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In a long sales process, connect with multiple stakeholders across the prospect's organization. This creates broad visibility, sparking internal conversations where contacts introduce you to each other, effectively building your deal from the inside out.

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Shift the fundamental "through line" of your sales process from persuasion to collaboration. Instead of a lone salesperson trying to convince a buyer, think of it as a band practice: bringing in experts, client stakeholders, and internal teams to collectively work towards the best outcome.

Shift the sales objective from closing a single transaction to opening a long-term relationship. By staying engaged post-sale, you convert customers into an active, unpaid sales force that drives referral business.

Rather than approaching executives first, prospect the individual contributors who will actually use your solution. By creating internal champions at the user level, you generate a 'gravitational pull' that brings you into executive conversations with pre-built support, making decision-makers more receptive to your message.

Don't save your big pitch for a single C-suite meeting. Having the same strategic conversation with multiple people across the organization has compounding benefits. It builds broad consensus, establishes you as the go-to expert, deepens your client knowledge, and makes you better at delivering the message each time.

In large, multi-divisional companies, different departments often operate in silos. By identifying common needs and bringing stakeholders from different divisions together, a sales rep becomes a strategic partner and dramatically increases the deal's overall ROI.

In complex enterprise sales, don't rely solely on your champion. Proactively connect with every member of the buying committee using personal touches like video messages. This builds a network of allies who can provide crucial information and help salvage a deal if it stalls.

Top decision-makers are often inaccessible. Instead of direct outreach, use a "multi-threading" approach by building relationships with 5-10 other people in their organization. These internal advocates can provide intelligence and eventually carry your message and credibility to the ultimate decision-maker, bypassing their usual defenses. This lengthens the sales cycle but is essential for large deals.

Data from LinkedIn Sales Solutions reveals sales teams engaging multiple stakeholders are 34% more likely to win a deal. This counters the common strategy of focusing on a single champion, as complex buying decisions typically involve four to seven influencers. A singular connection is fragile, whereas a web of connections is resilient.

Effective multi-threading isn't just about engaging multiple customer stakeholders. It also means strategically deploying your own team members—like founders, product experts, or engineers—at key moments. This "team sport" approach builds buyer confidence and de-risks complex enterprise deals.

To avoid relying on a single contact, immediately leverage a secured meeting to book several more with adjacent stakeholders. Being transparent about this outreach prevents your champion from becoming a gatekeeper and rapidly builds wide support across the organization.

Turn Prospects into Advocates by Multi-Threading Across Departments | RiffOn