In biology, many animals experience critical periods in their development. Geese become permanently attached to (imprinted on) the first moving object they encounter during the first 13 to 15 hours of life. Similarly, children demonstrate an enormous capacity for learning languages until they reach about age eight, but struggle to reach native-level fluency with languages learned thereafter.
B2B buyers also experience a critical period in their evaluation and selection of solution providers. This critical period occupies 70% of a typical buying process, and it culminates in the selection of a preferred vendor – what we call, the 70% Solution. Buyers rarely shift off of their 70% Solution once that choice has been made.
The Critical Period for B2B Buyers
Over two years of research, involving more than 3,500 B2B buyers from three global regions, we found that the B2B buying process unfolds in two distinct phases.
- The Selection Phase: This phase – the critical period for B2B buyers – occupies 70% of the buying journey. During this phase, buying groups form, gather and evaluate information, and consult with experts. They build a consensus shortlist of potential partners with a clear favorite – the 70% Solution – at the top. What buyers do not normally do during this phase is speak with provider sellers.
- The Validation Phase: In the remaining 30% of the journey, buyers engage with shortlisted vendors, arranging demonstrations, negotiations, and discussions to validate their choice. Remarkably, in eight out of ten journeys, the vendor that emerges as the preferred vendor during the Selection Phase – the 70% Solution – prevails as the final selection. The buying group has generated consensus among buying group members during the Selection phase, and they are loath to disrupt that consensus after this point.
Here’s how we know this is true. As we described in the B2B Buyer Experience Report:
- Buyers do not speak with sellers until they are approximately 70% of the way through their journeys.
- Buyers initiate that first conversation (the Point of First Contact) 82% of the time.
- The typical buying group has hundreds of content interactions with vendors prior to the point of first contact.
- More than 70% of buying group members work with analysts and/or consultants during their buying journeys.
- Eighty-five percent of buyers either completely or mostly establish their requirements prior to talking to sellers.
- Buyers engage first with the ultimate winner 81% of the time, indicating that buyers know who the ultimate winner is likely to be prior to engaging with vendor organizations.
A Critical Period, Not a Critical First Conversation
It may be argued that buyers are inordinately influenced by the first vendor they contact. However, that interpretation is far-fetched. By the time that conversation happens, buying groups have been researching solutions for eight months, getting outside advice, and debating which solution would best fit their needs.
Instead, our research supports a different interpretation: the first conversation is the culmination of the critical period in which buyers establish their preferred provider (the 70% Solution). In the process that follows that first conversation, buyers merely validate their initial choice.
There Are Exceptions to the Rule
Not all buyers reach consensus before talking to sellers. Around 20% have not selected a preferred vendor before they engage with sellers. And approximately 30% of buyers begin vendor discussions much earlier. It seems likely that sellers who are able to engage buying group members during the selection phase are those that have established relationships prior to the beginning of the buying journey. Top B2B sellers have always been relationship-builders, and it seems likely that the best of these give their organizations a substantial competitive advantage.
Implications: Becoming the 70% Solution
- Brand, Reputation, and Focus: Success in the Selection Phase relies on brand strength, reputation, and the ability to deliver the right messages to buyers entering market. Being a brand that is known and sought out is critical. But, identifying which accounts are in-market as early in those journeys as possible enables organizations to prioritize their resources on buying groups to further drive awareness and solution preference. Organizations that focus their resources on the accounts that are most likely to purchase in the near term will have a substantial competitive advantage.
- Drive Preference Early: The data are clear — B2B organizations must drive preference before buyers engage with sellers. They must be the 70% Solution. To become the 70% Solution, the Selection Phase must be engineered to rapidly communicate critical differentiators, including brand reputation, in context and using language that is familiar and appropriate to key buying group members. Because buyers are familiar with the brands in their consideration set from the start (see our discussion of this here), it is vital that these messages be consistently in front of all target accounts, and particularly those that are just entering the market.
- Build Relationships in Key Accounts: While our data do not support this directly, it seems apparent that organizations whose sellers build meaningful relationships with buying group members in their accounts will have an advantage during the critical selection phase. This approach, however, rarely scales beyond a company’s largest prospects and customers.
- Make Confirmation Bias Your Ally: Once a buying group reaches consensus, its members are highly motivated to stay with their choice rather than change it. Providers that secure the top spot in the Selection Phase benefit from the collective motivation of the group to validate their initial choice. The Validation Phase must be engineered to identify accounts for which your brand is already the 70% Solution, then ensuring that these high-propensity buyers receive the red-carpet treatment. Simply asking buyers that contact you whether you were they first brand they contacted will provide this intelligence. At the same time, identifying the accounts where your brand is not the 70% Solution enables the sales organization to prioritize resources toward the most important of these accounts, or the ones where there is reason to believe that a strong chance to win still exists.
