What is a buying committee?

A buying committee is the group of people inside a buying organization who influence, shape or approve a B2B purchase.

How a buying committee works in a sales team

Most B2B deals above a small size are decided by several people. The usual seats are the person who has the problem, a budget owner, the person who signs, and functions with a veto such as IT, security, legal or procurement. Each sees the problem from a different seat and weighs the purchase on different terms.

The usual seats

The deal

1. Has the problem
2. Budget owner
3. Signs
4. ITVeto
5. SecurityVeto
6. LegalVeto
7. ProcurementVeto

The deal

1. Has the problem
2. Budget owner
3. Signs
4. ITVeto
5. SecurityVeto
6. LegalVeto
7. ProcurementVeto

For a rep, the committee changes discovery: one contact's account of the problem is one view, and the deal moves when the people who decide agree on what the problem is and what it costs. Reps map the committee with their champion, invite its members to a discovery call with a named question each, and record each person's view in their own words. Our discovery call guide covers where this fits, and how to run discovery with a buying committee is the step-by-step version.

Example

This example is illustrative. A rep selling contract software has a champion in sales operations who says the problem is slow legal review at quarter end. On a group call, the finance lead says the problem is outside counsel spend, and the IT lead says the company already has three places to store contracts and nobody can find anything. The general counsel, who signs, joins late and agrees with IT: she will not buy another storage tool. Four people gave three accounts of the problem, and the signer added a decision criterion the champion had never mentioned. The rep's next demo starts from finding and reusing existing contracts.

In a deal review, a manager can test any committee deal with one question: which members have described the problem in their own words, and which have only been described by the champion? Here, before the group call, the answer was one and three.

Related terms

• What is a discovery call?: the conversation where a rep maps the committee.
• How to multi-thread a deal: building relationships across the committee.
• What is a mutual action plan?: the shared plan a committee and a rep work to.
• Discovery call questions: the approval and decision questions to ask.

FAQ

Who is on a B2B buying committee?

A buying committee usually includes the person with the problem, a budget owner, the person who signs, and people from functions that can block a purchase, such as IT, security, legal or procurement. The exact seats depend on the size of the purchase and the company.

What is the difference between a buying committee and a decision maker?

A decision maker is the one person who signs. A buying committee is everyone who shapes or approves the purchase, including the decision maker. Deals often stall when the rep sells to one person and the rest of the committee has a different view of the problem.

How do you find out who is on the buying committee?

Ask your contact who else would be involved in a decision like this, who signed the last similar purchase, and who could block it. Then confirm each name on a discovery call where those people describe the problem in their own words.