“Besides you, who else needs to be on board for this to move forward?”
From MEDDIC sales methodology · B2B sales qualification framework originated by the PTC internal training team (incl. Dick Dunkel & Jack Napoli) in the 1990s; documented by MEDDIC Academy
Why it works
MEDDIC encodes two of its letters around exactly this question: the Economic Buyer ('the person with the ultimate word to release funds to purchase,' per MEDDIC Academy) and the Decision Process ('the process defined by the client to make a purchase decision'). The framework exists because complex B2B sales are lost not on product but on a misread of the buying committee — a champion with no budget authority, an unseen blocker, a procurement step nobody mapped. Asking who else needs to be on board surfaces that structure early, while you can still build the case for each stakeholder, and it does double duty: it tells you whether your contact is a real champion (they'll name names and offer introductions) or a dead end (they'll get vague). It converts a hopeful one-on-one into an honest map of the path to a signed deal.
When to ask
Once a B2B prospect shows genuine interest, before you invest in a long sales cycle. Reach for it the moment a single contact is excited — that's exactly when founders skip it, mistaking one person's enthusiasm for a decision the organization is ready to make.
Good follow-ups
- Who ultimately controls the budget for something like this?
- What does the approval process actually look like, step by step?
- Is there anyone who might push back, and what would their concern be?
Watch out for
Accepting 'oh, it's basically my call' at face value. In real organizations almost nothing is one person's call; a vague or defensive answer is itself the signal that you don't yet have access to the economic buyer. Don't let a friendly contact's optimism stand in for the decision process — press gently for names, roles, and the actual steps. The opposite error is treating it as a one-time checkbox: committees shift, budgets move, and the blocker who appears in month two was invisible in week one, so keep re-mapping as the deal evolves.
Where to ask
- Sales callgreat
The core MEDDIC qualification move, live — you map the buying committee and the path to budget while the champion is in the room to introduce you onward.
- User interviewgreat
Just as sharp in B2B discovery: it reveals the real decision structure behind a single enthusiastic contact, so you learn early whether your champion can actually get a deal done.
- In-product surveypoor
A self-serve survey reaches one respondent who often can't see — or won't admit — the full approval chain; the value is in the live mapping and the warm handoff to the people they name.
Reworded for this context: “Besides you, who else would need to sign off before this could go ahead?”
- Long-form surveypoor
Buying-committee mapping is iterative — each name leads to the next question — and depends on a champion you can follow up with; a one-shot survey can't trace the chain or act on it.
Stage: Conversion · A question popularized by MEDDIC sales methodology