This page is part of the subscription pause recovery guide. It works as a tree: answer each question in order, and the path lands on the person the introduction should reach.
Start at the convener, not the signer
The retention operations head is the right first call because they can answer the questions everyone else will ask: how many pauses a year, how many needed a manual fix, which systems record them and for how long. They also know who runs each system. What they usually cannot do is commit the company to a data licensing discussion. That sits with the CEO.
Treat the first conversation as mapping, not asking. The goal is three names: the owner of each record class, the person who reads customer terms, and the CEO, who decides.
Branch one: whose subscriber relationship is it?
Before anyone owns a record, settle whose records they are. Most subscription businesses fall into one of three shapes.
| Shape | Who holds the customer relationship | Who decides on licensing | What to note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand runs its own subscriptions | The brand | The brand's CEO | The common case; continue down the tree |
| Agency or consultant runs retention for the brand | The brand | The brand's CEO | The agency holds access, not rights |
| Marketplace or reseller sells the plan | Often the marketplace, under its terms | Depends on the seller agreement | Flag for counsel; the brand may hold only part |
The subscription app or billing vendor appears in every shape but never on the yes path. It hosts the records under service terms. Shopify's help center, for example, describes merchants pausing, skipping or resuming contracts on a customer's behalf from the admin; that is operational control by the merchant inside the vendor's tool, not a vendor right to the history.
ShopifyBranch two: which record classes need counsel first?
Each record class has an owner who can describe it and a gate it must pass. The gate decides whether counsel joins the first call.
| Record class | Owner who can describe it | Gate before any licensing discussion | Who clears the gate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pause, skip and resume events | Retention or ecommerce operations | Customer terms and privacy notice | Counsel or privacy lead |
| Invoices, refunds and voids | Finance or billing | Payment data handling and customer terms | Finance with counsel |
| Customer messages and agent notes | Customer care leader | Personal data in free text | Counsel or privacy lead |
| Pause and refund policies | Retention operations | Usually none; internal documents | The CEO |
| Shipment holds and reschedules | Operations or the 3PL | The 3PL service agreement | Counsel, per the agreement |
Customer messages carry the heaviest gate. Where EU law applies, the GDPR treats any information relating to an identifiable person, including a name or an identification number, as personal data, and almost every pause ticket names one. That shapes how records would be prepared; it does not by itself rule them out. Why data rights matter explains why SourceX reviews rights before any record is examined.
Who holds a key but cannot say yes
The people with the best view of the data are often the furthest from authority. Each can supply metadata for the brief. None can approve.
- Subscription platform consultant. May hold admin credentials to the engine and know its configuration better than anyone. Credentials are a service arrangement with the merchant, not a mandate to share or license.
- Support desk administrator. Sees every ticket and macro. In Zendesk, ticket exports are available on eligible plans only after the account owner asks Zendesk to enable them, which shows that even export is an owner decision, not an admin one.
- Billing analyst. Can count refunds and voids by month. Cannot decide whether payment records may leave the company.
- 3PL account contact. Sees held and rescheduled shipments. Works for a different company.
ZendeskAsk none of them to export, screenshot or forward a record. Partners never ask for or handle raw client records.
The signing branch: the CEO
At the end of the tree sits one person who can open a licensing discussion. In a subscription business that is the CEO; in a founder-led company the founder is usually the CEO. The COO or CFO may sponsor the case internally, but the CEO authorizes and signs. Two situations add a level:
- An owner above the company. A private equity sponsor, parent company or board may need to approve any new use of customer data. Ask whether one exists.
- A pending sale or restructuring. A deal process can freeze decisions about assets. What to do when a business sale is put on hold covers that setting.
The lit path in the graphic runs from the retention lead through the record owners and the counsel gate to the signer. A discussion is not an agreement; when a data license becomes binding explains the difference.
Left open until SourceX's rights review
When the signer agrees to talk, four questions remain open and are answered only in SourceX's review with the company: which record classes and years the company may license under its customer terms, how personal data in messages would be removed, whether buyers want pause recovery histories now, and whether an offer follows.
The introduced company needs 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded), documented operating history, rights to license 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 introductions. The system map shows which owners hold which keys, the referral brief template puts the tree's answers on one page, and how to introduce a company covers the conversation itself.
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.
Once the retention lead has agreed to bring in the CEO, who can say yes, and confirmed whose subscriber relationship it is, register as a partner, check the company against who qualifies and read the program terms before making the introduction.