Your Playbook for Connecting with Each Member of the Buying Committee

Today, the average B2B purchase involves more than five decision makers. For sales pros, this means "getting to power" is no longer enough. People constantly change jobs and titles, and new people can be brought into decisions without notice. This means that, now more than ever, relying on a single relationship can be dangerous, especially when the parameters of a deal can change in the blink of an eye.

Successful sales pros mitigate this risk by identifying the key decision makers—the buying committee—and building relationships with each of them. In this post, we'll explain how to use social selling tools to identify the right people and communicate in a way that takes individual needs and motivations into account – a way that pulls new connections closer to you.

Use LinkedIn to find the right people

Naturally enough, the first step to connecting with an account’s buying committee is finding out who the decision makers are. You can use Advanced Search to discover people with specific job titles within the organization and set up alerts for when someone changes jobs or gets hired into a decision-making position.

With Sales Navigator, you can save the account, then save leads within the account, to let the platform know the type of connection you’re looking for. Saving leads and accounts allows Sales Navigator to make relevant lead recommendations, showing you decision makers you might have missed. The more active you are in Sales Navigator, the more relevant your results will be.

Determine your best path for connecting

Once you find the right people to contact, be strategic about making a connection. According to a LinkedIn survey, over half of buyers will reject a cold connection outright. If you can leverage your network to broker an introduction, your communication is more likely to be welcomed.

Start with your first-degree connections. If someone at the account is already in your network, they may be willing to introduce you. If not, use LinkedIn’s “How you’re connected” feature to see who else in your network can provide that introduction.

With Sales Navigator’s TeamLink feature, you can immediately find out if anyone in your company is connected with a prospect. It’s a powerful tool for getting warm introductions beyond your personal network.

Before reaching out to make the connection, scan the prospect’s profile for shared interests, hobbies, or any other commonalities you can use in your outreach. One easy way to establish a common bond is through your activity on LinkedIn Groups.

Cater to individual needs and motivations

Each member of the executive staff has their own stakes, goals, and priorities to address. You stand a better chance of proving your relevance if you can tailor your approach to each person’s job title and duties. We recently published a series of posts here on the LinkedIn Sales Solutions blog with in-depth advice on how to talk to each C-level executive:

• Communicating with CEOs
• Communicating with CFOs
• Communicating with COOs
• Communicating with HR Execs
• Communicating with CMOs
• Communicating with CIOs 

Getting to know the buying committee ensures you have a relationship with key decision makers who will ultimately move the sale forward. It also allows for a multi-threaded sales approach, so if one contact leaves the firm or takes on a new role, you won’t have to start at square one. With a little time and effort, you can find the right people to connect with, broker warm introductions, and customize your approach to prove your value to each member of the committee. A good relationship with the buying committee is a great start to winning the sale.

Download our eBook, “The New Formula for Connecting with B2B Buyers,” for more social selling advice that will allow you to build stronger relationships with your prospects.