#069: Ultimate Guide to Multi-Threading

Win more deals faster and at a higher price point

Author

Harrison Waid
January 11, 2025

Read time: 8 minutes

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The Ultimate Guide to Multi-Threading

  1. What is Multi-Threading & Why It Matters

  2. Identifying Stakeholders & Their Roles

  3. Key Multi-Threading Strategies

  4. Building & Maintaining Multiple Threads

  5. Overcoming Common Challenges

  6. Concrete Tactical Ways to Multi-Thread

  7. Measuring Success & Next Steps

1. What Is Multi-Threading & Why It Matters

Multi-threading involves building relationships and opening lines of communication with multiple stakeholders within a target account. Rather than relying on one or two contacts (or “threads”), you engage a network of influencers, decision-makers, users, and executive sponsors.

  • Life sciences sales cycles can range from one-call closes (for smaller or transactional purchases) to long, complex deals (6–18 months for capital equipment, enterprise software, or large-scale service contracts).

  • A typical life sciences buying journey involves cross-functional teams—scientists, lab managers, procurement, legal, clinical/regulatory, IT, finance, and executive leadership. Data suggests an average of 7 or more stakeholders could be involved in a B2B purchase.

  • Why multi-threading matters:

    • Reduces the risk of deals stalling if your initial champion leaves or deprioritizes the project.

    • Uncovers different perspectives, ensuring you align with organizational priorities.

    • Accelerates the sales cycle by gathering buy-in and consensus faster.

    • Leads to larger deals when you address broader organizational needs.

2. Identifying Life Sciences Stakeholders & Their Roles

In biotech and pharma, you typically encounter these types of stakeholders:

  1. Scientific/Technical Users

    • Roles: Principal Investigators (PIs), R&D scientists, lab managers, bench scientists

    • Interests: Data accuracy, workflow efficiency, ease of use, scientific validation

    • Influence: High on technical specs and user adoption

  2. Procurement & Legal

    • Roles: Procurement managers, contract specialists, legal/compliance officers

    • Interests: Cost, contractual terms, regulatory compliance, ROI

    • Influence: High on purchasing terms, vendor selection, risk mitigation

  3. Regulatory/Quality Assurance

    • Roles: Regulatory affairs specialists, QA/QC managers

    • Interests: Compliance with FDA, EMA, and other global regulations; minimizing risk

    • Influence: Can block or delay deals if requirements aren’t met

  4. IT & Data Security

    • Roles: IT managers, data security officers, informatics leads

    • Interests: System integrations, data privacy/security, interoperability

    • Influence: Decides whether solutions can integrate into existing infrastructure

  5. Executive/C-Suite

    • Roles: Executive leadership (VP R&D, CTO, CFO, CEO)

    • Interests: Long-term strategy, ROI, overall impact on business objectives

    • Influence: Final sign-off and budget control

Tip: For smaller biotechs, these roles might be consolidated in fewer individuals (e.g., the founder/CEO is also heavily involved in R&D). In larger pharma, each role is more specialized, requiring deeper organizational mapping.

3. Key Multi-Threading Strategies

3.1 Simultaneous Top-Down & Bottom-Up

The ideal way to multi-thread involves approaching both senior and frontline stakeholders concurrently to create momentum from all angles:

  • Top-Down: Engage executives early to get strategic buy-in, funding alignment, and a champion who can push initiatives.

  • Bottom-Up: Build credibility with end-users and technical influencers; secure supportive data and feedback that resonates with leadership.

By running parallel paths, you ensure broader awareness and deeper validation.

3.2 Top-Down Selling

  • Start High: Identify a visionary or senior leader in R&D, commercial, or operations. This individual often has the power to endorse new initiatives and open doors across departments.

  • Strategic Messaging: Position your solution as a key driver of organizational goals—improved productivity, accelerated time to market, regulatory compliance, or cost savings.

  • Executive Sponsorship: If you can’t reach the top initially, leverage your champion to facilitate introductions. Show them how your solution addresses larger corporate objectives (e.g., patent timelines, drug pipeline acceleration).

3.3 Bottom-Up Selling

  • On-the-Ground Insights: Talk to scientists, lab managers, or frontline staff who feel the daily pain points. Gather real-world data and user stories that can later influence leadership.

  • Champion Building: These individuals can become your “internal champions”—they promote your solution within the company, provide internal credibility, and help drive adoption post-sale.

  • Incremental Expansion: In a smaller sale or pilot scenario, once you prove value with the user base, they often pull in procurement or departmental heads to expand adoption.

