The Decision-Making Gap: CTOs Book Demos Today; VPs Request Async Email Review
- Cormac Repman
- Aug 18
- 2 min read
The Decision-Making Gap: CTOs Book Demos Today; VPs Request Async Email Review
We've been doing this long enough to see a pattern. Last week, we called Chris Atkins, a founder and CTO at a mid-market SaaS company. He had flagged interest six months ago. When we followed up with a 15-minute demo slot, he booked it for Thursday. No "let me check my calendar." No "I'll review this with my team." Done.
Two days later, we reached Michael Young, a VP of Marketing at a larger organization. Same product, same value prop. Michael's response: "Can you send me a deck and an overview document? I need to review this with our buying committee before I commit to anything."
This is the decision-making gap we see constantly. The roles drive velocity as much as the personalities do.
CTOs and founders operate under different constraints. They own the problem. If roofing is costing them money or taking up engineering cycles, they feel it directly. When you call with a solution, the decision tree collapses. Demo booked. Problem solved. Velocity: fast.
VPs and committee-driven buyers live in a different world. They answer to committees. They need consensus. Email decks get forwarded. Slack threads spawn. By the time everyone's read it, a week has passed. Velocity: glacial.
We tested this across 40 outreach calls last month. Our fastest closes (same week, no follow-up friction) skewed heavily toward founders, C-suite, and individual contributors with direct budget. Our slowest cycles involved VP-level buyers and matrix-org structures. The data reinforced what our gut already knew.
Here's what this means for your follow-up cadence.
For CTOs and founders: assume they'll decide fast or decline fast. If they ghost after a demo booked, a single check-in email works. They're not mulling it over. They either want it or they don't. One follow-up. Then move on.
For VPs and committee buyers: plan for async review time. When they ask for a deck, send it with a clear next step. "I'll follow up Thursday to see if there are questions." This sets the rhythm and prevents you from chasing dead air. They're not ghosting you; they're in a meeting about something else entirely.
One more thing we noticed: ask earlier. When a VP says they want to review with their team, ask who else needs to see it. Get names. Send it to them directly if they'll let you. This bypasses the slowest bottleneck (email forwarding delays) and puts your message in front of actual decision-makers instead of one gatekeeper.
We're not here to change how buyers buy. We're here to respect how they actually buy and time our follow-ups accordingly. CTOs book Thursday slots. VPs ask for decks on Monday and decide Thursday. Homeowners stay booked or cancel same-week. That's not a failure. That's data.
Velocity isn't effort. It's clarity about who makes fast decisions and who makes slow ones. Once you know the difference, your response time becomes their decision-making time instead of fighting against it.
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