Finding the true decision maker is one of the most common challenges for small B2B sales teams. Meetings often include influencers, project owners and end users — but only a subset have the authority to sign contracts and allocate budget. Wasting time on the wrong contacts slows deals and creates unpredictable pipelines.
This article gives practical, repeatable steps to identify the economic buyer: how to research before the call, what to listen for during video meetings, the qualifying questions that matter, and how to use meeting intelligence and CRM workflows to make identification systematic.
Start with research and org mapping
Before your first call, spend 10–15 minutes mapping the account. Look beyond the person who scheduled the meeting: scan LinkedIn, the company website and press releases to find titles related to budgeting, procurement, or strategy. Identify likely functional owners (IT, finance, operations) and the person who signs contracts.
- Check job titles for words like “Head,” “Director,” “VP,” “Chief,” or “Leader” tied to budget or strategy.
- Look for recent hiring or promotions — new leaders often control new budgets.
- Note internal champions (project managers, product owners) even if they aren’t the final approver; they can introduce you to the decision maker.
Document your findings in the CRM under the contact and company records so the team can access the org map. If you use HubSpot, tag contacts by role and add a short note on likely influence level.
Ask qualifying questions that reveal authority
On the call, frame questions to clarify authority without being blunt. The goal is to learn who makes the final call on scope, budget and timeline. Use open questions and follow-ups that make people describe the approval process.
- “Can you walk me through how a decision like this usually gets approved?”
- “Who else would need to be involved to finalize a budget?”
- “What criteria will the approver use to choose a vendor?”
Listen for phrases like “we’d need sign-off from,” “the finance team handles approvals,” or “our CEO would want to see the ROI.” These clues point to the economic buyer or the chain of approval. Record the answers and add them to the contact timeline so follow-ups are targeted.
Read behavioral and verbal signals on video calls
When meetings happen over Google Meet, video and tone reveal influence. Decision makers may ask fewer technical questions and more strategic or budget-related ones. They also tend to be quieter until a high-level point is made, then ask clarifying questions about outcomes and risk.
- Economic buyers ask about ROI, timelines, and implementation impact.
- Technical leads probe integrations, specs and feasibility.
- Champions talk about use cases and internal adoption.
Note gestures, direct eye contact, or when people deflect budget questions to someone else. If someone defers or says “I need to check with X,” that identifies the next contact to add to your sequence.
Use MEDDIC and scoring to prioritize contacts
MEDDIC is a compact framework that helps you translate conversational signals into qualification actions: Metrics, Economic buyer, Decision criteria, Decision process, Identify pain, and Champion. Use it to score how close each contact is to being the decision maker.
- Assign a simple score for each MEDDIC element after the call.
- Elevate contacts who explicitly match the Economic buyer and Decision process roles.
- Use these scores to decide whether to escalate to an executive briefing or keep working through your champion.
Recording and tagging calls makes this scalable. If your team uses Google Meet and HubSpot, make it standard to attach a call recording and a MEDDIC score to the deal. That creates a clear audit trail of who was present and what authority they hold.
Turn recordings and CRM sync into a repeatable process
Repeatability comes from short habits: record meetings, capture the approval chain, and create next-step tasks targeted at the identified decision maker. Rather than relying on memory, lean on documented evidence from calls.
- Record the call, flag key moments where authority or budget is discussed, and summarise them in the CRM.
- Create tasks: “Request executive briefing with [Name]” or “Send ROI deck to approver.”
- Follow up within 48 hours with a brief summary and a clear next step for the person who can approve.
Tools that automatically sync notes, tasks and briefing summaries into your CRM reduce friction. When your team can replay the moment someone mentions the approval timeline, you avoid misdirected outreach and keep the deal moving.
Build relationships with both champions and buyers
Even when you identify the economic buyer, don’t ignore the champion and users. Champions create internal momentum, and users influence adoption — both matter for closing and retention. Develop a parallel plan: nurture the buyer on value and the champion on implementation and internal advocacy.
- Provide buyers with concise financial rationale and risk mitigation points.
- Give champions practical resources: one-page playbooks, pilot templates, and timelines.
- Keep users informed and involved to reduce objections at implementation time.
Keeping all stakeholders documented in the CRM helps ensure communications are tailored and consistent. When everyone’s role is clear, your outreach is more respectful of people’s time and more likely to reach the right approver fast.
FAQ
What exactly is a decision maker?
A decision maker (economic buyer) is the person with authority over budget and final approval. They may not be the daily contact you talk to; often they’re a director, VP, or C-level executive depending on deal size and company structure.
How can I tell if someone is the economic buyer during a call?
Listen for questions about ROI, costs, timelines, and risk. Economic buyers focus on outcomes and trade-offs, not technical details. They also ask about procurement steps and who needs to sign off.
What if the decision maker never attends meetings?
If the buyer doesn’t attend, ask your champion for an introduction or use a concise executive briefing that the champion can forward. Recordings and a one-page executive summary reduce friction when you need to get an approver up to speed asynchronously.
How can Klynt help identify decision makers?
Klynt records video calls, highlights moments where authority, budget and timelines are discussed, and applies MEDDIC and coaching scoring so your team sees who’s closest to a buying decision. It also syncs notes, tasks and briefings into HubSpot, making it easier to tag economic buyers and automate targeted follow-ups.
Ready to stop guessing who the real approver is? Learn how Klynt can make decision-maker identification part of your meeting routine: Try Klynt.