4. Building & Maintaining Multiple Threads

4.1 Relationship Mapping & Org Charts

  • Map the Organization: As soon as you can, sketch out the functional groups: R&D, Quality, Procurement, Finance, Legal, etc. Identify who likely sits in each group.

  • Document Each Contact’s Role & Influence: For each stakeholder, note their level of decision-making power, personal motivators, and potential impact on the deal.

  • Set Multi-Threading Goals: Aim to have at least 2-3 “active” relationships in different functions or levels of seniority.

4.2 Establishing Relevance & Trust

  • Speak Their Language: Tailor your messaging to resonate with each group. For a bench scientist, focus on protocol optimization. For procurement, emphasize ROI and cost structure.

  • Data & Case Studies: Provide relevant data—peer-reviewed publications, third-party validation, or real-world success stories. Life sciences buyers trust empirical evidence.

  • Regulatory & Compliance Acknowledgment: Even if not all customers require it, highlighting awareness of GxP, FDA guidelines, or ISO standards instills confidence.

4.3 Using Internal Champions & Referral Threads

  • Turn Champions into Referral Engines: Once you find a user or manager who loves your product, ask them to introduce you to other departments or relevant stakeholders.

  • Coordinated Outreach: If possible, set up joint calls or demonstrations where multiple stakeholders can validate the solution collectively. This fosters alignment and speeds decision-making.

5. Overcoming Common Challenges

5.1 Navigating Large Pharma vs. Small Biotech

  1. Large Pharma

    • Challenge: Matrixed organizations, multiple committees, strict procurement processes.

    • Solution: Develop a strong executive sponsor, but also ensure bottom-up buy-in for day-to-day validation. Expect more formal RFP processes and legal hurdles.

    • Tip: Use formal success metrics and pilot programs to demonstrate ROI in smaller divisions, then scale.

  2. Small Biotech

    • Challenge: Lean teams, limited budgets, fast pivoting priorities.

    • Solution: More direct access to top executives; simultaneously secure technical endorsement from key scientists or operations staff.

    • Tip: Speed is often crucial—emphasize how quickly your product can help them reach development milestones or attract funding/partners.

5.2 Compliance & Regulatory Considerations

  • Identify the Gatekeepers: If your product is subject to regulatory approval, you need buy-in from QA/RA teams early.

  • Offer Pre-Emptive Documentation: Provide documentation on regulatory compliance to remove roadblocks. If dealing with software, highlight data security (e.g., 21 CFR Part 11 compliance).

5.3 Getting Stuck with a Single Point of Contact

  • Early Warning Signs: The contact delays introducing you to other stakeholders or says things like, “I’ll handle sharing this with my boss.”

  • Action Plan:

    • Ask about others who will be impacted by the purchase.

    • Suggest group demos or workshops.

    • Show how multi-stakeholder involvement speeds up the evaluation.

    • If necessary, gently push for introduction by positioning it as a way to ensure a successful rollout.

6. Concrete Tactical Ways to Multi-Thread

  1. Leverage Warm Intros from Your Existing Champion

    • Ask for Specific Connections: Don’t just say, “Can you introduce me to anyone else who might be interested?” Instead, ask: “Would you be comfortable introducing me to Sarah in Procurement or Dr. Jones in R&D?”

    • Joint Meetings & Email Threads: Propose a quick group call or email thread. This allows your champion to “vouch” for you in front of new stakeholders, giving you instant credibility.

  2. Use LinkedIn to Identify Additional Stakeholders

    • Map the Org: Look at your champion’s company page and see who else works in R&D, QA/RA, or Procurement. Cross-check their titles to guess who might have influence.

    • Connect Tactfully: After a warm introduction (if possible), send a brief connection request. Mention mutual colleagues or relevant projects to demonstrate your credibility.

  3. Co-Host a Technical/Scientific Workshop or Lunch & Learn

    • Invite Multiple Departments: Position it as a knowledge-sharing session on best practices or recent industry trends. For example, “We’re hosting a short, interactive session on GMP compliance.”

    • Highlight Cross-Functional Value: Emphasize that the solution impacts not just scientists but also procurement/legal/regulatory. The workshop becomes a safe space for multiple teams to engage with you.

  4. Offer Tailored Content for Each Role

    • One-Pagers or Brief Videos: Provide R&D with data sheets or scientific publications, Procurement with ROI or cost analysis, and QA/RA with compliance checklists.

