Research shows half the buying committee consists of "invisible buyers" (e.g., C-suite, procurement) that sales can't access but who hold veto power. Marketing's primary ABM role is to build brand trust and familiarity with this hidden cohort to prevent them from killing a deal due to unfamiliarity with your solution.

Don't overwhelm an enterprise buying committee by pitching all of your product's features. Instead, survey each member to find the 2-3 features that resonate most broadly. Focus all messaging and demos on just those features to create a clear, concentrated value proposition.

Salespeople, tired of deals being killed by unknown stakeholders, are increasingly initiating the move to a buying group model. They are now asking their marketing counterparts for help engaging the entire committee, reversing the traditional flow of strategy.

After a group discovery call, don't just set one follow-up. Schedule brief, individual breakout sessions with every stakeholder. This creates multiple parallel threads, uncovers honest feedback people won't share in a group, and builds momentum across the entire buying committee, dramatically increasing deal velocity.

Enterprise deals often stall because the large buying committee isn't aligned. A mutual action plan (MAP), ideally in a shared digital sales room, gets everyone on the same page by outlining the necessary steps for the deal to close, preventing delays and confusion.

Instead of just asking about stakeholders, physically get your champion in front of a whiteboard (or a virtual equivalent) to draw the org chart. This visual process prompts them to reveal crucial details about influence, priorities, and political dynamics you wouldn't otherwise get.

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.

The current trend of treating "buying groups" as a new concept is misguided. Effective ABM has always required comprehensive stakeholder mapping from the very beginning. If you haven't been engaging the entire buying group, you haven't been doing ABM correctly.

The first step in aligning brand and ABX is not tactical planning but narrative alignment. Bring sales, marketing, and brand leaders together and ask: 'If a buying group engages with us, will they hear one story or three?' Only when the answer is 'one story' are you ready to integrate efforts.