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Hello Reader 👋

Building credibility with your business partners is great, and we saw last week how to deal with that.

But there are as many influencing styles as stakeholders and because of the beauty of the human being, they're all different.

So after building your credibility and before trying to influence them, you might want to analyse your stakeholders.

This is what we're going to tackle today 👇

So take a coffee, sit down and read FP&A Stories just like 22k other readers

This week in FP&A Stories

🔎 Stakeholders Analysis (No Fluff Version)

Let’s keep it simple: people have different goals.

Sales wants growth, Operations wants efficiency, Marketing wants brand impact, and so on.

If you talk only about cost savings to the Sales VP, you’ll get blank stares.

If you start discussing revenue growth with the Ops Director, they’ll wonder if you even know what they do.

You have to do your homework!

Figure out who you’re talking to, what they need, and how they make decisions.

1️⃣ Look at Their Actual KPIs

Don’t ask “What keeps you up at night?”

That’s generic.

Instead, check how they’re measured:

• Which KPI do they obsess over in monthly reviews?
• What metric shows up first in their board slides?
• What is their bonus based on? (after all, we're always there)

📌 Example: Working for a tolling company, I was in contact with the Head of Operations and although he had a clear cost-savings objective, he was obsessed with time-to-resolution KPIs. At first, I thought it was a matter of customer satisfaction but later, I understood that all B2B contracts were conditioned with SLAs, including penalties for late resolutions. It was his way of managing costs and so it became my way.

2️⃣ Dig into Their Recent Decisions

People reveal their priorities by the decisions they make.

It's particularly self-speaking in times of budgets (and mostly budget cuts)

• Which project got priority?
• What did they bargain on?
• Which initiative did they kill, and why?

📌 Example: Investments are often a good way to understand the priorities of someone and how they negotiate with others. During the budget seasons, I used to work with a Product Director who killed all quick wins initiatives if requested to cut CAPEX budget. It made me understand how long-term driven she was

3️⃣ Check Their History, Not Just Their Present

To understand where people are going, you must understand where they come from

• Did they come from a marketing background? Or more from a technical background?
• Did they fight a budget war with Finance in the past?

You won't be able to get the whole story but the most important career (or even personal) events explain a lot how people behave.

📌 Example: When I arrived at a company, I was assigned to a specific department and in my first budget, I didn't understand why this department was always the first to get stretches. But after some months, I understood that, historically, the department was always overperforming (or underplanning) and so was known for an excessive prudency. Important to know when you have to challenge the assumptions.

4️⃣ Listen to Their Team

Everyone focuses on the leader. But often, the real intel comes from middle managers (or the staff):

• What do they complain about in weekly stand-ups?
• Do they blame Finance for process delays?

📌 Example: For this, I'll use our own department. In an assignment, I arrived as Business Controller and the CFO defended a culture of helicopter view and getting to the essential. Yet, when I worked on my first monthly result presentation, the rest of the team was preparing a lot of details. I understood why when showing the result of my work to the CFO for the first time 😅

5️⃣ Notice How They React to Bad News

Some blame external factors. Others take ownership. That tells you if they prefer a diplomatic approach or can handle straight talk.

📌 Example: In my young years, I thought it was a good idea to present the results of a deep dive on a strong average price decrease for a particular product. Good idea maybe but not a good forum. Because the responsible became aggressive and defensive and started to challenge every single assumption I made. After that, a pre-alignment became the normal thing to do in such cases.

6️⃣ Observe Their Behavior in Meetings

• Do they dominate discussions or wait until the end?
• Do they challenge data or accept it at face value?
• Are they detail-oriented or big-picture thinkers?

📌 Example: I'm pretty sure you have your own examples of people who behave differently in meetings than in private 😄

A Known Framework: Power vs. Interest Matrix

Some people love theory, some hate it. If you need a structure, try the Power vs. Interest matrix:

• Power: Can they approve budgets or block decisions?
• Interest: Do they care about finance updates, or do they just want the highlights?

High-power, low-interest stakeholders need quick, clear insights. High-power, high-interest stakeholders want deep dives and frequent touchpoints. Low-power folks might be allies who feed you intel.

Adapt your approach accordingly.

🎤 AFP's FP&A Forum in Austin, TX

OK this is huge for me! And if you're in the US (or want to go there), it can be huge for you too!

I'll be in Austin, TX for AFP's FP&A Forum on March 17-19 2025 and will speak to 500 FP&A Leaders about.... (yes you know it)

Why Finance Presentations Don't Work (And What You Can Do About it)

I already reviewed my presentation with Bryan Lapidus from AFP and we are convinced you're going to like it.

But of course, you'll like it only if you come

So join me during these 3 days to learn, share, exchange, be inspired and become an even better FP&A Leader than you are today.

And I won't be alone: people like Carl Seidman, Paul Barnhurst, Wassia Kamon and Dani Martins are going to be there as well.

Maybe have a look at the program to see why you should come.

1 reason I want you to come: I will spend a lot of time to network with you because I don't come so often in the US.

So don't wait! I'm not sure there are a lot of seats leftç

🏃‍➡️ Want to Go Further in FP&A and Business Partnering?

Knowing the numbers is one thing.

Making people listen and act on them is another.

If you want to step up your impact in Finance, here’s how:

📌 The Financial Storytelling Program: Your message is only as strong as how you deliver it. In this course, you’ll learn how to structure financial insights, craft a clear narrative, and make sure decision-makers actually take action.

📌 PowerPoint Guide for Finance – A great analysis can be ruined by bad slides. This guide gives you a no-nonsense method to create slides that are clear, structured, and focused on decision-making—without the usual design fluff.

If you want to go beyond reporting and start influencing, these will help.

That's a wrap for this week

See you next week!​