How B2B buying works in Indian companies: the buying committee, procurement stages and approval limits

When you sell to a business, the person who says "send me your quotation" is rarely the person who signs the purchase order. In most Indian companies beyond a few dozen employees, an order passes through a user department, a technical check, a purchase team comparing quotes, accounts, and an approver whose signing limit depends on the order value. If you know only one of these people, you do not know where your deal stands, and that is why so many "hot" B2B enquiries go silent for months.

What you need to know

How B2B buying differs from consumer buying. A consumer spends their own money and mostly decides alone. A business spends the company's money under written or unwritten rules, and every person involved carries personal risk if the purchase goes wrong. That is why business buyers ask for more documents, more comparisons and more time. Your job is not only to persuade; it is to make each person feel safe approving you.

The buying committee. Even a promoter-run MSME usually has more than one person in a purchase. The typical roles:

• User / initiator — the plant head, stores in-charge or department manager who feels the problem daily.
• Technical evaluator — quality, maintenance, IT or R&D. Checks specifications and can reject you on a single parameter.
• Purchase / procurement — compares vendors, negotiates rate and terms, maintains the approved vendor list.
• Accounts / finance — budget, payment terms, your GST compliance, TDS and vendor master.
• Approver — the person whose signature or system approval releases the PO. In family businesses this is often a director or a member of the promoter family, not the person you meet.
• Gatekeepers — reception, executive assistants, and sometimes an existing vendor who is close to the users.

Three kinds of B2B purchase. Identify which one you are in; it tells you how long the deal will take and who matters most:

• Straight re-buy — routine repeat purchase from approved vendors (monthly packaging, consumables). Handled by purchase executives. Hard to enter unless an existing vendor fails; easy to keep if you perform.
• Modified re-buy — the buyer wants to change price, specification or vendor, usually after a supply failure, a price increase or a quality complaint. This is your most common opening as a new supplier.
• New task — a first-time purchase: a new machine, new software, a new plant or product line. Longest cycle and most stakeholders, but the most room for a supplier who helps the buyer define what they need.

Delegation of financial powers. Larger companies set approval limits: a manager may approve up to one amount, a general manager up to a higher one, and anything above goes to a director or committee. Limits differ by company, so ask politely ("Once your team agrees, who else needs to sign off at this value?"). A common rule of thumb: every time your proposal crosses the next approval level, expect at least one more meeting and a few more weeks.

The procurement stages. A typical corporate purchase moves through: need identified → budget available → specification written → vendors shortlisted (approved list or new search) → enquiry or RFQ → quotations received → technical evaluation → commercial comparison (often called the "comparative statement") → negotiation → PO released → delivery and inspection (goods receipt note, GRN) → invoice booked → payment as per terms. Your deal can stall at any stage, and each stage has a different owner.

Budget calendars. Most Indian companies plan on the April–March financial year. Capital purchases are often decided in the budget season (January–March) and released after April. Consumables and services move all year. Ask when budgets are set, not only whether there is a budget.

What each role fears. The user fears the problem continuing. Technical fears a failure that gets blamed on them. Purchase fears paying above market or choosing a vendor who fails and makes them look careless. Accounts fears early cash outflow and invoice mismatches. The approver fears an avoidable decision that embarrasses them in front of the promoter or board. Good B2B selling answers each fear with evidence, not with more enthusiasm.

Step-by-step method

1. List your last ten B2B deals, won and lost, with the value of each.
2. For each deal, write who initiated, who evaluated technically, who negotiated, who approved, and who processed payment.
3. Classify each as straight re-buy, modified re-buy or new task, and note how many days it took from first contact to PO.
4. Ask two friendly existing customers to walk you through their purchase process: "After your team agrees, what happens until the PO is released?" Write the stages in their words.
5. Record any approval limits and budget timing you learn, by customer.
6. Draw one standard process map for each type of customer you serve (for example, large corporate, mid-size MSME, promoter-run firm).
7. For every open deal, mark the current stage, the next stage, and who inside the buyer owns that next step.
8. Plan one specific action per open deal that helps the buyer complete the next stage (a test report, a reference call, a revised quote below an approval limit).
9. Review this map weekly; a deal that has not moved stage in 30 days needs a new contact, not another reminder to the same person.

Buying committee map — Account: ____

• Purchase type: straight re-buy / modified re-buy / new task
• User / initiator: ____ (met: yes / no)
• Technical evaluator: ____ (met: yes / no)
• Purchase contact: ____ (met: yes / no)
• Accounts contact: ____ (met: yes / no)
• Approver: ____ (met: yes / no)
• Approval limit at the approver's level: ₹____
• Our proposal value: ₹__ → which level must approve? __
• Budget timing: ____
• Current stage: __ Next stage: Owner at buyer: __
• Documents the next stage needs: ____
• Date of last stage movement: ____

Common mistakes

• Treating the person who sent the enquiry as the decision-maker and pushing them for a PO they cannot release.
• Ignoring the technical evaluator until the end, then losing on a specification or test report you could have supplied in week one.
• Quoting a value that crosses an approval level without knowing it, adding weeks you did not plan for.
• Asking purchase to "close" before the user and technical team have approved; purchase will simply use your quote to negotiate with the incumbent.
• Assuming a promoter-run firm has one decision-maker, when the son handles purchase but the father signs above a certain value.
• Chasing the same contact for months instead of finding the owner of the stage where the deal is stuck.

Ask the AI Business Tutor

• "I sell [product/service] to [type of company] in [city/sector]. My open opportunity is with [company type and size], worth about ₹[value]. So far I have met [roles]. List the other people likely to be in their buying committee, what each one is worried about, which procurement stage I am probably stuck at, and three polite questions I can ask my contact to learn their approval process."