{"id":1079,"slug":"rule-recognize-spouse-office-manager-as-primary-buyer","title":"Rule: recognize the GC owner's spouse / office manager as a primary buyer, not a gatekeeper","kind":"rule","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","candid-team"],"topics":["agency-methodology","psychology-aversion","buying-committee"],"reference_body":"**Rule:** Treat the GC owner's spouse / office manager / formal-non-owner-business-role as a **co-equal buyer**, not a gatekeeper to route around. Build content, contract terms, and sales materials so that they address the operational practicality concerns the spouse / office manager raises *before* the owner does.\n\n**Why:** The \"approve the marketing budget\" decision in $1M–$10M residential GCs is overwhelmingly **co-made** ([[gc-owner-spouse-as-primary-buyer-not-gatekeeper]]). Spouses are frequently the **first-mover** on marketing adoption. Marketing-vendor engagements at $3M GCs commonly stall not because the owner says no but because the spouse or office manager has unresolved concerns that the owner has not surfaced ([[forrester-state-business-buying-2024-13-stakeholders]] dynamic at small-firm scale).\n\n**How to apply:**\n- Every proposal includes a \"billing, reporting, contract terms\" appendix that the office manager can read independently.\n- Reporting cadence and deliverable specificity are surfaced in sales conversations, not buried in contract appendices.\n- A standing offer to do a 20-minute call with \"anyone else who would be reading the bill\" is part of the discovery script.\n- Pricing transparency — at minimum a published methodology, ideally productized minimums — is non-negotiable.","rationale_body":"R4 from the May 2026 psychology brief.","metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"slug":"gc-owner-spouse-as-primary-buyer-not-gatekeeper","title":"GC owner's spouse is a primary buyer in majority of $1M–$10M residential firms, not a gatekeeper — often the first-mover on marketing adoption","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"forrester-state-business-buying-2024-13-stakeholders","title":"Forrester State of Business Buying 2024 — avg B2B purchase involves 13 stakeholders; 89% of decisions cross multiple departments; Amy Hayes named lead","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"}],"incoming":[]},"created_at":"2026-05-24T23:24:06.392Z","updated_at":"2026-05-24T23:24:06.392Z"}