move budget, risk and approval themselves? If not, can they reliably create access to the people who can? A contact can be enthusiastic, responsive and still unable to move the purchase.
Decision rule
Tie access to the purchase decision, not to a generic “can we meet your boss?” request. If the current contact cannot create the required access, stop treating the opportunity as decision-ready. Move it back until buyer-side ownership changes.