Recently a client sales rep shared a situation with us. He was making a presentation to a senior level decision maker at a prospective account, and it was going very well. The decision maker told the rep that he had an amazing grasp of the business and asked how he was able to learn so much. The rep told decision maker, "I looked at the publicly available data and talked to a number of people, including the VP of Marketing, Jane Doe."

Then he asked us if that was the best answer. Should he have divulged the name of one of his coaches?

In the media and in countless courtroom dramas, we've seen this play out in a similar way. Sometimes reporters and others are asked for the names of their sources, and they'll refuse to give them. Some will go to great lengths to protect their sources, including serving jail time for refusing to divulge their names.

Although our situation is less serious (probably) than these courtroom examples, this is still a touchy subject. Why? Because we don't know how the decision maker feels as he asks this question. He could be impressed or upset with our coach. Similarly, we might not know how our coach feels. Some coaches might like the recognition with the decision maker and some might avoid that kind of visibility. In most cases we won't know and shouldn't guess.

Our advice: To be safe, avoid disclosing the names of your research contacts. There is an inherent promise of confidentiality when we are doing our research and asking someone to open up and share what's going on in their company. We need to respect those contacts and protect their identity. The sales rep's answer above wasn't far off. He could simply say "I looked at the publicly available data and talked to a number of people." The point is the same, and the confidentiality is maintained.