B2B marketers often make a critical mistake when they think about the “buying committee.” We map out titles like CEO, CFO, and CTO as abstract personas, but we rarely consider the unique, multifaceted reality of the people behind those roles, especially the role of the CEO.
John Wilkes, Co-Founder of Somebody Digital, sat down with Shawana Iftikhar, a seasoned CEO who has navigated countless tech and software negotiations. Their conversation on the B2B Marketing Influx podcast revealed a striking disconnect between how marketers approach the C-suite and how CEOs actually make decisions.
The CEO is Not Your Filter
One of the most common mistakes marketers make is assuming the CEO is the primary decision-maker for every departmental tool. In reality, a CEO’s focus is strictly strategic.
“From the marketer side, sometimes they misunderstand the CEO as a key decision maker,” Shawana explains. “The CEO can’t be a jack of all trades. If the CEO can jump into every department on low-level surface items… then the CEO could not be focusing on the higher-level strategic stuff.”
Instead of being the person who signs off on every feature, the CEO sets the vision and the end goal. They rely on their subject matter experts — the CMOs, CFOs, and GMs — to do the heavy lifting. “I actually give them an end goal which they need to achieve,” says Shawana. “I’m the one who is just going to give them a direction… after that, it’s the person who is actually, I believe, the best person for the best position, a competent person who knows better than me on that specific subject.”
How CEOs Use AI for Research
While they might not be in the weeds of every demo, CEOs are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their own research, often using AI to bypass traditional search methods. Shawana shared a recent example of looking for a branding vendor where AI outperformed her team’s existing network.
“I just used AI to actually get me a list of vendors who are actually working in a similar industry… AI actually analyzed their website, their services, their portfolios, the existing material they input in their social media,” Shawana notes. “The three top ones, I was actually surprised to see their design, and they are quite relevant to what the prompt I gave to AI actually was.”
For marketers, this means your digital footprint, i.e., your website, your case studies, and your social content, is being indexed and analyzed by AI tools used directly by the C-suite. If your portfolio isn’t clearly defined, you won’t even make the initial AI-generated shortlist.
The Power of Consistency and “Top of Mind”
Perhaps the most surprising insight for B2B marketers is the value Shawana places on persistence. In an era of “one-and-done” outreach, long-term consistency is what actually wins a seat at the table.
“When I select vendors, there are some people I found very consistent who keep reaching out to me,” Shawana says. “Whenever I need something, do you believe that the first name pop up in my mind is the consistent person? I really appreciate that and regard that… He is going to be my first choice.”
John Wilkes highlighted that this is a perfect use case for brand awareness. “The first place that they search is not online. It’s not the websites, it’s their mind, right? It’s memory,” John observes. “This consistency of touch points is incredibly important… especially if it’s a complex solution.”
The Human Element in a Tech-Driven World
Despite the rise of automated sales stacks and CRM-driven processes, both John and Shawana emphasize that B2B sales remain fundamentally human. Shawana expressed frustration with “broken sales flows” where potential long-term relationships are lost in the “garbage” of a CRM because a sales team is too focused on new leads.
“Sometimes, I believe that sales team is when they are just focusing on software or automated stuff, they actually miss those human-centric points,” Shawana warns. “At the end of the day, we are human.”
She advocates for a “VIP” treatment for every customer, regardless of how long ago they last signed a contract. Knowing the person, their education, their interests, and their history is what differentiates a vendor from a partner.
B2B Marketers Need to Stay Relevant
When asked for one piece of advice for marketers trying to reach the CEO seat, Shawana’s message was simple: Keep trying, but stay relevant.
“Keep consistent, keep trying. Maybe one day… they will be free. They are just checking the message. They got your pitch. They got your solution,” she concludes. “My advice is, keep consistent, keep relevant. And your portfolio and your pitch need to be very well defined.”
For B2B agencies, the lesson is clear: Stop marketing to titles and start marketing to the strategic vision of the person in the chair. Be consistent, be human, and ensure your digital presence is sharp enough for the AI-driven research of tomorrow.
To hear more insights from the buying committee, listen to the full episode of B2B Influx at somebodydigital.com.
