Why email threads fail in multi-stakeholder contracts

“Just because you CC’d three stakeholders doesn’t mean you’re multithreaded.” I was reviewing a stalled enterprise deal with a team in Johannesburg. The CRM looked healthy — multiple contacts from different departments logged, emails tracked, even a few meetings booked with adjacent stakeholders. But nothing was moving. We called the champion. He said: “I shared the proposal with finance, but I’m not sure what they thought. Haven’t heard back.” That’s when it hit us: Access was not the issue. Alignment was. ✅ Here’s the difference: – Access means multiple people are involved – Alignment means those people agree on value, urgency, and fit Multithreading isn’t about getting everyone on your calls. It’s about understanding what each stakeholder needs, fears, and prioritizes — and building trust separately with each of them. In this case: – Finance had concerns about switching costs – IT wanted to know about integrations – Ops didn’t want another platform to manage But none of that had been addressed because we treated multithreading like a contact sport, not a strategy. ✅ What we changed: – Mapped each stakeholder’s priorities and blockers – Customized follow-up messages and content for each persona – Crafted responses for possible objections for each persona – Asked our champion who was resisting, not just who was copied 🎯 The behavioral traps: – Vanity Metrics: More contacts ≠ more momentum – False Consensus: Multiple replies can hide silent dissent – Delegation Bias: Assuming your champion is managing alignment behind the scenes Real multithreading is uncomfortable. It forces us to build more relationships, uncover more objections, and personalize more communication. But it’s also how enterprise deals actually close. 📌 If your deal depends on one person forwarding your proposal, you’re one reorg away from dead pipeline. 📥 Follow me for more insights. Repost if this resonated.

"Deal's looking good. I'm in with the CMO." A colleague shared his excitement. I rolled my little eyeballs. "What?" he asked, confused. "Single-threaded deals die," I replied. Three weeks later: "CMO went on leave. Deal's stalled." I wasn't surprised. The average B2B purchase now involves 11+ stakeholders. Yet most reps are still playing the "one relationship" game. Old playbook: Find one champion. Let them "sell internally" for you. Hope for the best. Failure rate? About 80%. A recent client win taught me the better approach: Initial call with the VP of Sales. Great fit, but I asked: "Who else needs to be comfortable with this decision?" The list: - CRO (economic buyer) - IT Director (technical approval) - Sales Enablement (implementation) - 2 Regional VPs (end users) That's 6 people. Each with different: - Priorities - Objections - Questions Rather than pestering my champion to coordinate everything... I created a single digital room with: - Role-specific sections for each stakeholder - Tailored ROI calculations for the CRO - Security documentation for IT - Implementation timeline for Enablement - Quick-start guides for the Regional VPs My champion shared the link. The magic happened silently: Analytics showed the CRO viewed the ROI calculator 5 times. The IT Director spent 15 minutes on security docs. Both Regional VPs watched the training videos. I hadn't spoken to any of them directly. But they were all selling themselves. When we finally had the "decision call," everyone was already aligned. No last-minute objections. No mysterious "other stakeholders." No surprises. Here's what changed: Old approach: Pray your champion effectively represents you to people you never meet. New approach: Give every stakeholder what they need, even without direct access. Multi-threading isn't about scheduling more calls. It's about making yourself irrelevant to the process. The best deals close when stakeholders convince themselves...without you in the room. Are you still gambling on single-threaded relationships? Or building networks that sell for you? Agree?