    • Follow-Up with Role-Specific Summaries: After each interaction, send a short, customized follow-up to each stakeholder (1:1, not a group email) highlighting the points that matter most to them.

  5. Request a Procurement & Legal Pre-Check

    • Early Involvement: Don’t wait for a near-final stage to engage Procurement or Legal. If you anticipate their involvement, ask: “How can we bring Procurement or Legal in early so we’re all aligned on requirements?”

    • Provide Relevant Documents: Have standard NDAs, compliance certificates, or contractual templates ready. This proactive approach often impresses these teams and accelerates approvals.

  6. Use Success Stories That Highlight Team Wins

    • Case Studies with Multiple Stakeholder Quotes: Show how your solution helped a similar biotech or pharma client. Quoting an R&D director and a procurement manager in the same success story.

    • Share ROI Across Departments: Emphasize that your product/service impacts not just science but also reduces procurement overhead and streamlines compliance.

  7. Be Proactive About Next Steps

    • “Before we end the call…”: At the end of every call, ask, “Who else should we invite to join our next conversation to ensure a complete view of your needs?”

    • Block Out Future Meetings: Rather than saying, “We’ll set something up later,” propose a placeholder meeting to keep momentum, and encourage your champion to bring relevant colleagues.

  8. Show Them the “Internal Pitch Deck” or Business Case

    • Make It Easy to Socialize Internally: Provide a concise document or slide deck with a short video that your champion or contact can easily share internally to explain the value.

    • Co-Create the Content: Invite all stakeholders to add their own perspectives so it feels tailored to their organization’s specific challenges and opportunities.

7. Measuring Success & Next Steps

7.1 Key Metrics to Track

  1. Number of Stakeholders Engaged: Aim for at least 3–5 active threads across different functions.

  2. Time-to-Close: Monitor if multi-threading shortens your average sales cycle compared to single-thread deals.

  3. Win Rate & Deal Size: Track how multi-threaded opportunities compare to single-threaded ones in terms of closed-won deals and total contract value.

  4. Expansion or Upsell Opportunities: Post-sale, are you able to expand across departments? This is a key indicator of successful multi-threading during the initial sale.

7.2 Action Plan & Continuous Improvement

  1. Develop a “Threaded Approach” Checklist

    • Identify key roles (R&D, Procurement, etc.)

    • Tailor messaging for each role

    • Schedule multi-stakeholder meetings/demo sessions

  2. Leverage Technology

    • Use CRM tools to map relationships, track communication cadences, and set alerts for stakeholder follow-ups.

  3. Seek Feedback Internally

    • Host regular deal reviews with your sales team. Dissect how threads were opened or lost.

  4. Refine & Repeat

    • The more you practice multi-threading, the more patterns and best practices will emerge (e.g., standard references, compliance checklists, ROI calculators).

Final Thoughts

Multi-threading is essential for succeeding in the complex buying landscape of biotech and pharma (especially as risk aversion goes up and budgets go down). By simultaneously engaging top-level executives and bench scientists, and proactively looping in procurement, legal, and regulatory functions, you lower your risk, build broader support, and pave the way for larger, faster, and more sustainable deals.

Take it step-by-step:

  1. Map the organization and identify potential threads.

  2. Secure early wins with user-level champions who can validate real-world value.

  3. Engage leadership to gain budgetary approval and executive sponsorship.

  4. Maintain momentum by leveraging internal introductions and scheduled multi-stakeholder meetings.

  5. Continually measure how multi-threading boosts your win rates, deal sizes, and sales velocity.

When done effectively, multi-threading becomes a force multiplier, ensuring you’re not overly reliant on a single contact and that you’re more likely to win over an organization.

Episode 53: [Sales] Selling into different global markets with Karen Tkaczyk

  • Selling horizontal products/services into a life science vertical

  • Selling into different markets

  • The importance of localization

  • Networking is still the best way to build pipeline

  1. Lead Generation: We’ll build target lists, write scientifically relevant messaging, and send messages on your behalf to book qualified sales meetings with biotech and pharma companies.

  2. Training for Reps: A skill development platform for life science sales reps who want to improve their sales skills, exceed their quota, and take the next step in their career.

  3. Training for Teams: If you want to upskill your team around prospecting, driving to close, key account management, AI, or any other topic, we can put together a training plan specific to your organization’s needs.

  4. Strategy Call: Need more than training? Want help implementing and executing your sales strategy? In a 30-minute call, we will assess your company’s current situation and identify growth opportunities.

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