Selling to Buying Groups: How to Win When 6–10 People Make the Decision

Gone are the days where you can build a relationship with 1-2 buyers and influence their decision to buy. In a world where there are up to 10 buyers (sometimes more) involved with any complex high-value B2B purchase you must work much harder to engage and influence the wider buying group.

In the main report I talk about prospect intimacy, and this falls directly into that. As a senior leader especially in sales to ability to forecast is critical, especially now with instability being the norm. Having a pipeline full of semi-known opportunities or reactive tenders just isn’t enough and you are building your revenue forecast based on ‘hope’ and ‘luck’.

Here’s some of the top points discussed:

“We don’t really know who’s influencing our deals”

The issue:

• One contact looks engaged
• Decisions still go elsewhere
• Internal politics derail progress
• Deals die without feedback

What the insight solves:

By clearly articulating buying groups (6–10 stakeholders), leaders realise:

• They’re under-mapping influence
• They’re over-indexing on one role

Leadership relief:

“We’re not losing deals - we’re missing people.”

“Marketing and sales both say they’re doing the right things”

The issue:

• Sales says marketing leads aren’t ready
• Marketing says sales doesn’t follow up properly
• Attribution debates go nowhere
• Accountability becomes blurred

What the insight solves:

The report’s emphasis on parallel operation (not serial handoffs) reframes alignment:

• Sales and marketing influence together
• Multiple touchpoints matter
• Attribution is shared, not binary

Leadership relief:

“This isn’t a performance problem - it’s a structural one.”

“Our value gets diluted as deals progress”

The issue:

• Early conversations are strategic
• Later stages become transactional
• Value turns into cost comparison

What the insight solves:

Buyer enablement thinking reframes sales as:

• Helping buyers justify decisions internally
• Supporting consensus creation
• Reducing buyer regret

This keeps value alive beyond the first conversation.

Leadership relief:

“We need to enable buyers, not just persuade them.”

“We’re reacting instead of shaping opportunities”

The issue:

• Opportunities appear suddenly
• Timelines feel externally controlled
• Forecasting feels reactive

What the insight solves:

The focus on:

• Buyer intent
• Early signals
• Intelligence-led timing

Shows leaders how to regain control of timing, not just respond to it.

Leadership relief:

“We can see opportunities forming - not just chase them when they surface.”

How do we reduce risk in large opportunities?”

The issue:

• Large deals feel high-risk
• Decision-makers are cautious
• Internal justification is complex

What the insight solves:

By engaging the full buying group early, leaders:

• Reduce late-stage surprises
• increase internal buyer confidence
• Improve conversion predictability

Leadership relief:

“Risk goes down when influence goes up.”

In summary:

B2B decisions are no longer made by individuals. They are made by buying groups - often 6 to 10 people with different priorities, risks, and internal pressures.

Sales strategies that focus on a single contact, a linear pipeline, or late-stage persuasion inevitably lose control of the deal.

Winning in complex B2B environments requires influence, not just conversations.

Key Takeaways for Senior Leaders

1. You are not losing opportunities - you are missing influence

When only one or two stakeholders are engaged, decisions happen elsewhere. Mapping and engaging the full buying group is no longer optional in high-value sales.

2. Sales pipelines do not reflect how buyers buy

Buyers move back and forth between validation, justification, and consensus. Linear sales models create false confidence and late-stage surprises.

3. Value erodes when buyers can’t justify internally

Deals stall or regress when buyers lack the information and confidence to sell the decision internally. Buyer enablement protects value beyond the first meeting.

4. Sales and marketing must operate in parallel

Influence is built across multiple touchpoints and channels. Treating sales and marketing as separate stages weakens momentum and accountability.

5. Early influence restores control

Organisations that identify intent signals and engage early:

• Shape buying criteria
• Reduce procurement dominance
• Improve forecast confidence

6. Risk decreases as visibility increases

Large deals feel risky when influence is narrow. Engaging the whole buying group early reduces uncertainty and increases decision velocity.