Persuasion Has a New Playbook
KYC has historically been the all-important element that lived solely in the realm of compliance. It then morphed into a sales tool, a way to track leads and tailor pitches. Today, KYC is far more powerful.
KYC has become a lens for identifying both decision-makers, as well as those who influence them. Today, it’s not just who signs the deal who matters; the people who shape the thinking are as important. In a world where attention is fragmented and decision cycles are increasingly nonlinear, persuasion isn’t about airtime—it’s about trust.
Prior to the Y2K era, cable TV democratised brand reach. Then, pre-COVID, digital reigned. Still, at this point, human, real-world touch points still mattered. Now, post-COVID, the world has changed even more, and we’re always online, always filtering, always fatigued.
So how do you cut through the noise?
You don’t just pitch the buyer. You map their circle of trust—and become a credible voice within that circle.
Understanding the B2B Buyer Mindset
B2B buying is high-stakes, incredibly context-dependent, and is notably characterised by its multi-stakeholder context. For anyone involved in a B2B buy, there’s an immense amount of risk on the table. Navigating this always falls to a diverse cast of stakeholders:
The Strategist
Typically C-Suite or a BU Head, this personality is focused on long-term impact and competitive positioning. The Strategist looks for alignment with business vision, not just metrics, and needs macro-level insights. Think trend signals, market shifts, and brand perception.
The Champion
This personality often looks is a mid-senior manager or influencer. The Champion often initiates the project or frames the problem. They are emotionally invested in its success—and often looks for partner chemistry. The Champion needs tailored messaging and visible ownership from your team.
The Pragmatist
The Pragmatist is often to be found in Procurement or Finance. The Pragmatist evaluates feasibility, cost-benefit and vendor risk, and needs simplified, quantified value articulation. This cast member, if you will, is influenced by TCO, SLAs, and regulatory adherence.
The Skeptic
These are your typical IT/Operations/Legacy Owners. They can be resistant to change, and are loyal to existing systems. The skeptic needs reassurance through proof points and peer case studies. And, here, psychological safety is key. Their thought is simple: “we won’t break what’s working.”
The Collaborator
Finally, we have the Collaborator, usually found in HR, Comms, or Customer Success. The Collaborator focuses on enablement, adoption, and integration. They look for how your solution fits into workflows and teams, and value co-creation, workshops, and stakeholder inclusion.
Buyers are no longer forming opinions solely from formal sources. They’re scanning LinkedIn, watching explainers, and absorbing peer reviews—even before your brand enters the picture. KYC must evolve to account for not just the buyer—but the ecosystem of influence around them.
From Ad Channels to Influence Channels – How Trust Is Built Today
There was a time when advertising success hinged on one key decision: the right media. If you chose the right channel and hit the right frequency, you had a shot at attention. But, that’s not quite how it works anymore.
In the post-COVID era, we are always online, though paradoxically, more selective than ever. We scroll, filter, and promptly ignore. In this flood of content and age of content fatigue, we don’t follow brands—we follow people we trust.
Now, buyers don’t just see ads, they seek out reassurance. Typically, this reassurance comes from voices they already trust—industry creators, practitioners, and hands-on experts. What so many don’t realise is in the post-COVID era, you’re no longer competing with your competitors, rather you’re competing with the opinions of those people your buyer already trusts. You’re competing with their electrician who advises them on which company’s switch they should buy, their plumber who shapes their sanitary ware choices, their architect who influences their interior specifications.
Here’s a simple example from manufacturing. When someone’s building a home, they don’t choose a switch or faucet brand because they saw a glossy ad on OTT. They ask the electrician. The electrician then asks the retailer, and checks in with his network, and then will advise a customer based on his collected data and resulting wisdom.
This is why influence actually begins with people the end customers already trusts, and doesn’t end at the availability of a product. It often comes down to the electrician saying: “This one works better.” Or: “That one breaks in six months.”
That’s why hoardings at the retailer make more impact than top-of-funnel media. The decision is being shaped right there—on-site, in real time.
A short video from an electrician explaining why Brand A’s switchgear is easier to install or more durable? That holds far more weight than a polished digital campaign. Equally importantly, a single comment—“don’t buy that switch, everyone complains”—is enough to derail a brand choice.
These influencers, even if they don’t actively sell a competing brand, can very effectively unsell yours.
This is the real B2B terrain: influence that isn’t neutral; influence that lives in field-level expertise, peer trust, and everyday experience. Dealers and retailers have always been in the mix, yes—but today, the specifier community (think architects, engineers, project consultants) is where a lot of power lies.
Now, the margins game is done. Influence isn’t about convincing—it’s about being the name that’s already passed the whisper test.
Internal Personas, External Influence – The New Decision Network
Traditional buyer personas still hold—but they no longer act in isolation; they’re now nodes within a far more complex web of influence. Every internal stakeholder is quietly shaped by the content they consume, the voices they trust, and the communities they belong to.
The Strategist might reference insights from a global analyst. The Champion might push your pitch forward using an influencer’s LinkedIn post. Even the Skeptic might soften after watching a peer-led product walkthrough. Understanding personas today means understanding not just their job titles—but who they’re listening to when no one’s watching.
KYC 2.0 – Know Your Influencer
It’s time to expand what we mean by KYC. It’s no longer just “know your customer.” It’s also: who shapes their thinking before your sales team even walks into the room?
Modern KYC must map the influencer ecosystem around your buyer—whether that’s creators, curators, technical evangelists, or peer advisors. Pre-sales prep needs to now include scanning newsletters, tracking reposts, watching webinars, and reading the same LinkedIn voices they follow. Influence isn’t anecdotal anymore. It’s visible, measurable, and increasingly critical.
Influence by Design – Activating the Voices That Move Markets
Influencer marketing isn’t just for B2C anymore. Social media is now shaping perception in even the most traditional B2B sectors, and in this new reality, it’s not just about who your buyer is—but who they listen to.
If you want to earn trust, show up where your customers spend time. If you want to shape perception, partner with the voices your customers already believe. Influence mapping isn’t fluff—it’s a critical layer of buyer intelligence. Especially in industries like manufacturing, where specifier influence is quietly decisive.
In today’s B2B landscape, the loudest brand doesn’t win; the most trusted voice does
Attributions: Featured image: Photo by Guillaume Auceps on Unsplash