Wanna know why multithreading often fails? Because you make it feel like extra work. Your champion isn’t trying to sabotage the deal. They’re just busy, risk averse, and unsure how to sell it internally. If you want them to bring others in, you need to give them a reason...not a request. Here’s how to do it: 1. Make the intro feel like value, not obligation. “We’d love to meet your CTO” sounds like a favor. “We just helped another team unlock $450K in automation savings. Happy to walk through what that looked like if it’s useful for your CTO” sounds like you’re helping them sell the idea internally. When a rep at a Series B SaaS company we work with at Sales Assembly used this language, their champion forwarded the note word for word to the CFO. The CFO replied, “Yes - loop me in.” 2. Build multithreading into the narrative...not the ask. “Here’s where teams typically loop in Product” is safe. “Can you introduce me to Product?” is loaded. The best reps don’t treat stakeholder engagement like a checkpoint. They make it feel like part of the process. One rep at a PLG company we work with started saying, “At this stage, most teams get Product involved so we can flag any build vs. buy concerns early. Want me to share the short brief we use in those convos?” That shift turned internal roadblocks into invitations. 3. Use commercial insights to stir the pot. Most multithreading fails because reps don’t give new stakeholders a reason to care. One rep I know sent a stat about AI integration bottlenecks to a RevOps leader outside the deal. No pitch. Just: “Saw this stat on average time to deploy for AI tools - thought it might be relevant given the work you’re doing.” 48 hours later: that RevOps leader invited them to a call with three senior stakeholders...and the deal doubled in size. Multithreading isn’t just about coverage. It’s about making the next person want to be in the room.

𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗣 sending that reply-all follow-up email after group sales calls. Here's why: Each stakeholder in a complex sale has different concerns they need addressed before saying Yes. But they rarely voice these concerns in front of their colleagues. The solution? 𝗠𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶-𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴. 👉 Email each person individually after the call 👉 Ask what specific concerns or requirements they need addressed 👉 Create psychological safety for honest feedback Here's what this looks like in practice: 𝗧𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗙𝗢 🏦: "What ROI metrics would the finance team need to see before moving forward?" 𝗧𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗜𝗦𝗢 💻: "Happy to get those security requirements squared away before our next call." 𝗧𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗼𝗻 👑: "What else should we be thinking about to make this successful across your organization?" Only after you've connected individually, send the group email confirming next steps. It takes more time. But you'll surface real concerns that would've otherwise killed the deal silently. This builds trust, maintains momentum, and dramatically increases your chances of getting to yes.

If you ever had a deal that felt like a sure thing, until it wasn’t...... .......then the problem is NOT with your champion, but a lack of internal alignment. 👉 Sometimes, your champion loves the product but doesn’t have budget approval. 👉 Other times, finance has budget but doesn’t see why they need to move now. 👉 And then there’s the VP who likes the idea but isn’t convinced the team will use it. Same company. Same deal. But everyone’s looking at it from a completely different angle. This is why multi-threading isn’t just “good practice.” It’s survival. You’re not just selling a product. You’re aligning an entire team on why this matters now. So if you’re only talking to one person, here’s what’s happening: ❎They’re having side conversations without you. And you have no clue what’s being said. ❎They’re trying to sell for you. But without the right messaging, it’s an uphill battle. ❎They’re facing objections you’ll never hear. And by the time you do, it’s too late. How to stop this from happening: 1️⃣ Get the full picture early. → Ask your champion: “Who else needs to be involved to make this happen?” → If they hesitate, nudge: “At this stage, we usually loop in [finance/procurement/VP]. Should we do that now?” → Get finance involved before pricing even comes up 2️⃣ Match messaging to roles. → The CFO doesn’t care about “automation” or “efficiency.” They care about ROI. → End users don’t care about ROI. They care about “Will this make my life easier?” → Speak to what actually matters to each stakeholder. 3️⃣ Create internal momentum → Champions already like your product. But the deal won’t move unless everyone sees why this can’t wait. → Share success stories that make leadership take notice. → Offer workshops or product deep dives for the team. When you multi-thread, you’re not just de-risking the deal—you’re making everything easier. No last-minute blockers. No surprise objections. No deals quietly stalling in procurement. Instead, everyone who needs to say “yes” is already in the loop. The budget owner sees the ROI. The VP understands the urgency. The end users are bought in. So when it’s time to sign? It’s a done deal. How do you ensure there’s internal alignment? Share your tips in the comments below. 👇