The deal was going well. Three meetings, positive feedback, your champion was enthusiastic. Then: silence. Two weeks with no response. Then the email: “We’ve decided to go with another solution.”
What happened? Your product wasn’t the problem. Your price wasn’t the problem. Your champion couldn’t sell the deal internally because they didn’t have the right materials.
The Buying Committee Problem
In the DACH region, an average of 4.7 stakeholders are involved in a B2B buying decision. In Austria it’s 3.2, in Switzerland 3 to 4. Each of these stakeholders has different priorities, different concerns, different decision criteria.
The CFO asks: “What does it cost, and when does it pay off?” The IT director asks: “How does this integrate with our existing infrastructure?” The business unit asks: “How does this change my day-to-day work?” The works council asks: “What impact does this have on employees?”
Your champion knows the answers. But they can’t articulate them in each stakeholder’s language. And that’s exactly where most deals fail.
Why Your Sales Deck Isn’t Enough
75% of B2B decision-makers want to inform themselves independently before engaging in a sales conversation. They research, compare, discuss internally. And they share materials within the buying committee.
The problem: Most B2B companies deliver exactly one format: the sales deck. A presentation built for the initial pitch. Not for internal decision-making.
A sales deck answers the question “What do you offer?” But the buying committee needs answers to the question “Why should we do this now, and how do we justify it internally?”
That’s a fundamental difference. And it explains why deals die in the consensus phase.
The 5 Assets That Make the Difference
Buyer enablement means: giving your champion the tools they need to advance the deal internally. Five asset types have proven effective in practice.
1. The Executive Summary: The 1-Pager for the CFO
A one-page document that explains the investment in 60 seconds. No marketing speak. Pure business logic: problem, solution, expected ROI, timeline, next step.
The CFO will never read your 40-page whitepaper. But a focused 1-pager that answers their three core questions (What does it cost? What does it deliver? When?) they’ll read in two minutes.
Tip: Write the 1-pager as if your champion would read it verbatim at the executive meeting. Because that’s exactly what will happen.
2. The ROI Calculator: Self-Service Over Promises
Nothing convinces an analytical stakeholder more than numbers they entered themselves. An interactive ROI calculator where the buying committee can input their own assumptions is more powerful than any case study.
Why? Because the numbers then aren’t “from the vendor” but “our own calculations.” That’s a psychologically critical difference in consensus culture.
Tip: Keep the calculator simple. Three to five input fields, one clear result. Complexity breeds suspicion, not trust.
3. The Comparison Matrix: Transparency Beats Persuasion
Your buying committee will compare. The question isn’t whether, but with what information. Provide the comparison matrix yourself: honest, transparent, with clear positioning.
A good comparison matrix shows three options: your solution, the typical alternative, and the status quo (“do nothing”). It honestly names where you’re strong and where the alternative has advantages. This honesty builds more trust than any superlative.
Tip: Always include the “do nothing” option with concrete costs. In DACH buying committees, “let’s wait” is the most common decision. And the most expensive.
4. The Implementation Roadmap: Reducing Risk
The most common unspoken objection in buying committees isn’t price. It’s fear of implementation. “How long will this take? What needs to change on our end? What can go wrong?”
A clear implementation roadmap with phases, milestones, and responsibilities reduces this fear. It shows: “We’ve done this hundreds of times. Here’s the path.”
Tip: Explicitly outline the first 30 days. The more concrete the starting point, the lower the perceived barrier.
5. Peer Evidence: Anonymized Success Stories
DACH decision-makers trust peer experiences more than vendor promises. But they need context, not just numbers. “Pharmaceutical company, 200 employees, similar starting position” is more convincing than “329% ROI” without context.
Anonymized case studies that make the before-and-after tangible are the fifth asset. They answer the question “Has this worked for someone like us?”
Tip: Structure every case study following the pattern: Starting situation → Challenge → Approach → Result → Timeline. And name the industry and company size as precisely as possible.
When to Use Which Asset
Not every asset fits every phase. A framework that has proven effective:
Early Phase (Awareness): Comparison matrix + Peer Evidence. The champion is orienting, gathering options.
Middle Phase (Evaluation): ROI Calculator + Implementation Roadmap. The buying committee is assessing feasibility and business case.
Decision Phase: Executive Summary. The champion needs the final document for the board presentation.
The DACH Reality
57% of the buying decision has already been made before your sales team has first contact. That means: your content is working for you or against you, long before you know it.
Buyer enablement isn’t a nice-to-have. In a market with 4.7 stakeholders and 8 to 13 months sales cycle, it’s the infrastructure that determines whether your deals survive or die in the consensus phase.
Conclusion
Your champions want to buy. But they can’t do it alone. Give them the five assets they need to win the deal internally. You’ll see how your pipeline conversion changes.
Not because you sold better. But because you enabled your buying committee to buy better.