sales-account-map

What this skill does

# Map the Buying Committee

Help the user map the full buying committee at a target account — identify who's involved in the purchase decision, what role each person plays, and how to multi-thread the account effectively. This skill is platform-agnostic but references Apollo.io as the primary data source for finding and enriching contacts. The same approach works with ZoomInfo, Cognism, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, or any contact database.

## Step 1 — Gather context


If `references/learnings.md` exists, read it first for accumulated knowledge.

Ask the user:

1. **Which account are you targeting?** (Company name, size, industry)

2. **What are you selling?**
   - Product/service category
   - Approximate deal size (affects committee size and complexity)
   - Which department does it primarily affect?

3. **Where are you in the process?**
   - A) Prospecting — haven't engaged anyone yet
   - B) Single-threaded — talking to one person, need to expand
   - C) Active deal — have some contacts, need to map the full committee
   - D) Stuck deal — need to find the missing stakeholder(s)

4. **What do you know already?**
   - Any existing contacts at the account?
   - Any org chart intel (reporting structure, team size)?
   - Any intel on their buying process?

5. **Company size?** (This determines committee complexity)
   - A) SMB (1-200 employees) — expect 1-3 decision-makers
   - B) Mid-market (200-2,000 employees) — expect 3-6 stakeholders
   - C) Enterprise (2,000+ employees) — expect 5-12+ stakeholders

**If the user's request already provides most of this context, skip directly to the relevant step.** Lead with your best-effort answer using reasonable assumptions (stated explicitly), then ask only the most critical 1-2 clarifying questions at the end — don't gate your response behind gathering complete context.

## Step 2 — Identify the committee roles

Map expected roles using this framework:

### Buying committee roles

| Role | What they do | How to identify | Typical titles |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Economic Buyer** | Has budget authority, signs the check | Highest-ranking person in the buying org; often VP+ or C-suite | VP/SVP/CRO/CFO/CTO depending on what you sell |
| **Champion** | Wants your product to win, advocates internally | Has the problem you solve, engaged in conversations, asks for resources to share internally | Director/Senior Manager who owns the problem |
| **Technical Evaluator** | Vets the product technically | Asks detailed technical questions, runs POCs, owns integration | Architect, Staff Engineer, IT Manager, Solutions team |
| **User Buyer** | Will use the product daily | Cares about workflow, UX, and day-to-day impact | Individual contributors, team leads, end users |
| **Coach** | Gives you intel on internal politics and process | Usually someone you have a relationship with; may not have buying authority | Any level — could be a former customer, mutual connection, or friendly contact |
| **Gatekeeper/Blocker** | Can slow or kill the deal | Owns competing budget, prefers a competitor, or has political reasons to oppose | Procurement, Legal, IT Security, or a peer of the Champion who prefers the status quo |

### Scaling the committee by company size

| Company size | Roles to map | Contacts to find |
|---|---|---|
| **SMB (1-200)** | Economic Buyer + Champion (often the same person), maybe 1 Technical Evaluator | 2-3 contacts |
| **Mid-market (200-2,000)** | Economic Buyer, Champion, Technical Evaluator, 1-2 User Buyers | 4-6 contacts |
| **Enterprise (2,000+)** | All 6 roles, potentially multiple people per role (committee of 8-12+) | 6-12 contacts |

## Step 3 — Find the people

### Using Apollo People Search

For the target account, run a People Search with these filters:
- **Company**: Exact match on company name
- **Seniority**: Start broad (Manager+), then narrow based on what you sell
- **Department**: Filter to the relevant function (Engineering, Sales, Marketing, Finance, IT, etc.)
- **Title keywords**: Search for title patterns that match each committee role

### Interpreting org structure from data

Apollo (and most data providers) don't show reporting lines directly. Reconstruct the org chart by:

1. **Seniority mapping**: Group contacts by seniority level (C-suite → VP → Director → Manager → IC)
2. **Department clustering**: Group by department to see team structure
3. **Title analysis**: Look for "Head of" (usually reports to VP/C-suite), "Senior Director" (reports to VP), etc.
4. **Team size inference**: If a department has 3 Directors and 1 VP, the VP likely oversees them all

### Finding "hidden" influencers

The most important person in the deal often doesn't have an obvious title:
- **The IC who's actually the technical decision-maker**: Look for Staff/Principal Engineers, Distinguished Architects — they may not have "manager" in their title but their recommendation carries more weight than their manager's
- **The admin/EA who controls the executive's calendar**: Knowing who gates access to the Economic Buyer matters for enterprise deals
- **Recently promoted people**: Someone who just became a Director may be more open to new approaches than a 10-year VP

### Enrich contacts

For each committee member identified, enrich to get:
- Verified email address
- Direct phone number (for Economic Buyer and Champion at minimum)
- LinkedIn profile URL
- Job tenure (how long in current role — new leaders are more open to change)
- Previous companies (look for connections — did they use your product before?)

### In ZoomInfo
- **Org Charts** — ZoomInfo provides pre-built organizational charts showing reporting hierarchies. Available in SalesOS for any company in their database.
- **Buying committee identification** — filter contacts at a target account by department, seniority level, and management level to map economic buyer, champion, technical evaluator, and end users.
- **Scoops** — buying signals that reveal internal projects, vendor evaluations, and budget approvals — useful for identifying which stakeholders are involved in an active buying process.
- **Intent + Org Chart** — combine intent signals (which accounts are researching) with org charts (who the decision-makers are) for targeted multi-threading.
- **Engage integration** — once you've mapped the buying committee, push contacts directly to ZoomInfo Engage sequences for multi-threaded outreach.
- **API** — use Search Contacts with companyId + department/managementLevel filters to programmatically build buying committee maps.

## Step 4 — Map relationships & entry strategy

### Org chart reconstruction

Build a visual mental model of the account:

```
                    [Economic Buyer]
                     /           \
            [Champion]          [Potential Blocker]
            /        \                |
  [Tech Evaluator] [User Buyer]  [Their Champion]
```

### Choosing your entry point

| Situation | Recommended entry | Why |
|---|---|---|
| No existing contacts | Champion or Coach | They have the problem, they'll advocate. Going straight to the C-suite without context usually fails. |
| Have one contact | Ask them to introduce you up or across | Warm introductions convert 5-10x better than cold outreach |
| Active deal, single-threaded | Technical Evaluator or User Buyer | Expand laterally before going up — build consensus first |
| Stuck deal | Coach (for intel) or Economic Buyer (direct escalation) | Find out what's blocking before escalating |

### Multi-threading strategy

**The goal**: Engage 3+ contacts at different levels of the org before a decision is made. Single-threaded deals close at 1/3 the rate of multi-threaded deals.

**"Power line" vs "access line"** approach:
- **Power line** (top-down): Start with the Economic Buyer, get referred down. Works when you have executive relationships or strong brand recognition.
- **Access line** (bottom-up): Start with the Champion or User Buyer, build consensus, then get introduced up. Works