Call high. Sell to VITO. Find the decision maker. You’ve heard all that before, right? We bet it’s drilled into your head like gospel - this idea that your job is to hunt down some mystical figure at the top of the org chart who’s holding the “yes” stamp and just waiting for your pitch. Well, it's time to delete that idea completely. Like completely. Gone. Evaporated. Recycle bin, empty trash, done. Why? Because there is no such thing as a Decision Maker. Seriously. That person you’re searching for - the one who makes the final call, signs the dotted line, holds all the power? They don’t exist. They’re Bigfoot. They’re the Loch Ness Monster. They’re your high school friend who “day trades crypto for a living.” They’re a myth.
This Is Not Just Semantics
We’re not trying to be clever here. We’re trying to simplify your reality. Because the truth is: There is never a single decision maker. There is always a decision-making process. You might be talking to someone who’s “in charge.” But even they have someone they bounce things off of - a CFO, a partner, a legal team, a board, a spouse, heck, even their favorite golf buddy. Even if you're selling to a sole proprietor, they’ll likely ask their spouse, their assistant, or their business coach for a sanity check. So let’s stop pretending like one person holds all the cards. Instead, let’s get good at navigating the actual landscape. The process.
Why This Mindset Shift Matters
When you chase “the” decision maker,” here’s what happens:
- You spend too long trying to get one person’s attention.
- You discount the influence of other stakeholders.
- You get blindsided by ghosting or surprise objections.
- You miss the chance to build real momentum across a buying team.
Worse: you give up control. You wait on someone else to “decide,” instead of learning how to work the process. And in today’s buying environment? That just doesn’t work. Buying committees are bigger. Budgets are tighter. And internal alignment is a must-have, not a nice-to-have.
So What Do You Do Instead?
You coach yourself and your reps to do this:
1. Assume a process always exists.
Even if no one says it out loud, assume there are multiple people, checkpoints, and steps involved. Don’t be surprised by this. Plan for it.
2. Start mapping it early.
Ask things like:
- “Who else will weigh in on this?”
- “How does this normally go in your org?”
- “When something like this gets approved, what steps are usually involved?”
3. Respect influence over title.
Sometimes it’s not the person with VP in their title who makes the biggest call. It’s the team lead, the power user, or the exec assistant who moves things forward. Pay attention to how people talk, not just where they sit on the org chart.
4. Coach the customer through their own process.
Most buyers don’t know how to buy what you sell. That’s your job. Help them think through next steps, guide the conversation, and create momentum.
This Makes Sales Simpler. And Smarter
When you stop chasing unicorns and start working the process, everything gets clearer. You stop relying on one person. You start building consensus. You protect yourself from surprises. You close more deals, And you do it with more confidence and less drama. This is the kind of thinking that sets great salespeople apart. And it’s exactly the kind of mindset we help develop inside the Blind Zebra Sales Operating System.
Want to Get Good at This?
We build this muscle with our clients all the time, coaching teams to shift away from outdated sales myths and toward a more modern, human, process-aware approach. If that sounds like what your team needs, let’s talk. 👉Book a Coin Toss Convo to learn how BZSOS helps simplify the complex stuff, and helps your team sell with more confidence and less chaos.
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