An enterprise opportunity can stall because the seller understands the user but not the decision. Map who uses the product, who wants the project to succeed, and who can approve or block the purchase.
Treat this as a collaborative exercise with your contact. They often need help making the internal case, and a useful buying map can reduce surprises for both sides.
Start with decisions, then people
List the approvals or commitments the purchase requires. These may include business priority, budget, technical fit, security, procurement, and implementation ownership. One person can hold several responsibilities; the map should reflect the customer’s actual process.
For each decision, record the participant, evidence required, current status, and next action. “Security review” is too vague if nobody knows who reviews what or when.
Ask questions your contact can answer
Ask how a similar purchase was completed recently. Who became involved late? What information was missing? What would the contact need to explain the project internally?
These questions are often more useful than directly demanding access to a senior executive. Earn the next conversation by making its purpose clear.
Support the champion
Give the champion a concise description of the problem, expected value, scope, implementation requirements, and unresolved questions. Write it so a colleague who missed the demo can understand the proposal.
Do not ask the champion to defend unsupported promises. If an outcome is an assumption, label it and explain how it will be tested.
Keep relationships coordinated
Contacting additional stakeholders should improve the buying process rather than create conflicting conversations. Clarify the reason for each meeting and share the resulting decisions with the appropriate participants.
A hypothetical technical reviewer may need integration details while the budget owner needs an explanation of the business priority. Sending both the same generic deck wastes an opportunity to answer the relevant question.
Review the map when the deal changes
Recheck ownership after a reorganization, scope change, or new procurement requirement. A relationship with one enthusiastic person does not make the process stable.
Use the forecasting framework to keep unresolved approvals visible. An opportunity is more credible when the path to a decision can be described than when it merely has a well-known company name attached.
Co-founder and CEO of Stackmatix, startup advisor, and former Head of Sales at MightyHive. Connect with Matt on LinkedIn ↗ · More about Matt →