How to Identify Key Decision Makers

A Head of Sales told me how his team can spend up to 5 months mapping out an account before talking to a decision maker at a Fortune 500 company. Here's his process: 1. Do your homework on public data - read their 10-K, find all recordings of the CEO speaking (tools like Clay and Copy.ai can save some time here) 2. Put together a list of all stakeholders at the company - from C-suite down to ICs 3. Get on calls with below the line employees and learn about the business - they are easier to reach and can give you the hot tea that's happening internally (tools like Apollo.io and Orum 🥇 will save you time here). The sales leader I talked to would call frontline workers in warehouses who would be end users of the software to hear their boots on the ground experience 4. Form a map of problems and people that starts at the ground and ties back to executive level priorities 5. Start posting relevant content on LinkedIn that would resonate with decision makers so you can build trust with them and warm them for eventual outreach (use tools like Letterdrop to help you here if you don't have time or ideas) 6. If any of these decision makers are commenting/posting, genuinely engage in public with them (not just "great post" but meaningful business discussion - use tools like SalesNav and Letterdrop to stay afloat of these conversations) 7. Now connect with all the relevant stakeholders on LinkedIn. Be in their "sphere of influencer". Hopefully your content and thoughtful engagement makes it easy to get your request accepted. You're viewed as a smart person in their space. Once you start connecting with a few, it becomes easier to connect with more since they can see that you have mutuals. 8. Use the problem map from step 4 to put together very concise messaging on what problems they might be facing. Use the language you heard from their employees. Personalize it if it makes sense and nothing tacky (ditch the go {sports team} nonsense). 9. If your marketing team is willing to co-ordinate with your list, run targeted display ads with similar messaging in parallel. 10. Hit up the decision makers on email, phone, and LinkedIn DMs with a clear point of view on their business. Do not spam! 11. You now have the ear of a Fortune 500 C-suite Happy prospecting!

“They said our price is too high.” “Who is they?” “Fortune 500 Pharma.” “The entire stakeholder team? After our 6-month proof of concept?” “Well…not exactly. Just Jim.” “Jim? The department buyer with no decision making authority?” “Um…yes.” 🚩 The rep broke our process. 🚩 We never agree to a POC unless all key stakeholders commit to reviewing the results in a live meeting 🚩 Instead, the rep presented to one person who could never say yes. So we fixed it. - The rep made calls. Got the right people in the room. - Followed the process we should’ve followed from the start. - I flew in. Seven days later… I’m across from the full stakeholder team. Screen on. Deck up. Ready to go. Ten minutes into the presentation, the Director stops me. And I think, “Something’s wrong.” I was right—just not on our side. He turns to Jim, frustration in his voice: 👉 “Why are we here? Just do the deal.” And that was it. - Dollars shifted between budgets. - The company saved money, reduced risk, and gained time. - We closed the deal. Because real decision makers don’t care about price—they care about impact. Money (Financial impact) Risk (Reduction & mitigation) Time (Operational efficiency) Money ≠ Price. Impact matters more than price. How to make sure you never fall into the same trap: 1 - Lock in Stakeholders from Day One Never run a POC unless all key decision-makers agree to review the results. No commitment? No POC. 2 - Challenge “No”, Especially When It Comes from the Wrong Person Always ask: “Who else needs to be part of this conversation?” If the person can’t say yes, they shouldn’t be able to say no. 3 - Manage the Process A strong sales process means you influence how decisions get made. If your deal is derailed by someone with no authority, you lost control. 4 - Frame the Conversation Around Impact, Not Price Always connect your solution to money saved, risk reduced, or time gained. Those are the real decision drivers. 5 - Use Your POC & Report of Findings to Reduce Stakeholder Risk A strong report of findings turns your proof of concept into an irrefutable case for action—so stakeholders feel safe moving forward instead of stalling in indecision.

Really cool exercise we just did. We wanted to get ultra clear on who our ICPs are. The people we work best with. (and who genuinely love working with us) Here’s how we did it: 1. Pulled a list of our tier-one customers 2. Identified the real decision-makers 3. Looked up their LinkedIn profiles 4. Dropped their entire work history into ChatGPT 5. Asked: “What background patterns do you see?” 6. Then: "What are their pain points and mindsets" It confirmed what we already felt, but with way more clarity. 👇 These are the folks we’re built for: 𝟭. 𝗢𝗽𝘀-𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘀 📍 Titles: VP of Ops, Head of Delivery, Director of PM 🧠 Mindset: “𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘳.” ⚠️ Pain: Messy PM, flaky devs, over-promised timelines They’re process nerds (in the best way). They care about the “how” as much as the “what.” And when things go sideways? They’re the ones cleaning it up. 𝟮. 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 / 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗖𝗘𝗢𝘀 📍 Titles: Founders, Strategy/Brand-obsessed CEOs 🧠 Mindset: “𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘴. 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭.” ⚠️ Pain: Unclear next steps, handholding, having to explain the vision 5x. These are the big-picture thinkers. They care about aesthetics and execution. Give them a partner who can 𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘺 their ideas, not dilute them. 𝟯. 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗢𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 📍 Titles: Founder/CDs, Executive Creatives, Brand Owners 🧠 Mindset: “𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘵.” ⚠️ Pain: Pixel sloppiness, botched animations, heartbreaking handoffs. Design is sacred to them. They’ve poured themselves into the creative, and they expect that same level of care in execution when it comes to the build phase. 𝟰. 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 / 𝗕𝗶𝘇𝗗𝗲𝘃 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 📍 Titles: VP of Accounts, Client Services, Delivery Leads 🧠 Mindset: “𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘶𝘱, 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥.” ⚠️ Pain: Client trust issues, poor communication, partner PTSD They’re the relationship stewards. The fixers. The ones who make the agency look buttoned-up, even when things are on fire behind the scenes. It was a simple exercise. But it gave us a lot of clarity on: 1. Who to serve 2. How to speak to them. Highly recommend.

We closed a $100K deal after 4 months and 12+ meetings. Every stakeholder played a specific role, and knowing these roles made all the difference. Here’s how to navigate each one: 1/ The Champion Your biggest advocate internally. It’s critical you build an exceptional relationship with this person. Treat them like an extension of your team, and give them the proper support so they can influence the org internally. If you don’t have a Champion, the deal gets 10x harder to close. 2/ The Coach They help you navigate the internals of the org, but take a more passive role than the Champion. While the Champion actively sells your product internally, your Coach might not have direct sway but knows how to help you position yourself. Don’t mistake your Coach for a Champion. 3/ The Key Decision Maker If your product costs a meaningful amount of money, the Key Decision Maker typically has title of Director or above. They are very busy and delegate most decisions making to their team. It will be difficult to get 1:1 time with them given their schedule, but if you’re able to do it, it’s one of the quickest ways to move a deal forward. Plus, they can give you insight into what they care about. 4/ The Economic Buyer In smaller orgs, the Economic Buyer and the Key Decision Maker can be the same person-typically the head of the department you’re selling into. In larger orgs, they are likely different people, with the Economic Buyer being on the finance side. They control the budget and care about ROI. This person isn’t interested in your product features. 5/ Process Folks Think procurement, security and legal. For these folks, they just need to check the box to proceed. Never steamroll them or treat them like obstacles - they hate that. If you run into blockers, jump on 1:1 calls with them to progress the deal. Ask your Champion to help if all else fails. Winning deals is about understanding what each role values and tailoring your approach to meet their needs. What’s been your biggest challenge navigating buying processes?