Definition

Decision maker

The person who can approve the spend. Distinct from the champion, the user, and the person who answers first.

A decision maker is the person who can approve the spend without needing somebody else to approve it for them.

Why the definition has to be strict

Loose definitions are the reason sales cycles stretch. If "decision maker" quietly expands to mean "somebody senior who seems engaged", a team can spend two months in a relationship that was never able to produce an outcome.

The strict test is one question: can this person say yes and have it stick.

Related roles that are not the same thing

• Champion. Wants the outcome and will argue for it internally. Frequently has no budget authority.
• User. Lives with the consequences daily. Their opinion matters and their signature usually does not.
• Gatekeeper. Controls access. Can stop a process and cannot start one.
• Economic buyer. Often the same as the decision maker, though in larger organizations the two can separate.

Reachability runs against authority

The more authority a person has, the more filtered their attention is. This is the structural reason outreach drifts toward whoever answers, which is rarely the person who can decide.

Accepting a lower response rate from the right person is usually the correct trade, and it is uncomfortable because response rate is easy to measure and the authority of the responder is not.

Identifying one before the first message

Reporting line, budget scope, and public accountability are the three useful indicators. A person who speaks publicly about owning a problem, and who has people reporting to them who work on that problem, is far more likely to be able to approve a solution to it.