Mapping the Internal Market: Finding Fit with the Right People in B2B Sales

Good morning from a chilly Düsseldorf.

Ever had a deal stall, even when the customer loves your product? Here’s the thing: companies don’t buy products—people do.

Inside every organisation is an internal market of individuals, each with their own needs, priorities, and influence over buying decisions.

Most marketing teams focus on end-users—the people who feel the most pain and stand to gain the most from a new product or service. But B2B sales is about more than these roles; it's about navigating an internal marketplace of customers, where each person plays a distinct role with unique jobs, pains, and gains.

Winning teams systematically find fit across all key people involved in the buying process—not just those who champion the product.

The Challenge: Fit Isn’t One-Size-Fits-All

Focusing solely on end-users and decision-makers overlooks critical voices—like economic buyers, influencers, and saboteurs—that can stall or even derail deals.

Key customer types include:

• The Champion (often End User): Loves your product but doesn’t control the budget.

• The Decision-Maker: Weighs business priorities and ROI.

• The Economic Buyer: Holds the purse strings, focused on risk and return.

• The Influencer: Shapes opinions and can sway decisions.

• The Recommender: Advocates for or against solutions based on expertise.

• The Saboteur (IT, Procurement, etc.): Flags hidden costs, security risks, or disruptions to the status quo.

The key is identifying which roles matter most for your product and mapping fit for each of them.

How to Find Fit with Every Customer Type

Each role has unique jobs, pains, and gains to consider:

• Jobs to be Done: What are they trying to achieve?

• Pains: What frustrates or blocks them?

• Gains: What does success look like for them?

Align your proposition by tailoring your value map:

• Pain relievers that address specific concerns for each role.

• Gain creators that highlight personal benefits to them.

Research for Fit, Not Just Feedback

If you’re not considering economic buyers or potential saboteurs, you’re missing key insights. Base your assumptions on input from every customer type to ensure you’re validating fit across the organisation.

📝 Free Template

To help, we’ve created a free Mural template with pre-built customer profiles. Use it to map fit across the organisation.

FREE TEMPLATE - COMPANY PROFILES MARKETPLACE

Once you’ve mapped out your customer profiles and identified key assumptions, engage directly with people who fit these profiles in your target companies.

Test your assumptions through 1:1 conversations to validate or challenge your understanding on their jobs, pains and gains.

Marketing-Led Sales: The Key to Winning Deals

When marketing understands these profiles, it can equip sales with powerful insights, turning generic pitches into focused conversations.

This isn’t about sales working harder; it’s about marketing leading the charge. By providing the right insights, messaging, and tools; marketing helps sales navigate complex, multi-customer deals with confidence.

When sales and marketing work together, they don’t just find fit—they create it.

The Best Fit Wins.

In B2B sales, success isn’t about having the best pitch; it’s about systematically finding and proving fit with every person in the buying process.

Are you mapping fit for every key player, or just the one who replies to your emails?

Speak soon,
Peter

P.S. Know someone navigating the challenges of B2B sales and marketing? Please share this with them—it might be just what they need!