Advisory to B2B sellers: By the time buyers contact you, they are already 70% through the buying journey.
They have passed the awareness and consideration stages — a cycle that takes eight months. All that is left is the decision stage, according to the 2023 B2B Buyer Behavior Report, a study released Monday by 6sense.
Thus, 84% of deals are won or lost before the seller is even aware of
them.
Of the buyers polled, 83% initiate the first contact with vendors — when they are ready to engage. By this time, 78% have either totally or mostly established their business requirements.
Brands must assert themselves long before the 70% stage — via thought-leadership content, one-on-one subject-matter expert consultants, practitioner communities or educational events.
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This is also the stage when marketing emails can act as an introduction to or reminder of the vendor’s products/services. Only
a minority of buyers respond to emails, but email does better in this regard than vendor ads or website registrations. But it's critical to know who to email — buying teams typically are
comprised of nine people.
Here is the list of interactions with winning vendors:
Through the buyer’s journey, here are the types of interactions they have:
6sense surveyed 900 B2B buyers between June and July 2023. Each of these respondents had engaged in a B2B purchase of more than $10,000 in annual value with the last 24 months.