Why Your Sales Approach is Failing: The Rise of Committee-Based Buying | Catherine Olivier - 1952

Nov 21, 2025

Catherine Olivier, a savvy sales and business development advisor, dives deep into the evolving landscape of sales. She argues that the era of single-point selling is over, emphasizing the importance of engaging with entire buyer committees for success. Catherine shares insights on account mapping and building internal champions by connecting with all stakeholders early on. She offers tips on communicating effectively without overwhelming prospects and tailoring messages to specific roles within an organization. Creativity in outreach methods is key, ensuring sellers become known and trusted.

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INSIGHT

Single-Contact Selling Has Ended

The era of the single point of sale is over because more deals are bought by committees.
Sellers who stick to one-contact tactics will hit a wall as buying processes grow collaborative.

ADVICE

Map Accounts Early And Build Groundswell

Do account mapping early and talk to people who will actually use your product to build internal momentum.
Use those users' input to approach managers and budget holders with evidence of real pain.

ADVICE

Match Stakeholder Coverage To Deal Size

Don't limit outreach to a single leader; include operators, RevOps, and finance when relevant.
Find the right balance by deal size: big enterprise deals require broader stakeholder engagement than small SMB deals.

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It’s time to face the truth! Single point sales don’t work anymore. In this episode, Catherine Oliver, the ambassador at SDR of EMEA, breaks down why the single point sale approach is falling apart in today’s B2B world and what you should be doing instead.

Why the Single Point Sale Is Dead (00:02:01 – 00:04:57)

Catherine Oliver breaks down why modern deals are decided by committees, not solo buyers, even in SMB and mid-market spaces.
If you are still selling to one person, you are missing key influencers, creating blind spots, and slowing down your entire pipeline.

Overcoming Lazy Selling: 3 Simple Strategies (00:05:09 – 00:24:09)

Account Mapping and Early Multi-Threading (00:05:41 – 00:09:20)
Catherine explains why you need to talk to multiple stakeholders from the start, no matter the size of the company.
Even when your first contact cannot buy, the insights you gather across departments give you the information you need to approach decision-makers with stronger, more relevant messages.
Tailoring Messages to Each Stakeholder (00:15:24 – 00:17:07)
Forget the one-size-fits-all pitch. Catherine shows how to speak to what each stakeholder actually cares about, whether that is revenue, workflow, or financial outcomes, so you can build trust and real alignment.
Leveraging Multiple Channels (00:19:55 – 00:24:09)
Email alone will not cut it. Catherine encourages sellers to use a mix of outreach methods including phone, social, text, and even WhatsApp or Facebook depending on the region so you can connect with people and avoid the common delete and ignore routine.

Fluidity in Sales and Continuous Evolution (00:24:10 – 00:25:37)

Catherine talks about the danger of relying too heavily on old habits, and the conversation reinforces how easy it is to fall into routines that no longer serve you.
An example is the idea of keeping the same call block every day, which sounds productive but can backfire when prospects are consistently unavailable.

"Every strong seller needs to adjust their message for each stakeholder. You can’t walk in with a generic, my product does this pitch." - Catherine Oliver.

Resources

Connect with Catherine Oliver on LinkedIn and let her know you heard her on The Sales Evangelist Podcast.

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This episode is brought to you in part by LinkedIn.

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Credits

As one of our podcast listeners, we value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey . We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or Spotify. Audio provided by Free SFX, Soundstripe, and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and produced by Brightseed and Hill.