"I was working on an account and had talked to someone lower in the organization. They said, 'You need to reach out to our CEO directly,'" recalls Megan Hanisko, manager of sales development at ZoomInfo. "So I said, 'All right, what's his number?' He would not give me any contact information."
This illustrates the core problem: Having one point of contact is no longer enough. Buying groups for complex B2B solutions involve anywhere from six to 10 decision-makers.
Enter the multi-threaded sales approach, which takes this reality into account. Here, we take a closer look at what multi-threaded sales is, why you should implement this approach, and how to carry it out.
What Is Multi-Threaded Sales?
Multi-threaded sales is a B2B selling strategy where sales teams build relationships with multiple stakeholders across a target account simultaneously, rather than relying on a single point of contact. It is commonly used in account-based marketing to engage the full buying committee.
This approach draws in multiple users, managers, and executives across departments. Sales teams create parallel opportunities to demonstrate value to different decision-makers, building broader organizational consensus.
The opposite is single-threading: reps rely on one champion to navigate the entire deal.
Multi-Threaded vs. Single-Threaded Sales
Most sales teams still focus on just one contact, which leaves opportunities open for more polished sales professionals. 78% of sales professionals take a single-threaded approach when engaging with accounts they are trying to close. Only 7% connected to six or more people at their account.
"My initial encounter with sales multi-threading was while working with my paired account executive [AE] on her open pipeline," Hanisko says. "A key theme was that if she was only working with one point of contact at an account, it was easier for them to ghost us."
Here's the contrast between the two approaches:
Single-threaded: One point of contact. Deal dies if they leave, get promoted, or go dark. Single thread ownership creates a single point of failure.
Multi-threaded: Multiple stakeholders engaged across departments and seniority levels. Deal survives personnel changes and builds broader organizational consensus.
The Risk of Relying on One Contact
When your champion is your only thread into an account, several scenarios can kill the deal:
Champion gets promoted and hands off to someone who doesn't know the history
Champion leaves the company entirely
Champion goes on extended leave
Champion loses budget authority or gets overruled
Champion deprioritizes the project
"Say the AE spoke to a manager who inbounded and then went cold," Hanisko explains. "The next thing to do is to try and find their boss, then their director or their VP. If none of them responds to us after conducting outreach, we then move on to someone in a different department. This way, we create a groundswell as we go."
Why Multi-Threaded Sales Wins More Deals
Multi-threading prevents the ghosting problem because you have multiple points of contact. The core benefits:
Higher win rates: More stakeholders invested means more internal advocates pushing the deal forward
Faster close cycles: Consensus builds in parallel across the buying committee, not sequentially through one gatekeeper
Deal protection: Relationships survive if one contact exits or changes roles
Higher Win Rates and Faster Close Cycles
Engaging multiple stakeholders creates internal momentum. When more people across the organization understand the value, consensus forms faster. Fewer surprise objections late in the cycle because you've already addressed concerns across departments.
Protection Against Champion Turnover
Relationships across the org mean the deal does not collapse if one person changes roles. In 2026, job changes happen frequently. Multi-threading protects your pipeline from personnel shifts outside your control.
How to Map the Buying Committee
Knowing which personas you sell to is critical for successful multi-threading.
Key Stakeholder Roles to Identify
Harvard Business Review identified six buying roles encountered in every purchase decision:
Initiators identify a company problem that can be solved or avoided by acquiring a product or service. They begin the initial research and often present the first buying signal.
Gatekeepers have the title of buyer or purchasing manager. They behave as product experts and are responsible for staying on top of offerings in the market.
Influencers have a say in whether a purchase is made and what is bought. The bigger the purchase decision, the wider the range of influencers.
Deciders make the final decision on a purchase. Typically senior managers come together when making purchasing decisions.
Purchasers actually buy the product. Typically, this is done by a company's procurement or purchasing department.
Users perform their jobs with the solution and will be most impacted by the value it provides.
