Mapping the People Behind the Purchase Decision
A structured view of the roles, priorities, influence patterns, objections, and information needs involved in the buying process.
The buying-group framework gives marketing, sales, revenue operations, solutions, and customer teams one shared model for understanding who owns the problem, who shapes the evaluation, who approves the investment, and who must adopt the result.
The Fairway Decision Network Model™
Map the stakeholder network and define the role each person plays across problem recognition, evaluation, and approval.
Problem Owner
Experiences the operational problem the solution addresses.
Champion
Actively supports the change and navigates the organization.
Economic Buyer
Controls the financial commitment and evaluates the business case.
Executive Sponsor
Provides organizational authority and connects to enterprise priorities.
Evaluators & Gatekeepers
Technical, Operational, Procurement, and Risk functions.
Why a Buying-Group Framework Matters
Without a shared buying-group model, teams often over-rely on one enthusiastic contact, discover critical stakeholders too late, and send the same message to people with very different responsibilities.
Common Symptoms Solved
- × Opportunities depend heavily on a single primary contact
- × Economic buyers enter the process late
- × Technical and security requirements appear unexpectedly
- × Marketing targets personas without understanding decision influence
- × Opportunities advance without true cross-functional alignment
- × Executive sponsors receive product pitches instead of a business case
Strategic Decisions Enabled
- ✓ Which buying roles are normally required
- ✓ Who owns the problem and who owns the budget
- ✓ Who can accelerate or block the decision
- ✓ What proof and content belong with each role
- ✓ When coverage is sufficient for opportunity progression
- ✓ Which relationship gaps require immediate attention
What Is Included
Buying Roles
Functional roles people perform, independent of job titles.
Role-to-Title Mapping
Common titles and functions associated with each role.
Priorities & Measures
Outcomes and KPIs that shape each stakeholder’s perspective.
Influence Patterns
How stakeholders shape, block, or accelerate the decision.
Information Needs
Evidence, assets, and messages required by each role.
Progression Rules
Standards to determine if coverage is sufficient to advance.
View the Sample Buying-Group Framework
Explore the representative pages that map AeroGrid’s problem owners, champions, economic buyers, sponsors, evaluators, approvers, and users.
- Page 01 Buying-Group Summary
- Page 02 Role Definitions
- Page 03 Role-to-Title Mapping
- Page 04 Problem Owner & Champion
- Page 05 Economic & Exec Sponsor
- Page 06 Evaluators
- Page 07 Procurement, Risk & Users
- Page 08 Influence Patterns
- Page 09 Information Needs Matrix
- Page 10 Engagement Sequence
- Page 11 Coverage Model
- Page 12 Progression Rules
- Page 13 Account Example
- Page 14 CRM Requirements
- Page 15 Measurement
- Page 16 Governance
AeroGrid Buying-Group Framework
The roles, influence patterns, priorities, and information needs behind a portfolio energy-performance decision.
Buying-Group Summary
The Decision Network in One View
The retailer cannot consistently identify, prioritize, assign, and verify location-level actions that reduce avoidable energy cost.
Ex: VP of Facilities
Priority: Improve performance with limited resources.
Ex: Dir of Facilities Performance
Priority: Build support & prove operational value.
Ex: CFO / Finance VP
Priority: Validate financial impact & investment.
Ex: Chief Operating Officer
Priority: Connect initiative to margin & priorities.
Ex: IT Director, Regional Ops
Priority: Confirm feasibility, security & workflow.
Ex: Legal, Security, Analysts
Priority: Control risk and minimize daily burden.
- • Confirmed problem owner
- • Active champion
- • Identified economic buyer
- • Tech/Ops evaluation owners
- • Exec relevance
Buying-Group Role Definitions
The Role Each Person Plays
| Role | Responsibility | Influence Type | Can Block By... |
|---|---|---|---|
| Problem Owner | Defines operating problem; determines if solution meets need. | High operational | Treating the issue as a low-priority analytical problem. |
| Champion | Advocates internally; helps navigate the org. | High informal | Lacking credibility or access to other stakeholders. |
| Economic Buyer | Approves investment; evaluates business case. | High formal | Rejecting the expected return, timing, or risk. |
| Executive Sponsor | Provides org authority; links to enterprise priorities. | High strategic | Withholding attention or strategic endorsement. |
| Technical Eval. | Confirms integration, governance, and security. | High approval | Raising late-stage architecture or security concerns. |
| Operational Eval. | Evaluates workflow fit and practical usability. | High implementation | Identifying unacceptable burden or process conflict. |
| Procurement & Risk | Controls commercial, legal, and compliance approval. | Formal gatekeeping | Delaying or rejecting contract/policy terms. |
| User/Implementer | Determines if solution can be adopted daily. | Practical/Adoption | Rejecting the process as complex or impractical. |
Role-to-Title Mapping
How to Find the Buying Group
Exec: VP of Facilities, VP of Energy. Dir/Mgr: Director of Facilities, Dir. of Energy Mgt.
Dir/Mgr: Dir. of Facilities Analytics, Energy Program Dir., Portfolio Performance Mgr.
Exec: CFO, SVP Finance. Dir/Mgr: Finance Dir., Capital Planning Dir.
Exec: COO, EVP Operations. Dir/Mgr: Sr. Dir. of Ops Transformation.
Exec: CIO, CTO. Dir/Mgr: Enterprise Architecture Dir., Data Platform Dir.
