Many promo pros know how to find a prospect’s buying committee. This group usually includes a handful of executives who approve budgets and sign contracts. However, today’s deals don’t always live in neat org charts. They move through a buying network, which is a web of influencers and advisors who shape opinions before the decision-maker gets involved.
ZoomInfo’s Joseph Santos says B2B success depends not on how well you find the decision-maker but how deeply you understand and engage the buying network. The decision-makers still matter, but the people around them create the real power structure. In this issue of PromoPro Daily, we share Santos’ explanation on how to visualize the layers of a buying network.
Inner ring. These are the executives, VPs and directors who approve budgets and make the final call. While they’re critical, Santos says they’re not the whole story. Too often, sales reps focus exclusively on these people, assuming authority automatically outweighs influence. Seniority doesn’t provide the full picture, though. In reality, decisions are shaped and sometimes derailed by stakeholders far beyond the executive suite.
First outer ring: Influencers. According to Santos, these are the practitioners closest to the action. They might include sales and marketing operations managers, individual contributors and field marketing specialists. If you don’t nurture them or ignore them, your solution may never even reach the inner ring.
Second outer ring: Enablers. These people may not choose the branded mug or hoodie, but they can slow or speed up the deal. In this layer, you may deal with legal teams, especially in larger organizations or if you’re working in regulated industries. This layer might also include people like executive assistants who handle logistics and internal coordination.
Third outer ring: Integrators. Santos says these are the people executives often lean on to validate decisions and ensure initiatives succeed. They may include external consultants and trusted advisors. He says if people in this ring haven’t heard of you, or worse, if they’re skeptical, your solution will struggle to gain traction.
Instead of convincing a single decision-maker, work to earn trust across a wider buying network. This might look like sharing ROI implications with a stakeholder in finance and retention goals with an HR manager rather than sending the same pitch to everyone. When each stakeholder sees what matters to them, alignment happens faster.
Compiled by Audrey Sellers
Source: Joseph Santos is the director of data advisory at ZoomInfo.
