The Person Who Tips the Scales on Your Next Deal May Be Someone You've Never Met
By Heather A. Kollar ·
The short answer
Hidden buyers - finance, legal, procurement, and operations stakeholders - influence B2B decisions without ever meeting your sales team. They trust consistent, high-quality thought leadership more than marketing, so your digital presence must prove your expertise before you're in the room.
Why hidden buyers are changing the way executives and businesses need to demonstrate their authority.
You can give the best presentation of your career, impress the CEO, answer every question, and walk away feeling confident you've won the business.
And still lose the deal because of someone you've never met.
Ouch.
Here's what many executives and business owners don't realize. The person you're selling to may not be the person who ultimately tips the scales in your favor.
And there's some compelling research that should make all of us rethink how we're developing business relationships and showcasing our expertise.
Who Are Hidden Buyers?
Hidden buyers are internal stakeholders in finance, legal, procurement, and operations who help decide whether your company wins the business, often without ever talking to you.
According to the 2025 Edelman-LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report, buying decisions are increasingly influenced by people who may never participate in your sales conversations.
They're called hidden buyers.
Think finance, legal, procurement, operations, and other internal stakeholders who help evaluate whether your company is the right choice. They may never attend your presentation, meet your leadership team, or speak with your salespeople.
But their opinions matter. A lot. Consider these findings:
71% of hidden decision-makers report having little or no interaction with sales teams.
79% of U.S. hidden decision-makers say they're more likely to advocate for a company's proposal when it consistently produces high-quality thought leadership.
64% of U.S. hidden decision-makers trust thought leadership more than traditional marketing materials when evaluating a company's capabilities.
Think about what that means for your next major opportunity.
Is Your Reputation Entering Rooms You're Not In?
Yes - people who have never met you are researching you online, and what they find shapes their opinion of you.
Let's say you've spent 20 years becoming exceptional at what you do. You're respected in your industry. Your clients love you. When you walk into a meeting, you know how to command the room.
But what happens when someone who has never met you starts researching your company?
Does what they discover reflect the professional you really are?
Can they find evidence of your expertise? Do they understand the problems you've solved? Can they recognize the depth of experience and judgment you bring to the table? Or are they left trying to figure out whether you're really as good as your proposal suggests?
That's the disconnect I believe too many accomplished executives and business owners are overlooking.
You show up exceptionally well in person. Why isn't that same acumen, authority, and reputation showing up online?
Why Can't Your CEO Be the Only Person Building Confidence?
Buying decisions involve many functions, so your whole leadership team needs to be visible and demonstrating expertise, not just the CEO.
Your prospective client's buying decision may involve finance, operations, technology, legal, and senior leadership. So why should your company's professional authority rest on the shoulders of one executive?
Imagine the difference when your leadership team is aligned, visible, and consistently demonstrating expertise across the disciplines your clients care about.
Your CFO understands financial risk. Your operations leader understands execution. Your technology leader understands innovation. Each brings valuable experience and credibility that can strengthen how prospective buyers perceive your organization.
When your team communicates with a shared understanding of the business and its value, your collective authority becomes a competitive advantage.
And when prospective buyers encounter that expertise before they've ever spoken to you, you're giving them more reasons to feel confident.
Why Isn't Being Exceptional Enough?
Because the people influencing your next opportunity may never meet you, but they'll still form an opinion about you based on what they find.
I believe this is one of the most overlooked business development challenges facing executives today.
We've invested years developing our expertise and professional reputations. But the way people discover, evaluate, and form opinions about us has changed. And our approach to demonstrating that expertise needs to evolve with it.
Because the people influencing your next opportunity may never meet you. But they'll still form an opinion about you.
And that opinion carries decision-making weight. It could influence whether you close your next major deal, earn that promotion, or attract the talent you've been trying to hire.
Does Your Digital Presence Reflect the Professional You Really Are?
That's exactly the gap we're addressing through the Executive Growth L.A.B.
We're helping founders, executives, and their teams become more discoverable, demonstrate the authority they've already earned, and build the relationships and professional visibility that support business growth.
Because the expertise you've worked so hard to develop deserves to be recognized, even when you're not in the room.
If you want a partner to build that visibility for your whole leadership team, explore how we work with leaders.