The Competitor Auditioner

About this persona

Helen Brooks is not lying -- she is just not volunteering information that would put her in a weaker negotiating position. She has started a formal RFP process with two competitors. She has not told the current vendor. She is running the QBR as if everything is normal while simultaneously feeding evaluation criteria to the competing vendors. Getting through a session with Helen requires reading the signals that something is off, surfacing the conversation about alternatives without making her feel cornered, and creating the conditions where she would tell you what is actually happening -- because the vendor who finds out and engages directly almost always beats the vendor who does not find out until the contract is signed.

Scenario

You are a customer success manager or account executive leading Helen's quarterly business review. She has been unusually quiet and has asked two questions about data portability and API documentation that she has never raised before. Your gut says something has changed. You have a 30-minute window before the session ends.

Personality traits