Ra stakeholder change detector

Stakeholder Change Detector

Monitors for stakeholder changes that could affect the customer relationship. Part of the Relationship Architecture pillar -- produces the highest-urgency signals in this pillar, particularly champion departure.

This is a detection and alerting skill. It identifies that a change happened. The CSM interprets the impact and decides the response. A champion departure detected in 48 hours instead of 4 weeks can be the difference between saving and losing the account.

When to Run

• Continuous: Monitors CRM contact updates and engagement pattern changes in real-time
• Scheduled: Weekly external scan (LinkedIn, if integration available) for role changes among key contacts
• Triggered: When a contact record changes in CRM or when an engagement pattern shifts suddenly

Core Execution Logic

Step 1: Monitor CRM-Based Signals (High Confidence)

Signal	Detection Method	Confidence	Alert Urgency
Contact deactivated	CRM contact status changed to inactive or deleted	High	Immediate if Champion or Economic Buyer; same day for others
Contact role changed	CRM title or role field updated	High	Same day -- assess whether the new role changes their influence
New contact added	New contact record created on the account	Medium	This week -- classify and assess
Contact reassigned	Contact moved to a different account or business unit	High	Same day -- equivalent to departure for this account
Ownership field changed	Account's CSM or AE field changes (internal change, but affects the customer)	High	Immediate -- triggers lo-handoff-manager

Step 2: Monitor Engagement-Based Signals (Medium Confidence)

Signal	Detection Criteria	Confidence	Possible Explanations
Sudden silence	A previously active contact (touchpoint every 2 weeks or more) has zero engagement for 30+ days	Medium	Departed, went on leave, disengaging, or simply busy. Investigate before assuming departure
Email bounce	Outbound email returns a bounce (invalid address) or auto-reply indicating departure	High	Strong departure signal. Auto-replies with "I am no longer at [company]" are definitive
Meeting delegate	A contact consistently sends a delegate to meetings they previously attended personally (2+ times)	Medium	May indicate disengagement, role change, or delegation due to seniority. Not necessarily departure
New voice emerging	A previously unknown contact begins appearing in calls, emails, or ticket interactions without introduction	Low-Medium	May indicate a replacement for someone who left, a reorg, or natural team expansion. Investigate
Response pattern change	A contact who previously responded within 24 hours now consistently takes 5+ days	Medium	May indicate disengagement, workload change, or deprioritisation of the vendor relationship

Step 3: Monitor External Signals (Variable Confidence)

If LinkedIn integration or similar service is available:

Signal	Detection Method	Confidence	Latency
Role change (same company)	LinkedIn title update showing new role at the same employer	High	1-4 weeks after actual change (people update LinkedIn on their own schedule)
Company departure	LinkedIn shows new employer	High	1-6 weeks after actual departure
New hire at customer	Person with relevant title joins the customer company	Medium	1-4 weeks after start date
Reorg signal	Multiple contacts at the same company update titles simultaneously	Medium	Indicates restructuring. May affect reporting lines and decision-making authority

Important: LinkedIn data is lagging. A champion may have left 3 weeks before updating their profile. Engagement-based signals (sudden silence, email bounce) often detect departures faster.

Step 4: Classify and Score Change Impact

For each detected change, assess the impact on the account:

Change Type	Impact Assessment Factors	Severity Range
Champion departure	Account ARR, renewal proximity, relationship breadth (single-threaded?), replacement identified?	Critical (5) if single-threaded or near renewal. High (4) if well-threaded
Economic buyer change	New buyer's disposition (known/unknown), budget cycle timing, prior relationship	High (4) if unknown disposition. Medium (3) if new buyer is already engaged
Executive sponsor departure	Strategic account? Air cover needed for budget protection?	High (4) for strategic accounts. Medium (3) for standard
Technical lead change	Active integrations or implementations in progress?	Medium (3) if active project. Low (2) if stable usage
New hire (relevant role)	Potential new champion or economic buyer? Opportunity to build relationship?	Low (1) -- opportunity signal, not risk
Reorg	Scope and relevance of restructuring to the product's stakeholder ecosystem	Variable -- depends on which roles and relationships are affected

