In sales, buyer groups are the collection of stakeholders involved in the purchasing process of a new product. Unfortunately, getting this group on the same page can be a real challenge. The problem is that buyer groups have expanded over the last few years, and it doesn’t appear as if that trend will stop anytime soon.
As buyer groups continue to grow, identifying and targeting the sales stakeholders that have the most influence is key to a successful sales process. Understanding their needs could help your team seal the deal; knowing how to do so will help differentiate your team from the competition and set your brand up for future sales success.
Identifying Key Sales Stakeholders
During your discovery phase, one of your team’s top duties will be to pinpoint which stakeholders are considered the decision-makers, making them more likely to influence the deal’s outcome. These stakeholders could be vice presidents of certain departments, C-suite executives, or managerial-level employees with the authority to complete a sale.
According to the 2024 Sales Engineering Compensation & Workload Report, the number of stakeholders in buyer groups has increased by 19%, which could make identifying who moves the needle more difficult than ever. That’s why knowing how to leverage your data to uncover buyer intent can be extremely helpful in narrowing down your top sales stakeholders in a buyer group.
If you use video demos, paying attention to how your demo link is shared within an organization allows your team to build a clear picture of what stakeholders make up your buyer group to better inform your discovery research. Some analytics programs, like Consensus Demolytics, even sort this data for you — placing the highest-value sales stakeholders at the top of your list and adjusting as buyer groups grow organically.
Sales teams can also use a few high-level criteria to separate top sales stakeholders from the rest of your buyer group:
- What is their level of influence inside the buyer group?
- How likely are they to make the final decision?
- Are they a champion for your product?
- Are they involved in budgetary decisions?
Using these criteria as the base, you can then use your gathered data to inform and enhance your discovery and identify the unique needs and wants of your target stakeholders.
How to Target Sales Stakeholders
Once your team has identified which stakeholders within your buyer groups hold the most sway over your final sale, it’s time to figure out how to address their needs. In a sales age where customization and personalization are key drivers of success, adjusting your content to meet your sales stakeholders’ preferences is essential to closing.
Tools like interactive video demos let stakeholders focus on the features that offer the most value to their search. Using this data, you can then tailor future live demos and sales materials to fit the identified needs of your top stakeholders.
Combined with information obtained from discovery, you can also build a custom-fit sales strategy centered around the requirements and values found to be most essential to these stakeholders. This may vary depending on their role; budget holders and financial team members may be more interested in hearing about the numbers. Meanwhile, sales and marketing leaders may prefer to learn more about the functionality and value of your product’s features.
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Discover More on How to Improve Your Sales Process
Once your team has mastered the process of identifying and targeting the top sales stakeholders in your buyer groups, you can then go on to adjust your strategy to fit their needs. By staying up to date on how to keep your sales strategy sharp, your brand will continue to outsell competitors and build a stronger sales workforce.
For more helpful insights from industry experts that can help take your strategy to the next level, check out our blog, webinars, and research. Using these resources, you can adapt, evolve, and elevate your strategy to fit your customers’ ever-changing needs.
