Ask These 14 Questions to Uncover Every Stakeholder - or Lose the Deal

You've been working this deal for six weeks.

Your champion loves you. Everything's tracking to close.

Then you hear it.

"I need to run this by my boss."

Wait... you didn't even know their boss was involved.

Here's the brutal reality. In most B2B deals, there are four to seven people minimum involved in the buying decision. And if you're discovering these people in week five or six, you're already way behind.

The invisible stakeholder problem is real. And it's killing your forecast.

Here's what you need to do differently.

Ask This Question in Your First Discovery Call

Most reps wait until they're deep in the sales cycle to ask who else is involved.

That's too late.

Instead, ask this in your first or second conversation.

"Aside from yourself, who else do you need to consult with before you bring on a new vendor like us?"

This positions you as someone who understands this isn't just their decision. And it gets them thinking about who else needs to be involved.

Then follow up with this.

"Who else? And what's most important for each of them?"

Now you're not just getting names. You're getting their priorities. Finance cares about ROI. IT cares about security. Legal cares about contracts.

When you know what matters to each stakeholder, you can address their concerns proactively instead of being surprised by them later.

The Question That Reveals Hidden Blockers

Once you've built trust and you're moving the deal forward, here's one of the most powerful questions you can ask.

"It feels like we're on a really solid track and the team is excited. [Name], who could say no to this partnership?"

This gets your champion thinking through everyone who could potentially block this deal. And they're going to tell you.

I just dropped a new video where I walk through the exact questions you need to ask at every stage to uncover every single stakeholder before they torpedo your deal.

I cover the proactive questions for early discovery, how to identify skeptics, the late stage questions that reveal hidden decision makers, and all the red flags that mean you're missing key players.

Because if you don't know who all the players are, your forecast is just a guess. But when you know everyone involved, you can navigate the deal strategically and actually close it.