Getting as many of the above buyers as possible on an early sales call is essential for discovery.
"If a cold call results in a prospect taking a meeting, I always ask: Who on your team would feel left out if they weren't a part of this meeting? Who else in your organization would find value in taking a look at a tool like ZoomInfo?" Hanisko explains.
Use Data to Find Decision-Makers Faster
Relying on your champion to hand over contact information is not scalable. Asking for "the CEO's number" puts your contact in an awkward position and slows you down.
Sales intelligence platforms help reps identify the right contacts before discovery calls. Firmographic filters narrow accounts by size, industry, and revenue. Technographic data shows which tools the account already uses. Contact databases surface direct dials and verified emails across the org chart.
ZoomInfo's CoPilot surfaces the full buying group in seconds, giving reps a head start on stakeholder mapping before the first conversation.
How to Execute a Multi-Threaded Sales Strategy
Successful sales multi-threading provides the best results when adopted across sales organizations. When multithreading in sales, start by identifying stakeholders early and coordinating outreach as a team.
Start with Stakeholder Identification Before Discovery
The way sales teams are structured impacts how well they execute multi-threaded selling, which is typically used more often by teams that handle outbound sales.
"At ZoomInfo, new sales representatives start in inbound roles where they qualify leads," Hanisko says. "As they phase into outbound roles, we strategically pair them with AEs to help work their open pipeline."
"If it's a smaller company, we wouldn't necessarily be looking for different sales teams in different regions, but might still try to bring in other departments or points of contact," Hanisko explains.
Having regular internal meetings between account reps and managers keeps everyone on the same page about any contact updates. This communication extends the knowledge about relationships within target accounts.
Key execution steps:
Pair SDRs and AEs: Work pipeline together to expand coverage across the buying committee
Prioritize by account size: Larger accounts warrant deeper multi-threading; smaller accounts may have fewer distinct threads
Align internally: Regular syncs keep everyone updated on contact status and engagement history
Tailor Messaging by Persona and Seniority
Highlighting multi-threading in sales training increases the likelihood that your team will adopt it. It's important to establish workflows and arm your sales teams with the best multi-threading strategies.
Different stakeholders need different value propositions. Technical buyers care about integration and implementation. Economic buyers care about ROI and strategic impact. End-users care about workflow changes and ease of use.
Training should arm reps with talk tracks for each persona:
Economic buyer: ROI, cost savings, strategic impact on revenue or efficiency
Technical evaluator: Integration with existing stack, security compliance, implementation timeline
End-user: Workflow improvements, ease of use, time savings on daily tasks
Use Intent Signals and Trigger Events to Time Outreach
Organizational moves at target accounts often lead to shifting priorities and needs. Intent signals show which accounts are actively researching solutions. Trigger events reveal when accounts enter buying windows.
Stay on top of changes at target accounts to prioritize which threads to engage and when:
Funding rounds: New budget unlocked, new initiatives launching
Leadership changes: New priorities, openness to new vendors
Hiring patterns: Growth signals expanded needs across departments
Doing so ensures that your team can make informed decisions while engaging with these accounts.
The Tech Stack for Scalable Multi-Threading
Using a diverse sales technology stack to gather information provides your team with a richer picture of your target account and who works there.
Multi-threading at scale requires tools across four categories:
B2B contact and company data: Find the right stakeholders at scale with platforms like ZoomInfo, auto-dialers, and B2B contact databases
Intent and account signals: Prioritize active buyers using tools that track corporate news, buyer intent data, and organizational developments
CRM synchronization: Track engagement across threads with CRMs that centralize contact history and deal status
Sales engagement platforms: Coordinate multi-channel outreach with sequencing tools and professional network sites
Build a Multi-Threaded Sales Motion That Scales
Multi-threading is not optional for complex B2B sales in 2026. The combination of accurate contact data, buying committee mapping, and coordinated outreach turns multi-threading from manual effort into repeatable process.
Talk to our team to learn how ZoomInfo helps you engage the full buying committee.