The Miller Heiman sales process, best known through its Strategic Selling method, is a way of mapping everyone who influences a buying decision, what each of them wants and how each feels about the change you are proposing. This article answers how to apply its core ideas in a service firm without the formal training programme, and how to record the map on each opportunity in the platform so it is shared rather than kept in one salesperson's notebook. The payoff is fewer deals lost to a person you never knew was involved.
The core ideas
The method rests on a few ideas that any sales team can use.
Buying influences. Every complex decision involves people in different roles. The economic buyer gives final approval and controls the money. User buyers will live with what you deliver and judge it by how it affects their work. Technical buyers screen you against criteria, such as procurement, legal or IT, and can say no but rarely yes. A coach guides you through the organisation and wants you to succeed.
Response modes. Each influence sees the change differently. Someone in growth mode wants more and is open to you. Someone in trouble mode has a problem and wants it fixed. Someone on even keel sees no reason to change. Someone overconfident believes everything is fine. People on even keel or overconfident rarely buy, however good your proposal.
Win-results. Each person wants a personal result from the decision, not only a business one. A finance director may want a project that does not embarrass her at the board. Knowing that shapes how you talk to her.
Red flags. Anything you do not know, or anything that worries you, is written down as a risk to resolve.
Before you start
- A pipeline in Opportunities for complex deals, separate from simple ones if you sell both.
- A short definition of each buying role and response mode in your own words.
- One live deal per salesperson to map in the first week.
- Agreement on which stage a complete map is required by, usually before proposal.
How to set it up
- Go to Settings, open Custom Fields, select Contact and open Folders.
- Click Create folder, name it Buying influence and save it.
- Back on the Fields tab, click Create field.
- Choose a dropdown Field type and enter Buying role as the Field name.
- Set Folder name to Buying influence so the map sits together.
- Add the options economic buyer, user buyer, technical buyer and coach.
- Check the Live preview, then click Create custom field.
- Repeat for a response mode dropdown: growth, trouble, even keel, overconfident.
- Repeat for a Multi line win-result field: what that person wants personally.
The weekly meeting itself is described in running pipeline reviews.
What the map shows that a pipeline does not
A pipeline tells you where a deal is. A buying map tells you who might stop it. Deals that look healthy on the board often have one influence the salesperson has never met, or an economic buyer on even keel who sees no reason to spend.
Imagine the sales lead maps five people. The operations director is a user buyer in trouble mode and is keen. The procurement lead is a technical buyer, neutral. The chief executive is the economic buyer and is overconfident: he believes the current process works. Nobody has met the finance director, so that role is a red flag. The next actions would be a meeting with the chief executive built around a cost the operations director can evidence, and an introduction to finance. The value is illustrative.
What it replaces and the time it costs
The method replaces the single-contact deal, where everything the firm knows about a buyer's organisation lives in one relationship. When that contact changes jobs or goes quiet, the deal dies. A mapped deal survives because you know who else is involved.
Mapping a deal takes about 20 minutes after discovery and a few minutes to update after each meeting. Setting up the fields and report takes an afternoon.
The mistake most people make
Mistaking a friendly contact for a coach. A coach has credibility inside the buyer's organisation and actively helps you win. Someone who is pleasant on calls but cannot get you a meeting with the economic buyer is a user buyer who likes you, which is useful but not the same.
The other mistake is mapping once and never updating. People change mode as a deal progresses. An even-keel economic buyer can move to trouble mode after a bad quarter, which changes your whole approach.
When not to use it
The method is built for complex, multi-person decisions. For a homebuyer choosing an agent or an individual choosing a mortgage adviser, there is one decision maker and perhaps a partner; a full map is overhead. Use it for corporate clients, large engagements and any deal where procurement or a board is involved.
This article covers the general ideas only, not the formal training behind the method. If you want the complete version, check what any programme covers and whether it fits your sales cycle before you commit.
Troubleshooting
Only one contact is linked to most deals. Salespeople are not asking who else is involved. Add "who else will be part of this decision" to the discovery call script and make the map a requirement before proposal.
Everyone is marked as growth mode. The team is being optimistic. Ask what evidence shows that person wants change now, and downgrade anyone without an answer.
Red flags pile up but nothing happens. They are written down but not turned into actions. Make each flag a task with an owner and a date.
The map lives outside the platform. Someone draws it on paper or a whiteboard. Photograph it if you must, but transfer the roles and modes to the contacts so the next person on the deal can see them.
Frequently asked questions
Is Miller Heiman better than MEDDIC?
They answer different questions. MEDDIC checks whether a deal is qualified; Miller Heiman maps the people who will decide it. Many teams use both, as explained in qualifying with MEDDIC.
Does the method work for small firms?
Yes, if the deals are complex. A five-person consultancy selling to large organisations needs the map as much as a large one. A firm selling simple services to individuals does not.
What is a win-result?
The personal outcome a person wants from the decision, alongside the business result. It might be recognition, less risk, a smoother month or a project they can point to. It explains why someone supports or resists you.
Where does this fit in our overall sales process?
Inside discovery and proposal, wherever several people decide. The overall structure of roles and handovers is in designing a sales process. Once the map is complete, keep each influence engaged with personal follow up.