This decision tree is part of the first-visit failure recovery guide. Its job is narrower: helping a field service software partner, who often knows the platform better than anyone at the client, work out whose yes counts.
The tree: five branch points from the work order to the signer
Climb the tree from the records upward. At each branch point, the answer either moves you closer to the signer or sends a side branch to counsel.
- Who can export the records? Dispatchers, the field service platform admin, often the implementation partner. Branch: dead end for authority. They answer how far back history goes and how callbacks were logged, which matters because platform settings shape the records: in Dynamics 365 Field Service an administrator can turn off "Status completes work order" so follow-up work keeps the job open, and in Salesforce field history is turned on per object and, without Field Audit Trail, kept for up to 18 months. Those are configuration powers, not ownership.
- Who knows the callbacks? The service director, or the VP of service operations. Branch: sponsor. They know which callbacks were misdiagnoses, which years supervisors recoded jobs, and where parts history lives.
- Who runs operations across service and stock? The COO. Branch: supporter. Parts history sits with operations or finance, so the COO usually has to back the discussion for the inventory side to be included.
- Do contracts or personal data limit use? Usually some do. Branch: amber, to general counsel. See the three amber questions below.
- Who approves new uses of company data? The CEO, usually the owner in a founder-led business. Branch: signer. This is who you introduce, with the service director and counsel alongside.
SalesforceWhether a board also needs to approve is a separate question, covered in does licensing data require board approval.
Who holds what, and who can decide
| Role | Holds or knows | Can authorize a licensing discussion? |
|---|---|---|
| Technician | Their own notes and photos | No |
| Dispatcher or service desk | Callback calls, scheduling history | No |
| Field service platform admin or implementation partner | Configuration, exports, history settings | No; technical access only |
| Inventory or ERP owner | Parts consumed, stock movements, returns | No; supplies coverage facts |
| Service director | Callback patterns, coding quality, system history | Sponsors; rarely approves alone |
| COO | Service and stock operations together | Supports; does not sign |
| General counsel | Customer, manufacturer and employee obligations | Advises on rights |
| CEO (often the owner) | The business decision | Yes; authorizes and signs |
The amber branches: three questions for counsel
Customer service contracts. Commercial service agreements sometimes say who controls information about the customer's sites and equipment. Counsel reads them; the partner does not interpret them.
Manufacturer program terms. Where the company services equipment under a manufacturer's authorized service or warranty program, that agreement may say something about service records and claims data. It is a question to raise, not a reason to stop.
Technician and customer personal data. Notes name technicians, store managers and site contacts. Under the GDPR, personal data is any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person, and the controller is whoever determines the purposes and means of processing. How names are removed or replaced is a preparation question that SourceX's rights review handles with the company. The data rights explainer describes that review.
What stays open until SourceX's rights review
| Open question | Resolved by |
|---|---|
| Which customer contracts permit use of service records | General counsel, then SourceX's rights review |
| Whether manufacturer terms affect warranty jobs | General counsel with SourceX |
| How technician and customer names are de-identified | SourceX with the company |
| Which years and systems are in scope | SourceX with the service director |
| Whether there is dataset demand and any offer | SourceX and the signer |
SourceX licenses approved business data directly from companies for AI training and evaluation, and manages the agreement, rights review, data preparation, delivery and payout. Partners never handle the records.
Making the introduction, and an owner's common worry
Once you know the sponsor and the signer, send the service director a one-page draft built from the first-visit failure referral brief template, with coverage facts from the first-visit failure system map. Ask the director to forward it to the signer with counsel copied.
Owners sometimes worry that licensing records signals trouble. It does not; this answer addresses it directly. In franchised service networks, records can sit with franchisees or the franchisor, so check who holds the platform contract; the fractional CFO guide for franchisors explains that structure.
The introduced company needs 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors and subcontracted technicians excluded), a documented operating history, rights to license the records and an authorized contact. Companies in the U.S., Canada and the EU qualify, as do companies in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore, South Africa, Latin America, the UAE and Saudi Arabia when at least 90% of the data is in English. Partners sign the Channel Partner Agreement before submitting; the first valid introduction within the 90-day window is credited when the company submits a verified application, and one partner is credited per company.
Next step
Refer a company. Earn up to $100,000. Default reward: 25% of Actual Supplier Payout, capped at $100,000 cumulatively per referred company. Eligibility and payment conditions apply, and a signed Schedule A or addendum can differ. A lead, meeting or signature alone does not trigger payment.
When the service director has agreed to sponsor and bring in the CEO, register as a partner, check the company on who qualifies and read the program terms before the note goes out.