The VITO Hierarchy Model
Map every account by who really approves vs. who merely recommends
Parinello identifies five distinct roles in every organizational buying decision: Recommenders, Influencers, Decision Makers, Approvers (VITO), and Board Members. Most salespeople waste time with Influencers and Decision Makers who lack true authority, while the Approver — the Very Important Top Officer — retains veto power over all purchases regardless of what lower levels decide.
The critical insight is that Decision Makers' spending authority has collapsed dramatically in recent decades. A VP who once had $250,000 discretionary authority may now control only $2,500. This means DMs appear powerful but cannot actually approve meaningful purchases; they must escalate to VITO. Sellers who spend months cultivating DMs are building on sand.
Mapping the hierarchy before selling allows the salesperson to invest effort where leverage exists, use the authority gradient (shunts downward from a higher level carry enormous weight), and avoid the political trap of being championed by someone who will be eliminated if the deal goes through.
- The person who can say No and make it stick is not always the person conducting the evaluation.
- Authority migrates upward over time; never assume a title from three years ago still carries the same budget power.
- A shunt downward from a higher authority is more powerful than a self-generated appointment at the same lower level.
- Influencers interpret their role as 'making the decision' even when they only recommend; always verify actual signature authority.
- VITOs buy results, not products — translate every capability into an outcome that belongs in VITO's world.
- Build the org hierarchy before first contactResearch the target account to identify all five roles: Board/Advisors, Approver (VITO), Decision Makers, Influencers, Recommenders. Use the annual report, LinkedIn, industry directories, and your current contacts. Record names, titles, and known priorities for each player.Pro tipCall a line-of-business executive (not your target) and ask who the VITO is and what their strategic priorities are for the current quarter.
- Identify the true VITO using the telephone-pole rulePicture a telephone pole: it has exactly one top. The person at the very top of the organizational chart in your target account is VITO. If both a president and CEO exist, target the CEO first. Aim so high you know it's too high — being referred downward from a CEO is worth more than any self-generated lower-level appointment.WarningDo not confuse functional authority (running a project) with organizational authority (approving spend). Project leads are almost always Influencers.
- Map spending authority for each DMBefore investing in a DM relationship, estimate or verify their current discretionary spend limit. If their authority is well below your typical deal size, treat them as an Influencer regardless of their title. Build your primary relationship with whoever must sign off on the actual number.Pro tipAsk a trusted contact inside the account: 'Who has to sign anything over [deal size]?' The answer almost always surprises salespeople.
- Use the authority gradient deliberatelyOnce you have VITO's endorsement or referral, name-drop purposefully when reaching out to lower-level players. 'Your CEO, [Name], referred me to you' transforms a cold call into a priority response. Every shunt you receive from a higher level is an asset to be leveraged, not a consolation prize.WarningNever fabricate a connection to a higher authority. Gatekeepers and DMs verify, and a single exposed lie kills the account permanently.
- Maintain the hierarchy map through the saleOrg charts change; people move, get promoted, or lose budget authority. Continuously update your map as you gather new information. Before each interaction, review the latest known objectives of each player. Record all shunts — 'shunted to / by whom' — so you can re-establish VITO contact at the right moment.Pro tipUse your CRM to store a 10-word critical objective for each player. Reading it 30 seconds before a call keeps every conversation on target.
Parinello sent a VITO letter to the CEO of the world's largest telecom. The CEO answered his own phone and said he had three divisions that might be interested. Parinello asked for a personal favor: would the CEO forward his letter to all three divisional leaders? The CEO agreed. When Parinello called each divisional leader and opened with 'Your CEO referred me to you,' every conversation started from a position of authority rather than cold outreach.
VITO Importanta, a CEO, empowers COO Joe Kickass to select vendors for a Pacific Rim expansion — but closes with 'once you've decided on the right suppliers, pass them by me before you sign anything.' Salespeople calling only on Kickass believed he was the decision maker. Those who also connected with Importanta knew the real approval chain.
Parinello developed this framework over 15+ years of training more than 1.5 million salespeople and conducting personal interviews with over 100 CEOs, presidents, and owners. He noticed that sales cycles were 50% longer than necessary because salespeople were pitching to individuals who appeared to be decision makers but routinely deferred final approval upward. A poll of his alumni confirmed that even when a DM said 'you're in the running,' the sale failed 30% of the time due to undisclosed veto from above.
The framework crystallized after Parinello observed that empowerment in modern corporations works top-down: board empowers Approver, Approver empowers DM, DM empowers Influencer — but each level retains a check on the level below. He coined 'VITO' (Very Important Top Officer) to give salespeople a memorable target persona.