Why "Buyer Persona" Is Often the Wrong Focus in B2B Sales

I was recently speaking with a founder who asked me to help him identify the buyer persona for his B2B SaaS product. It's a common request, and one that reveals a fundamental misunderstanding about how B2B purchasing actually works.

Unfortunately, the truth is: in B2B, there is no single buyer persona.

This revelation often surprises founders, especially those coming from B2C backgrounds or following traditional marketing playbooks. But understanding this distinction is critical to your success in B2B sales.

The B2C vs B2B Buying Reality

In B2C, the buyer persona framework works beautifully. The person who researches the product, makes the purchase decision, and uses the product is typically the same individual. You can create a detailed persona of "Sarah, the 35-year-old yoga enthusiast" and effectively target your entire marketing and sales effort toward that single archetype.

But B2B is fundamentally different.

Unlike B2C, the end user is nearly never the decision maker or the one who pays for the solution. The person who will benefit most from your product often has the least influence over whether it gets purchased.

The B2B Stakeholder System

Instead, selling in B2B means navigating a system of stakeholders, each with their own priorities, concerns, and influence levels. Here's who you're really dealing with:

1. The End User Persona

Who they are: The person who will actually use your solution day-to-day.

What they care about:

• Ease of use and user experience
• How it makes their job easier
• Time savings and efficiency gains
• Features that solve their specific pain points
• Training and support availability

Their influence level: Often limited. They can advocate for a solution, but rarely have budget authority.

Common mistake: Founders fall in love with end user enthusiasm and assume that translates to a sale. It doesn't.

2. The Manager/Director (The Recommender Persona)

Who they are: The mid-level manager sitting above the end user, typically a Director or Manager.

What they care about:

• Team productivity and performance metrics
• ROI and efficiency improvements
• How it affects their KPIs
• Implementation disruption to the team
• Their budget constraints (often limited spending power)

Their influence level: Moderate. They can recommend and champion solutions but often need approval from above for significant purchases.

Common mistake: Getting a "yes" from this level and thinking you've closed the deal, only to discover they need executive approval.

3. The VP/Executive (The Decision Maker Persona)

Who they are: The true decision maker with budget authority – typically a VP, C-level executive, or business unit leader.

What they care about:

• Strategic alignment with company goals
• Total cost of ownership
• Risk mitigation
• Competitive advantage
• Scalability and long-term value
• Impact on company-wide metrics

Their influence level: High to ultimate. They can say yes or no, and their decision is typically final.

Common mistake: Never reaching this level, or reaching them without having done the groundwork to understand their strategic priorities.

4. The IT Department (The Gatekeeper/Technical Evaluator Persona)

Who they are: IT, DevOps, Security, or Technical Architecture teams.

What they care about:

• Security and compliance
• Integration with existing systems
• Technical architecture fit
• Maintenance and support requirements
• Technical debt and complexity

Their influence level: Varies from advisory to absolute veto power. They can be a Decision Maker, Recommender, or Saboteur depending on the organization.

Common mistake: Ignoring IT until late in the sales process, only to have them kill the deal over technical objections.

5. Finance/Procurement (The Saboteur Persona)

Who they are: Finance, Procurement, or Legal departments.

What they care about:

• Cost and budget impact
• Contract terms and risk
• Vendor reliability and financial health
• Standardization and consolidation
• Compliance and regulatory requirements

Their influence level: Almost always an influencer, often with veto power. They may not be able to say "yes," but they can definitely say "no."

Common mistake: Treating them as a rubber stamp on contracts rather than a key stakeholder to be won over early.

The Fundamental Shift: From Persona to Process

This complexity means you're not selling to "a buyer persona." You're selling into a decision process inside each company.

Every organization has its own unique decision-making dynamics:

• Who has influence vs. authority
• How budgets are allocated
• What the approval process looks like
• Who are the champions vs. the blockers
• What the political dynamics are

Two companies of the same size in the same industry can have radically different buying processes. This is why the traditional "buyer persona" approach falls short – it focuses on individual characteristics rather than organizational dynamics.

The Implication for Customer Discovery

This organizational complexity has profound implications for how you conduct customer discovery.

You need to interview at least 3, potentially 5 people per company to get a true impression of their decision-making process.

If you're only talking to end users, you're getting an incomplete picture. You might build something they love, only to discover it can't get past procurement, doesn't align with IT's architecture, or isn't strategic enough for the executive team.

Learn more about conducting effective customer research through systematic user interviews.

The Three Critical Questions

During customer discovery, there are three questions you should gently interweave into your conversations. (Pro tip: don't ask them directly – make them part of natural conversation.)

1. What is the decision-making process in this company?

What you're really asking:

• Who needs to approve this type of purchase?
• What's the typical timeline?
• What criteria do different stakeholders use?
• Who has been involved in similar decisions in the past?
• What does the approval process look like?

How to ask it naturally:

• "When you've adopted new tools in the past, what did that process look like?"
• "Who typically needs to be involved in a decision like this?"
• "Walk me through how your team evaluated [similar tool]..."

2. What is the spending climate right now?

What you're really asking:

• Is budget available?
• Are they in growth mode or cost-cutting mode?
• What are the budget approval thresholds?
• What's the economic environment affecting the company?
• Are there upcoming budget cycles to be aware of?

