The B2B Sales-Marketing Quick Action Playbook…
Chapter 2.
Navigating Complex Buying Groups
The expansion of B2B buying groups to include 10-13 stakeholders has fundamentally changed how sales teams must operate. With decisions now requiring consensus from a diverse set of influences, marketing support must evolve to help sales teams engage effectively across these complex units.
Varun Chopra from Multiverse articulates this challenge clearly: "One of the key insights I've gained is that it's not just about finding who can say 'yes' to a deal, but more importantly, identifying who can say 'no'. Not everyone involved in the process holds equal weight in decision-making. Some stakeholders may not be budget holders or key influencers, but they can raise red flags or voice concerns that can derail a deal."
Eero Juvonen from Oneflow emphasises the nuanced approach required: "The crux of the matter is this: our stories, the challenges we address, and the benefits we highlight need to be precisely calibrated for different personas across various segments. That's where marketing plays a crucial role—helping us develop and refine these multifaceted narratives."
James Mensforth from Aircall describes the practical implications: "We're now dealing with anywhere from 9 to 12 stakeholders in a typical enterprise sales cycle. This complexity introduces new challenges, particularly when it comes to identifying potential roadblocks. Some stakeholders may not be budget holders or key influencers, but they can raise red flags or voice concerns that can derail a deal."
Ilkka Vertanen from LINK Mobility shares a practical example: "A CFO might suggest switching from SMS notifications to email for parcel pickup alerts, reasoning that email is either free or close to free, compared to the cost of SMS. This is precisely the kind of dialogue we need to be prepared for. We need to help them see beyond immediate cost savings and consider the broader implications."
Arjun Mahajan from AND Digital highlights the importance of personalisation: "Whether we are engaging with leaders in technology, data, procurement, or finance, their needs and intentions vary significantly, even though they are all working toward a common goal. We focus on tailoring our communication style and value propositions to address the specific concerns of each persona."
Georgina Beard from SEON explains the content challenge: "Marketing needs to adapt its content strategy to address the expanded buying committee. Currently, there's a noticeable gap in content tailored for specific personas, particularly at the C-suite level."
Jason from WTax describes their approach: "Finding the sweet spot requires close coordination between sales, marketing, and our revenue operations team. We rely on RevOps for deep market understanding, sales for feedback on opportunities, and marketing to tailor their approach based on this information."
The key to success lies in marketing's ability to:
- Map and monitor complete buying group compositions
- Provide persona-specific content and messaging
- Track engagement across all stakeholders
- Enable coordinated outreach strategies
- Support value articulation for different roles
Our survey data reinforces these insights, with 54% of sales leaders identifying buying group dynamics and influences as the most impactful buyer behavior insight they need from marketing.
Key Insights Recap
B2B purchasing decisions often involve 10–13 stakeholders, each with the power to move deals forward or block them. Marketing and Sales must work together to engage the full buying committee, guided by real-time account insights.
Quick Action Guide
About 6sense
6sense is on a mission to revolutionise the way B2B organisations create revenue by predicting customers most likely to buy and recommending the best course of action to engage anonymous buying teams. 6sense Revenue AI is the only sales and marketing platform to unlock the ability to create, manage and convert high-quality pipeline to revenue. Customers report 2X increases in average contract value, 4X increases in win rate and 20-40% reduction in time to close deals. Know everything, do anything, with 6sense.