The decision-maker map: who to convince in a complex sale
In a complex B2B sale you do not convince one person, but a committee. The decision-maker map tells you who to win and in what order. We explain how to draw it.
In B2B sales of any size, the biggest mistake is treating the account as if one person decides. It almost never is: there is a committee, with different and sometimes opposing interests. Drawing the decision-maker map is knowing who to convince, and how, before the deal stalls.
The committee roles
A typical buying committee has several roles: the user who will use the solution, the expert who evaluates it technically, the budget owner who approves it and, sometimes, a blocker who can stop it. Each has a different concern, and a single message does not convince them all.
The internal champion
The key piece is the champion: someone inside the account who believes in your solution and defends it when you are not in the room. Without a champion, complex sales die in internal meetings you do not attend. Identifying them and arming them with arguments is half the sale.
- The user: who will use the solution
- The technical evaluator: who validates it
- The economic decision-maker: who approves the spend
- The champion: who defends it internally
- The blocker: who can stop it
The danger of a single thread
Relying on a single contact is risky: if they change jobs or lose interest, you lose the account. Working several decision-makers at once (multithreading) protects the deal and accelerates internal consensus. The decision-maker map is what lets you do it with criteria, not blind.
Leads that identify the role
Starting with the right contact makes mapping easier. When the lead arrives with the decision-maker role identified, you know how you enter the account and who to seek next. The lead does not give you the whole map, but it gives you the first correct entry point, which is where everything starts.