As a B2B professional, when you think about what makes buying processes complex, the first thing that leaps to mind is probably: how much does the thing cost?
And you’d be right. It is one of the most important factors shaping B2B buying processes. In this report, we’ll discuss what the data say about that.
First, here’s a quick run-down of what we know about B2B buying generally.
The typical B2B buyer is a group of 11 individuals who conduct an 11.5-month buying journey. During that journey, buyers evaluate an average of 4.6 vendors and have more than 800 interactions – content and people interactions – across that journey. Crucially, the typical buying group does not engage with sellers until they reach the 70% mark of their journey, and by that time 85% of them will have mostly or completely set their requirements, and more than 80% will have picked a favorite vendor.
What stands out is that several factors remain consistent regardless of deal size: buyers connect with sellers over two-thirds of the way through their journey, and many ultimately purchase from a vendor they have previous experience with. However, there are other aspects of the journey that do change as deal sizes increase—larger purchases involve evaluating more vendors, forming bigger buying groups, having more interactions, and longer buying cycles. While these trends generally follow a clear upward trajectory, those making the largest purchases sometimes behave more like buyers making the smallest deals, driven by their tendency to evaluate fewer vendors than their peers just one level below them on the price scale.
Key Findings by Deal Size
The table below presents ten key findings from our 2024 Buyer Experience Report, organized by deal size. In the sections that follow, we explore each in more detail.
Point of First Contact Between Buyers and Sellers
In our global report, we found that the point at which buyers and sellers finally connect in the buying journey is so consistent that we call it the ‘Point of First Contact Constant.’ This connection happens over two-thirds of the way through the buying journey, and very little changes it. In the chart above, there are no statistically reliable differences between when buyers connect with sellers across price points. No matter the size of the purchase, buyers take their time in the first phase of their journey (read here about the Selection and Validation phases) and don’t engage sellers until they’re ready.
Buyer-Initiated First Contact
Across all participants in our study, we found that 81% of buyers report initiating first contact with sellers, while less than 20% respond to seller outreach. When looking at this by deal size, buyers making smaller purchases are slightly more likely to initiate first contact compared to those making larger purchases. However, in over 70% of cases, buyers making purchases of $500,000 or more still initiate contact.
One factor influencing this, which we’ll explore further a few sections down, is that the larger the purchase, the more likely buyers are to engage analysts and consultants for guidance in their decision-making. Buyers who hire analysts and consultants tend to respond to seller outreach slightly more often (though this still happens over two-thirds of the way through the buying journey) than those who do not. This tendency contributes to the trends we observe here.
When Buyers Set Their Purchase Requirements
As the purchase size increases, buyers are marginally less likely to have finalized their requirements before meeting with sellers. Larger purchases often involve more complex solutions, which may lead buyers to seek additional insights before making a final decision. However, it’s noteworthy that even for purchases over $1,000,000 in annual value, 78% of buyers have fully or mostly set their requirements before any seller conversations take place.
Buyers Choose a Winning Vendor Before They Connect with Sellers
Across all participants in our study, 81% of buying groups had a preferred vendor in mind before engaging with sellers. As shown in the chart above, this trend is more pronounced in some deal sizes than others (88% for purchases between $700,001 and $1,000,000 compared to 78% for purchases between $10,000 and $300,000). However, across the board, in nearly 80% or more of cases, buyers identified a preferred vendor, engaged with them first, and ultimately made their purchase from that vendor no matter the deal size.
The Help of Analysts and Consultants
Collectively, 72% of buyers engage trusted advisors, such as analysts or consultants, to guide them during their decision-making process. In the chart above, we see that this tendency is not evenly distributed—generally, the likelihood of buying groups hiring outside help increases as deal size grows, except for the largest purchases. Sixty-five percent of buying groups making purchases of $1,000,000 or more hire analysts or consultants, a stark contrast to their peers making purchases between $700,000 and $1,000,000, where nearly 92% of groups hire outside help. This is the second instance (here and in the previous section) where buyers in the highest deal size category behave more like those in the smallest deal size category than their peers just one level below them on the price scale. Further research is required to understand this.
How Long is the Shortlist?
There is a moderate, statistically reliable correlation between the size of the purchase and the number of vendors a buying group evaluates—the higher the purchase cost, the more vendors are considered. However, buyers making the largest purchases disrupt this pattern, evaluating one fewer vendors than those making purchases between $700,000 and $1,000,000.
The number of vendors evaluated has a cascading effect. As the number of vendors grows, so does the size of the buying group, which in turn increases the number of interactions with vendors and the overall length of the buying cycle. You’ll notice that the pattern shown in the chart above will repeat in the upcoming charts on buying group size, the number of interactions with vendors, and buying cycle length. Fewer vendors mean smaller groups, fewer interactions, and shorter buying cycles, while more vendors result in larger groups, more interactions, and longer cycles.
Buying Group Size
There is a strong, statistically reliable correlation between the number of vendors evaluated and the size of the buying group. When fewer vendors are evaluated, there’s less work to distribute, but as more vendors are added to the list, additional team members are needed to share the workload. Buyers making purchases between $10,000 and $100,000 have buying groups of nearly eight members, while those making purchases between $700,000 and $1,000,000 have 16 or more. As noted in the previous section, buying groups making purchases of $1,000,000 or more tend to evaluate one fewer vendor than those purchasing solutions between $700,000 and $1,000,000, resulting in slightly smaller groups, usually between 13 and 14 members.
Number of Buyer-to-Vendor Interactions
The chart above shows the average number of interactions per person, per vendor, across deal sizes. Buyers report a similar number of interactions with both the vendor they choose and those they don’t. Each member of the buying group also reports about the same number of interactions as their teammates.
When you factor in the size of the buying group and the number of vendors being evaluated a clearer picture of just how many interactions are happening across the buying cycle emerges. For example, for purchases between $700,000 and $1,000,000, buyers report an average of 27.1 interactions, per person, per vendor, and with 16.2 people evaluating 6.2 vendors, while interactions surpass 2,700.
More vendors mean more work, more group members, and more interactions per person.
Buying Cycle Length
The impact of evaluating fewer vendors becomes apparent once again when we examine the length of the buying cycle. Buyers in the smallest deal size category have the shortest cycles, while larger deals involve more vendors, larger groups, and substantially longer buying cycles. Once again, buyers in the largest deal size category stand apart from their peers making slightly smaller purchases by evaluating one fewer vendor.
Buyers Know the Field
A new question in this year’s survey asked buyers whether they had prior experience with vendors they evaluated for the purchase in question. Collectively, 84% of buyers indicated they had previously worked with the vendor they ultimately selected. The chart above shows the distribution across deal sizes. Regardless of the size of the purchase, most buyers have prior experience with the vendor they ultimately buy from.
High Purchase Cost Buyers: A Final Note
This paper has highlighted some unique behaviors among buyers making purchases over $1 million. Compared to those in slightly lower price brackets, these high-purchase buyers are less likely to hire analysts or consultants. They also evaluate fewer vendors, assemble smaller buying teams, engage in fewer vendor interactions, and experience shorter buying cycles. Although these buyers are twice as likely to renew existing solutions than their peers, our research shows that renewals generally do not drive markedly different buying journeys. This group requires further study to fully understand their approach to the buying process.
