How to close more deals by selling to the decision-making unit
- Alana Harrison
- May 16
- 5 min read
To close more sales deals, you need to understand who you’re really selling to. Spoiler alert: it’s rarely just one person.
This might be familiar if you’ve worked in B2B sales before. However, if you’re new to B2B and wearing multiple hats, this approach can make the difference between a deal that moves forward and one that drags on. Understanding the full decision-making unit (DMU) and building relationships with the right people across the business will help you close faster and with far fewer surprises.
What is the decision-making unit (DMU) in B2B sales?
The decision-making unit, or DMU, refers to the group of stakeholders involved in a buying decision. These are the people who shape, influence, delay, or approve the deal. In B2B, purchasing decisions are almost always made by a group.
While the structure will vary by company and deal size, here are the most common roles you’ll encounter in a DMU:
Decision maker role | Their role in the decision | Typical job titles |
Initiator | Identifies the problem or need | Operations Lead, Director, IT Manager |
User | Will use the solution or service day-to-day | Customer Support Manager, Product Owner, Technical Lead |
Influencer | Advises on selection. Often provides technical or strategic input | Solution Architect, Finance Manager, Department Analyst |
Buyer | Manages procurement, budgeting, and vendor selection | Procurement Lead, Commercial Manager, Purchasing Officer |
Decider | Has final sign-off authority | Director, VP, COO, Managing Director |
Gatekeeper | Controls access to information or people | Executive Assistant, Admin Lead, IT Admin |
Legal & Compliance | Reviews contracts and manages risk | General Counsel, Compliance Officer, Risk Manage |
You may find that some people may fit into more than one decision maker role. The key is to understand how influence works inside the business, and how decisions are actually made.
Why you need to map the DMU before you sell
You can’t engage the right people if you don’t know who they are.
Start with your ideal customer profile (ICP). Your ICP should be aligned within the revenue team, so make sure you work with revops, marketing, customer success and align with C-suite and product teams.
Once you know which types of companies are a good fit, look at the internal roles that typically get involved in similar deals. Use past wins to spot patterns. Who was on the calls? Who asked the hard questions? Who slowed things down? You can use tools like LinkedIn, your CRM or Gong to help fill in the gaps, but simple research and conversations often get you further.
When you map the DMU early, you avoid surprises later. You can plan your approach, tailor your message, and bring the right people into the conversation at the right time.
How many people are Involved in a typical B2B deal?
Most B2B sales involve more people than you think. According to Gartner, the average buying group includes six to ten stakeholders. In enterprise deals, it’s often more.
A recent study found that salespeople expected to deal with three people on average, but in practice, they were dealing with over six. That gap leads to missed opportunities, stalled timelines, and inaccurate forecasts. A good working assumption is that any deal of reasonable size will involve five to seven people. They won’t all be vocal, but they’ll all have an opinion and influence.
This is all multithreading - so what is multithreading?
Multithreading refers to building relationships with multiple people within the same account. Rather than relying on a single champion to push things through, you engage the whole decision-making unit.
It doesn’t mean contacting everyone at once. It means knowing who matters, why they matter, and making sure their needs are being addressed. You can do this through direct contact, shared content, or targeted messaging. The key is to ensure that each key person sees value and feels included.
Why multithreading helps you win more deals
Multithreaded deals are less fragile. If your only contact goes quiet, the deal doesn’t collapse. If someone raises an objection, you’ve already built trust with others who can help address it.
You also get a clearer view of what’s going on. Each stakeholder sees the deal through a different lens. Legal wants to reduce risk. Finance wants a return. Users want to make sure it won’t make their job harder. You can’t answer those concerns unless you’ve heard them.
It also makes you look credible. You’re not just trying to close a deal, you’re taking the time to understand how the business works and what success looks like for different people.
How to multithread effectively
Start with a basic map of who you expect to be involved based on your ICP. Don’t wait for your champion to introduce you to everyone — take responsibility for reaching out.
As you build relationships, keep it relevant. The questions a CFO asks are different from those asked by a product manager. Tailor your message. Focus on what they care about.
Make sure your team is aligned. Sales and marketing should be targeting the same stakeholders with consistent messages. If you’re running ABM, your campaigns should help warm up the people you want to reach.
Always be closing: multithreading in action
Before the call: Make sure you record the meeting and review it afterwards. This helps with individual follow-ups and lets you pick up on details you might have missed.
After the call: Within 24 hours (ideally sooner), send a follow-up to all participants in a single email thread. Recap what was discussed, agreed, and what’s happening next. Then take the time to follow up with each person individually. Write down the questions or concerns each person raised. Respond to them with relevant, specific answers. If someone mentioned a key pain point or success metric, reflect that back and give them something useful to move the conversation forward.
If 5 people were on the call, that means 5 follow-ups. It takes extra time, but sellers consistently report that this improves deal velocity and increases closed-won rates.
Does it work? Yes, it does. Anecdotally, I've seen it contribute to a 56% uplift in close rate and a meaningful reduction in sales cycle length.
This is just good sales
Speaking to the right people and following up properly isn’t an advanced strategy; it’s just best practice. The kind that helps you build trust, spot issues early, and keep deals on track.
It’s not about doing more for the sake of it. It’s about doing the right things with the right people. If you’re in a long sales cycle or dealing with bigger accounts, this makes a real difference.
If you need help applying this approach across your team or thinking through how it could work in your pipeline, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
