We’ve just wrapped up another great B2B Summit event, and buying groups was all the buzz … again. Marketing leaders have built their plans, budgets, metrics, and success based on the lead (marketing-qualified lead, or MQL) for decades now.

But for most organizations we talk to, it’s not working like it used to. That decision-maker who sales wants to talk to isn’t working alone and definitely isn’t taking cold calls or emails. In fact, Forrester’s Buyers’ Journey Survey, 2024, says that on average, 13 people are involved in making a purchasing decision. If your organization is aiming to enhance performance and foster sustainable revenue growth, it’s time to pivot from individual leads to engaging multiple members of the buying group. This shift is not only beneficial but essential.

The Real Opportunity Is Buying Groups

Organizations must shift to looking beyond the lead to the group of individuals involved in making buying decisions. The typical B2B buying group is made up of individuals from different parts of the organization, each with their unique needs and roles in the buying process, including decision-maker, champion, influencer, ratifier, and user.

Engaging with the entire buying group, understanding the roles that each member plays, and catering to their specific needs is the key to unlocking more opportunities and driving growth. Providers that have shifted their focus to buying groups have seen significant benefits, from uncovering more opportunities from hidden prospects and existing engagement to improving sales efficiency.

“It’s all about adding buying group members with the right titles or more deeply qualifying the existing members with the right titles,” said Jeremy Schwartz, senior manager of global lead management and strategy at Palo Alto Networks and Forrester 2025 B2B Program Of The Year Awards Winner. “Our revenue process transformation approach resulted in significant improvements. During the pilot stage, win rates doubled. Upon fully scaling, we saw an 800% increase in opportunity progression to forecast. We also saw a large increase in business development rep conversions and average deal sizes for the quarter that, if applied to our previous year’s results, would have generated an estimated 13% increase in revenue.”

Three Steps To Shift To Buying Groups Today

Ready to make the shift? Here are three steps to get you started today:

  1. Outline the buying group and roles. Think of it as moving from a simple game of checkers to a strategic game of chess. Each member of the buying group plays a different role, from the champion pushing for change to the decision-maker holding the budget. How will your product or solution help each of them?
  2. Connect and package signals for revenue development teams. Once you’ve got a good sense of the buying group, pass that info along to your revenue development reps (also known as business development reps or sales development reps). Equip them with the insights needed to identify and engage other members of the group.
  3. Assemble buying groups and signals in early-stage opportunities. The sooner you can get a clear picture of the buying group in your sales and marketing systems, the better, as your visibility into potential revenue will improve.

Why You Should Make This Shift And Begin Your Revenue Process Transformation

In today’s world, it shouldn’t be a surprise that buyers have more power than ever before and expect more personalized experiences. By focusing on buying groups rather than individual leads, we can meet these expectations, uncover more opportunities, and drive sustainable growth. Plus, aligning marketing, sales, and customer success around the buyer’s journey ensures that we’re all working together to deliver value and a consistent, relevant experience every step of the way.

Making the move to buying groups is not just about improving conversion rates; it’s the shift from being revenue-obsessed to being truly customer-obsessed and better aligned to how businesses make purchasing decisions today. Making the shift to buying groups isn’t new news, but after Summit this year, it’s buying groups for the win.

To learn more about how to embrace the shift to buying groups, check out our latest research, Buying Groups For The Win. Want to know about some of the organizations that have already begun this shift? Hear directly from them in this webinar with Siemens, Palo Alto Networks, and Zendesk.