Single-decision-maker deals are becoming the exception. Most meaningful B2B decisions today are made by committees , formal or informal, aligned or conflicted, visible or hidden. Yet many sales conversations still behave as if one person decides.
Sellers chase approvals while buyers juggle internal alignment. Momentum fades, follow-ups slow, and deals stall in silence. The issue is not complexity. It is a misunderstanding of how decisions actually happen inside organisations.
The myth sellers still operate under
Most sellers are trained to find a champion, someone who believes, pushes internally, and gets the deal done. That approach worked when organisations were simpler.
Today, champions are constrained. They carry influence, not authority. They manage risk as much as outcomes, and they protect credibility inside their organisations.
When sellers overload a single champion, deals do not move faster. They slow down.
How buying committees really behave
Committees rarely decide together in one moment. They decide sequentially, often in separate conversations. Operations looks at disruption, Finance looks at exposure, IT looks at security, and leadership looks at reputation.
Each group evaluates the same decision through a different lens. Progress happens only when these lenses converge. Selling to committees is not about persuasion. It is about orchestration.
Why committees slow decisions
Decisions slow when risks are discussed privately but not resolved collectively, when trade-offs are understood by some stakeholders but not others, and when one group feels forced to absorb consequences for another.
In these moments, silence replaces objection.
Buyers stop responding and meetings lose momentum. Sellers often assume disinterest. In reality, buyers are trying to protect alignment.
The seller’s new role: alignment architect
High-performing sellers do not push decisions forward. They hold them together.
They help committees surface unspoken concerns, translate value across functions, and anticipate where consensus may break. Instead of asking who signs this off, they explore where the decision could become uncomfortable internally.
That shift changes everything.
A moment from the field
I remember a conversation with a client sponsoring a transformation initiative. On paper, the decision looked straightforward and the business leader was fully on board. But beneath the surface, Operations feared disruption, Finance worried about sunk cost, and IT was concerned about long-term ownership.
The seller who pushed urgency lost credibility. The seller who facilitated alignment won trust. They created space for concerns, helped sequence internal conversations, and provided language for trade-offs. The committee moved.
What this means for sales teams
Selling to committees requires different skills: broader listening, better framing, and slower pacing at critical moments. Teams that master committee selling reduce deal slippage, improve forecast reliability, and strengthen buyer relationships.
They do not rely on pressure. They rely on clarity.
A self-check for sellers
Before your next multi-stakeholder deal, ask
- whether you have mapped all perspectives or only the loudest one
- whether you understand which risks matter to whom
- whether you are helping the buyer align or asking them to do it alone.
The answers reveal why deals move, or don’t.
In My View
From what I see, committees are not a hurdle. They are a signal of decision maturity. Sellers who learn to work with committees, not around them, build deeper trust and longer-term value.
Alignment closes more deals than persuasion ever did.