Buying committee
BY-ing kuh-MIT-ee
The group of people at a prospect company who collectively decide whether to purchase. Enterprise deals involve 6-10 stakeholders on average.
A buying committee is every person who has influence over the purchase decision. The economic buyer who signs. The technical evaluator who approves. The end users who will live with the product daily. The security team that reviews your SOC 2 report. The procurement team that negotiates terms. Legal who reviews the contract.
Gartner research says the average B2B buying committee has 6 to 10 members. Each person has their own priorities, concerns, and evaluation criteria. The CTO wants technical fit. The CFO wants ROI. Security wants compliance. Procurement wants a discount. A single unsatisfied stakeholder can kill a deal.
Mapping the buying committee early is the difference between deals that close and deals that stall. For every opportunity, the sales team should know: who is involved, what each person cares about, who supports you, who is neutral, and who is opposed. Then build a plan to address each stakeholder.
Examples
A mid-market deal with a compact buying committee.
VP of Engineering (economic buyer), two senior engineers (evaluators), IT manager (security review), and a procurement analyst. Five people. The AE maps each stakeholder and tailors messaging for their specific concerns.
An enterprise deal with an expanding committee.
The initial contact is a team lead. Over eight months, the buying committee grows to include: CTO, CISO, VP of Engineering, three directors, legal, procurement, and the CFO's office. Each addition resets parts of the evaluation.
A detractor on the committee blocks the deal.
Eight of nine committee members support the purchase. The CISO is opposed because your product does not support their SSO provider. The deal stalls for three months while engineering builds the integration. One stakeholder held up a $400k deal.
In practice
Read more on the blog
Frequently asked questions
How many people are on a typical buying committee?
Gartner research says 6 to 10 for enterprise purchases. Mid-market deals may involve 3 to 5. SMB deals often have 1 to 2 decision makers. The larger the deal, the more people are involved.
How do you map a buying committee?
Start with your champion. Ask who else will be involved in the decision. Ask about the approval process. Research the org chart. For each stakeholder, document their role, their priorities, their stance (supporter/neutral/detractor), and your plan to address their concerns.
Related terms
An internal advocate at the prospect's company who wants your solution to win and actively sells on your behalf inside their organization.
The person with the authority and budget to approve the purchase. Not the user, not the evaluator, but the one who signs the check.
A sales qualification framework: Metrics, Economic buyer, Decision criteria, Decision process, Identify pain, Champion.
The department responsible for negotiating vendor contracts, terms, and pricing. The last stop before a signed deal.
The average time from first contact with a prospect to closed-won deal. Longer for enterprise, shorter for self-serve.
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