Problem Owner & Champion Profiles
The Roles That Create Momentum
Priorities: Focus limited resources, reduce avoidable cost, improve action visibility, demonstrate operational results.
Key Questions: How will AeroGrid identify the issues that matter most? How much additional work will this create?
Objections: We already have dashboards; the team lacks capacity; our locations are too different to compare.
Required Proof: Prioritization workflow, comparable-location methodology.
Engagement: Operational discovery & workflow demo.
Priorities: Build a credible internal case, solve a visible problem, gain recognition, reduce manual analysis.
Key Questions: Can I explain this internally? Will it create an early result? Which stakeholders must be involved?
Objections: I may lack authority; finance may reject the case; IT may see this as just another integration.
Required Proof: Business-case template, pilot structure.
Engagement: Collaborative discovery & stakeholder coaching.
Economic & Executive Profiles
The Roles That Authorize Change
Priorities: Validate the economic case, understand timing/payback, separate estimates from results.
Key Questions: What is the expected financial impact? How is it estimated? How will it be verified?
Objections: Savings case is uncertain; we already fund other efficiency programs.
Required Proof: Financial methodology, before-and-after verification model, customer outcome.
Engagement: Concise executive case & measurable next steps.
Priorities: Improve performance, reduce hidden leakage, create accountability, scale without local burden.
Key Questions: Why does this matter at the enterprise level? Which teams must align? What changes operationally?
Objections: Issue may be too narrow; initiative may compete with larger priorities.
Required Proof: Enterprise outcome, cross-functional operating model, portfolio evidence.
Engagement: Strategic narrative & operating model alignment.
Evaluators, Gatekeepers & Users
Feasibility, Risk, and Adoption
Priorities: Architecture fit, data access, security, supportability.
Objection: Integration effort is too high; security requirements unclear.
Priorities: Workflow practicality, local burden, completion.
Objection: Creates additional process; local teams won't adopt.
Priorities: Data protection, compliance, commercial terms.
Objection: Terms inconsistent with policy; vendor risk.
Priorities: Ease of use, clear tasks, reliable support.
Objection: Takes too much time; recommendations impractical.
Influence and Decision Patterns
How the Buying Group Shapes the Outcome
| Role | Formal Auth. | Informal Influence | Decision Stage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Problem Owner | Medium | High | Problem recognition & evaluation |
| Champion | Low to Med | High | Mobilization & internal coordination |
| Economic Buyer | High | High | Financial approval |
| Executive Sponsor | High | High | Strategic alignment & conflict resolution |
| Tech Evaluator | Med to High | Medium | Technical & risk approval |
Information Needs & Engagement Sequence
What They Need and When They Need It
Q: Will this help us act on the right issues?
Proof: Workflow & comparable-location example.
Asset: Portfolio prioritization brief.
Q: Is the value credible and worth it?
Proof: Financial methodology & verified outcome.
Asset: Executive business case.
Coverage Model & Progression Rules
How to Measure Relationship Depth
One confirmed problem owner/champion. Broader network unknown. Hold in Discovery.
Problem owner, champion, and ops evaluator engaged. Needs economic/tech validation to move to Evaluation.
Ops, economic, exec, and tech roles identified/engaged. Required for Approval stage.
Major decision roles engaged, aligned, and connected to shared outcome/mutual plan.
Example Account Buying Group
Applying the Framework to NorthStar Retail
Stakeholder Map: Qualified Stage
- • Economic buyer not engaged
- • Executive sponsor not confirmed
- • Technical validation incomplete
- • Equip champion with finance-ready case.
- • Request intro to finance owner.
- • Do NOT advance stage until relevance is validated.
CRM, Measurement & Governance
Operationalizing the Buying Group
- • Buying Role: Multi-select picklist on Account-Contact relationship.
- • Role Confidence: Verified, Probable, Inferred.
- Support Level: Advocate, Supportive, Neutral, Cautious, Opposed.
- Coverage Level: Calculated field (L0 to L4).
- • Single-threaded opportunity rate.
- • Time to multi-threading.
- • Win rate by buying-group depth.
- • Critical role gaps by stage.
1. Titles suggest a role, but conversation validates it.
2. Role confidence must be stored separately from the role itself.
3. Support and influence must be continuously reviewed.
Note: AeroGrid Systems and all associated roles, priorities, objections, and coverage rules are fictional. This sample demonstrates the structure of a Fairway engagement.
How Teams Use the Buying-Group Framework
The model becomes the shared foundation for account research, ABM, outbound, sales qualification, opportunity management, content, and customer handoff.
Product Marketing
Define role-specific priorities, messages, proof, objections, and content requirements.
Demand Generation
Build buying-role audiences and coordinate multi-stakeholder ABM engagement.
Sales Development
Identify likely problem owners, champions, and additional roles before outreach.
Account Executives
Map influence, expand coverage, manage objections, and advance opportunities.
Revenue Operations
Implement role fields, relationship data, coverage calculations, and qualification gates.
Customer Success
Ensure implementers and users are involved before the buying process ends.
Buying-Group Framework Review Checklist
Is the buying group mapped well enough to support the decision?
Explore Related Artifacts
Firmographic Rules
Defines the account-level eligibility and priority used before buying-group activation begins.
Scoring & Tiering Model
Combines fit, value, intent, and buying-group evidence into an account-prioritization method.
ICP & Segment Definition
Return to the complete capability overview and deliverable system.