The Role of the Technical Buyer in B2B Customer Development

Selling in mid- to large-sized businesses is never as straightforward as selling to small businesses. The MIT Entrepreneurship Center uses the term “Jury” to refer to the group of stakeholders that must get involved in B2B customer development.

B2B Customer Development - Buying Influencer Map
Example of a Jury Map

As we saw before, the Jury includes the decision makers, the influencers and the Economic Buyer in B2B customer development.

This week, we look at the role of one of our key Jury members: the Technical Buyer — the person most concerned with the security and feasibility aspects of your solution.

The Technical Buyer in B2B Customer Development

The technical buyer doesn’t typically have final approval, but they have the power to reject your proposal.

They bring specialized expertise to the evaluation team and typically play different roles. Their approach is often that of skepticism.

Technical buyers care that your solution does what you say it does. Their concerns relate to the measurable and quantifiable aspects of a proposal.

They’ll ask questions about the specifications, implementation and expected challenges in transitioning to your solution.

Next, we’ll look at the role of the last important Jury member: the User Buyer.

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