Hypothesis: A lot of deals don’t slow down because the product is weak or the pitch is bad, but because early conversations happen without a clear understanding of who actually holds decision power inside the buyer’s org.
Teams end up spending weeks with people who are interested but not empowered. By the time the real decision-maker shows up, context is lost and momentum resets.
I’m curious:
1. Do SDRs/AEs in your experience consciously map buying groups early? 2. Is org awareness something teams are trained or incentivized to do? 3. Have you seen deals stall for this reason? 4. Is this mostly an SDR issue, an AE issue, or a leadership/process issue? 5. Are there tools or workflows that genuinely help here (not just CRM fields nobody updates)?
Just trying to understand whether this is a real, repeatable pattern across teams or an overthought theory.
Would appreciate any stories, counterpoints, or practices that have worked for you.
PaulHoule•1h ago
Then there are those sales where, as you say, understanding politics is the most important thing.
There is no trick that makes that complex sale easy but it sure is helpful to recognize that this is normal and know what you're dealing with.