The Anonymous Research Phase? It’s Actually the Decision Phase for B2B Buyers.
In this report, 6sense researchers surveyed 2,509 recent B2B buyers to analyze how and when decisions are made.
The biggest, most exciting reveal? 81% of buyers have picked a winner before they ever talk to a sales rep!
Learn the truth about how buyers are choosing, and how you can win the deal before they even talk to you.
B2B revenue generation — comprising marketing, sales, and customer success — were designed for a world in which buyers depended on sellers for crucial information. That time is over.
of the purchase process happens before B2B buyers engage with sellers.
of the time, buyers initiate the first contact with sales.
of buyers establish purchase requirements before contacting sales.
Most sales processes fail to reflect these realities.
They underestimate the importance of the anonymous research phase and focus on influencing deals once buyer contact has been established. That’s too late.
Sellers are losing deals before they even have a chance to win them.
Important Analyst Takeaways
In the Selection Phase, which makes up the first 70% of the buying journey, buying groups collect information and build a short list of potential partners, with a favorite at the top of that short list.
In the Validation Phase, which makes up the final 30% of a buying journey, buying groups validate their choice by reaching out to the short-listed providers.
Early-buying stage visitors will, of necessity, fill out forms to access content as part of their early-stage research, while working to establish their short list of vendors to consider.
As a result, many of these early-stage visitors will become leads and MQLs that are delivered for follow-up by BDR/SDR teams. But these leads often aren’t actually ready to engage. Lead quality problems are often really lead timing problems.
During market downturns, companies often slash marketing budgets, expecting sellers to compensate by working harder to initiate conversations — sometimes even increasing sales headcount at the expense of marketing.
However, we now know that by the time sellers speak with buyers, those buyers have already chosen a favorite, and that favorite will win the deal more than 80% of the time. So, does cutting marketing budgets to fund more sellers still seem like a wise strategy?
Explore Our Research Further
Overcome these challenges!
Learn how our AI detects the earliest steps of the buying journey so you can win buyers over before the competition even knows they’re there.