Step 5: Generate Alert

{
  "alert_id": "sc-2026-0089",
  "account_id": "string",
  "account_name": "Acme Corp",
  "change_type": "champion_departure",
  "severity": 5,
  "contact": {
    "name": "Jane Smith",
    "previous_role": "VP Product",
    "stakeholder_type": "champion",
    "detection_method": "linkedin_role_change",
    "detection_date": "2026-03-08",
    "estimated_departure_date": "2026-02-28",
    "new_employer": "Competitor X",
    "new_role": "VP Product"
  },
  "impact_assessment": {
    "account_arr": 85000,
    "days_to_renewal": 112,
    "other_active_contacts": 2,
    "single_threaded_risk": false,
    "health_score": 72,
    "health_trend": "declining",
    "relationship_breadth": "moderate -- 2 other active contacts but no executive coverage"
  },
  "correlated_signals": [
    "Usage declining for 3 weeks (bi-usage-monitor) -- may correlate with champion departure timeline",
    "No executive sponsor engaged (ra-stakeholder-mapper)"
  ],
  "recommended_actions": [
    "Identify replacement champion or sponsor immediately",
    "Reach out to remaining active contacts to confirm continuity and assess impact",
    "Update stakeholder map in ra-stakeholder-mapper",
    "Brief CSM manager -- champion departure at a mid-sized account approaching renewal",
    "Monitor for further engagement decline in the next 14 days"
  ],
  "urgency": "immediate",
  "routed_to": ["CSM: Jane Doe", "Manager: Mike Ross"]
}

Step 6: Track Change Lifecycle

Each stakeholder change follows a lifecycle:

Status	Definition
Detected	Change signal identified
Confirmed	CSM or data source confirms the change is real (not a data error)
Impact assessed	CSM has evaluated the effect on the relationship
Response in progress	CSM is actively addressing the change (building new relationship, securing replacement)
Stabilised	New stakeholder landscape is established and relationships are active

Track time from detection to stabilisation. This measures how quickly the CS team responds to relationship disruption.

Handoff to Human

Decision Point	Context Provided	What the Human Decides
Change confirmation	Signal evidence, detection method, confidence level	Whether the change is real or a false positive. Some signals (email bounce) are definitive; others (sudden silence) need investigation
Impact assessment	Stakeholder role, account context, renewal proximity, relationship breadth	How serious this is for this specific account. A champion departure at a well-threaded account is concerning but manageable. At a single-threaded account near renewal, it is an emergency
Response strategy	Recommended actions, remaining contacts, account brief	How to respond -- who to reach out to, what to say, whether to escalate to leadership, whether executive engagement is needed
New contact engagement	New hire detection, role, account context	Whether and how to engage the new person. Timing and approach depend on the relationship with remaining contacts and the new person's likely disposition
Opportunity assessment	New hire or reorg signals	Whether a change is a threat, an opportunity, or neutral. A new CTO might be a chance to re-engage at the executive level if the previous one was unresponsive

Confidence and Limitations

• High confidence for CRM-based detection (contact deactivated, role changed) -- structured data events with defined triggers
• Medium confidence for engagement-based detection (sudden silence, meeting delegates, response delays) -- behavioural patterns have multiple possible explanations. The skill presents the signal; the CSM investigates the cause
• Low-Medium confidence for LinkedIn detection -- depends on integration availability, data freshness (people update profiles on their own schedule), and matching accuracy (common names, incomplete profiles)
• Cannot detect internal reorganisations that do not result in CRM contact record changes or LinkedIn updates. Reorgs may be invisible until their effects manifest in engagement patterns
• Cannot assess the incoming person's disposition toward the product. A new VP might be a champion or a sceptic -- the classification only becomes clear through engagement
• Cannot detect departures that happen without any digital signal (contact leaves but email remains active during notice period, LinkedIn is not updated)
• Champion departure to a competitor (as in the example above) is a double signal: loss of the champion AND potential competitive intelligence gained by the competitor

Dependencies

Required:

• CRM API (contact records, activity data, field change events)
• ra-stakeholder-mapper (stakeholder classifications and coverage context)

Strongly recommended:

• Email integration (bounce detection, auto-reply detection)
• Calendar integration (meeting delegate pattern detection)
• ra-engagement-tracker (engagement pattern baselines for silence detection)
• bi-risk-detector (champion departure feeds as a risk signal -- the highest-severity signal in the system)

Optional but high-value:

• LinkedIn integration or stakeholder monitoring service (for external detection)

Downstream consumers:

• bi-risk-detector (champion departure and executive change as risk signals)
• ra-stakeholder-mapper (triggers stakeholder map update)
• ic-internal-notifier (routes change alerts to appropriate recipients)
• lo-renewal-manager (stakeholder change near renewal amplifies renewal risk)

References

• references/change-detection-methods.md -- Detection method details, confidence calibration, and false positive reduction strategies