How to ask it naturally:

• "How is the company thinking about investments in [your category] right now?"
• "Have there been any changes to how budget decisions are made?"
• "What other priorities are competing for budget this quarter/year?"

3. How can you make all five personas feel like they are winning?

What you're really asking:

• What does success look like for each stakeholder?
• What are the unique concerns of each group?
• How can you position your solution to address everyone's needs?
• Who are your potential champions and detractors?

How to ask it naturally:

• "Beyond your team, who else cares about solving this problem?"
• "What concerns might [IT/Finance/Leadership] have about a solution like this?"
• "How do you typically get buy-in from other departments?"

Creating a Stakeholder Map: Your Buyer Persona Template

For each target company in your customer discovery, create a stakeholder map that includes:

For Each Stakeholder Type

Role & Influence:

• What is their title and function?
• What level of influence do they have (Champion, Decision Maker, Recommender, Influencer, Saboteur)?
• Can they say yes? Can they say no?

Motivations:

• What are they trying to achieve?
• What metrics do they care about?
• What would make them look good to their boss?

Concerns & Objections:

• What might make them hesitant?
• What are their risk factors?
• What could cause them to block the purchase?

Information Needs:

• What do they need to know to feel confident?
• What format do they prefer (technical docs, ROI models, case studies)?
• Who do they trust for recommendations?

How to Build Buyer Personas for Each Stakeholder Type

Once you understand the landscape, tailor your messaging and materials for each persona:

For End Users

• Focus on usability and immediate benefits
• Provide demos and trials
• Gather testimonials from similar users
• Make implementation seem easy

For Managers/Directors

• Show productivity gains and efficiency metrics
• Demonstrate ROI at the team level
• Provide implementation timelines
• Address change management concerns

For Executives

• Connect to strategic objectives
• Show total cost of ownership
• Demonstrate competitive advantage
• Present long-term value and scalability

For IT

• Provide technical documentation
• Address security and compliance proactively
• Show integration capabilities
• Discuss support and SLAs

For Finance/Procurement

• Create clear ROI models
• Demonstrate vendor stability
• Offer flexible contract terms
• Show cost comparisons and total value

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

1. The End User Enthusiasm Trap Getting strong validation from end users but not understanding the broader stakeholder landscape. End users love your product, but it never gets purchased.

2. The Single-Threaded Relationship Building a relationship with only one person in the organization. When they leave or lose influence, your deal dies.

3. The Late-Stage Surprise Not involving key stakeholders (especially IT and Finance) until late in the process, leading to unexpected objections and delays.

4. The Feature-First Approach Leading with features rather than understanding each stakeholder's unique decision criteria and concerns.

5. The One-Size-Fits-All Pitch Using the same pitch for all stakeholders instead of customizing your message for each audience.

Making It Practical: Your Action Plan

Here's how to immediately apply this multi-stakeholder approach to your customer discovery:

Phase 1: Initial Research (Week 1-2)

1. Map the typical stakeholder landscape for your target market
2. Identify which personas are most critical in your space
3. Create hypothesis about what each stakeholder cares about

Phase 2: Broad Discovery (Week 3-8)

1. Interview at least 3-5 people per target company
2. Cover different stakeholder types across multiple companies
3. Ask the three critical questions in each conversation
4. Document patterns in decision-making processes

Phase 3: Deep Dive (Week 9-12)

1. Analyze cross-stakeholder themes and conflicts
2. Map the decision process for each organization
3. Identify common objections by stakeholder type
4. Create stakeholder-specific value propositions

Phase 4: Validation (Week 13-16)

1. Test your understanding with new conversations
2. Validate your messaging with each stakeholder type
3. Refine your approach based on feedback
4. Build stakeholder-specific materials (decks, one-pagers, ROI calculators)

The Bottom Line

When you shift from thinking about "the buyer persona" to understanding "the stakeholder system," you unlock the actual path to adoption in B2B.

Remember:

• It's less about who you sell to
• And more about how decisions get made

Every B2B purchase is a complex dance of competing priorities, organizational politics, and multi-stakeholder alignment. Your job as a founder isn't to find the perfect buyer persona – it's to understand and navigate this complexity.

The companies that win in B2B aren't those with the best product. They're the ones who understand that purchasing is an organizational process, not an individual decision. They invest time in understanding each stakeholder's perspective, address concerns proactively, and build consensus across the entire decision-making system.

Next Steps

Audit your current approach:

1. How many different stakeholder types have you interviewed at each target company?
2. Do you have a clear map of the decision-making process for your target market?
3. Have you created messaging and materials for each stakeholder type?

Expand your discovery:

• Identify gaps in your stakeholder coverage
• Schedule conversations with under-represented persona types
• Ask the three critical questions in your next interviews
• Build stakeholder maps for your highest-priority target companies

Develop stakeholder-specific assets:

• Create tailored messaging for each persona
• Build materials that address specific concerns
• Develop ROI models for economic buyers
• Prepare technical documentation for IT stakeholders

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Related Resources

Explore more resources on customer discovery, user interviews, and market validation in our resources section.

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Are you only talking to one type of stakeholder in your customer discovery? You might be missing critical insights that could make or break your sales success. Customer Lens helps you systematically map stakeholder landscapes and understand the full decision-making process in your target market. Let's ensure you're talking to the right people and asking the right questions.