Buying Groups Aren't a Sales Thing or a Marketing Thing & That's the Problem

Buying groups and buying committees get talked about constantly in B2B, but in this conversation, Drew argues most organizations are still leaving real value on the table — not because they don't build them, but because they build them in silos. Marketing treats buying groups as a targeting and reporting mechanism. Sales treats them as a deal-management tool. Almost nobody treats them as shared infrastructure between the two functions, and that gap is where alignment quietly breaks down. Drew unpacks both sides. For marketing, a well-defined buying group means laser-focused targeting — knowing exactly who to message, what role they play, and what they actually care about, instead of blasting an entire account. It also means honest attribution: no more crediting marketing touches to people who have no idea the opportunity even exists. For sales, buying groups are a multi-threading and de-risking mechanism. Single-threaded deals are fragile — if your one contact goes dark or your rep suddenly goes on leave, you're starting from zero. A documented buying group means anyone can step in and know exactly who's involved and what their role is. The most useful part of the conversation is the handoff: what actually happens when sales identifies a buying group and passes it to marketing. Drew walks through how marketing should validate that sales is targeting the right people (not just the right titles) using personas and product marketing insight, then layer in targeted one-to-one outreach — LinkedIn audiences, personalized messaging — without shutting off broader account-level marketing like webinars and brand air cover. Done right, this primes buyers before sales ever gets a meeting, so the first conversation starts from a baseline of brand awareness instead of a cold introduction.