B2B Mythbusters: Debunking the modern B2B buyer journey

B2B Mythbusters: Debunking the modern B2B buyer journey

B2B sales and marketing might not be as “sexy” as B2C, but it’s still big business. And just like the B2C world, the B2B buying journey has changed drastically in only the last five years.

They might not be ordering McDonald's from bed, but B2B buyers are savvier, better informed, and more digitally enabled than in previous eras. In a time where they can access any information they want through a simple online search, they don’t take risks or make purchases on a whim.

So, how do they make their buying decisions? When does the buying journey begin? And most crucially, how the hell can you insert yourself into that buying journey?

Relax, my friends. I have all the answers you need to land millions of dollars of deals instantly. OK, that might be slightly overpromising. What I do have are some insights that you can leverage to inform more successful sales and marketing tactics.

In the beginning…..

The first myth to dispel is that you are dealing with a single decision-maker. According to Gartner, the typical buying group for a complex B2B solution involves six to ten decision-makers.?

What does that mean for your tactics? You need to “multithread” into your key accounts, connecting with as many members of the buying group as possible rather than focusing all your connections and outreach on a single buyer.

According to LinkedIn’s Deep Sales Playbook, 46% of “deep sellers” have relationships with seven or more decision-makers in an account. Before they’ve even reached out to discuss a solution, they have created organic connections across the buying committee to begin the next phase.

What’s your problem?

The second myth to dispel is that salespeople should educate buyers on “why” they need their solution. The truth is that buyers already know why they need a solution or product long before they talk to a salesperson.

The actual buying journey starts with a problem. For buyers, someone in the buying committee has usually been tasked with solving a business problem. It’s at this stage they begin their research into solutions.?

However, according to Gartner, each buying committee member will come to subsequent meetings armed with four or five pieces of information they have gathered independently and must debate with the group. It’s safe to say that multiple buying committee members will begin searching for solutions once a problem has been identified.

I do my own research

The third myth is that buyers will contact salespeople to learn about their solutions. Gartner has found that only 17% of the buying journey is spent meeting with sellers. Most of their time is spent conducting independent research and meeting with the buying group.

Salespeople need to be simultaneously researching the problems the buying committee may be discussing. Various methods exist to discover these problems, but LinkedIn has found that conducting industry research is a crucial difference-maker for 62% of deep sellers.

When buyers were asked by LinkedIn what buyers need to do to increase purchase likelihood, the top two answers were:

• taking the time to truly understand the buyer's business needs (41%)?
• taking the time to understand their industry (36%)

Hello there?

The fourth myth is that templated emails and InMails will help you to land a deal. This should be obvious by now, but here we are in 2024 with salespeople still bombarding their contacts with generic sales pitches.

The reality is that your relationship with buyers matters much more than the wording of your pitch. To illustrate how important relationships are, 60% of buyers surveyed by LinkedIn said they’d purchased from the same seller more than once, and more than half also said they’d purchased from the same seller even when the seller has switched companies.

Personalised communication that builds trust is the key to building your relationships with buyers. LinkedIn’s research found that trust (44%) and transparency (40%) were the two most important factors for building relationships. Interestingly, transparency around price was seen to be a big difference maker for buyers, as they need clear numbers to compare solutions with the rest of the buying committee.

Once you’ve engaged with B2B buyers, it’s important to listen clearly to their problems and offer clear and transparent information on how they can solve them. You can offer information and advice via email, but both B2B buyers and sellers agree that a face-to-face meeting is the most valuable avenue for discussing the challenge and learning about the potential solutions.

Closing a B2B deal can take months and sometimes years. Your ultimate success will hinge on understanding which parts of the B2B buying journey you can influence as a salesperson.?

By understanding how and who makes the decisions, you can focus your sales efforts more on tactics and strategies that build relationships within those buying committees. I’ll be diving deeper into these topics in the future, so stay tuned for more insights on how you can generate more opportunities through LinkedIn.

If you’d like to discuss the Social Selling, Sales Enablement, and Training solutions your sales team needs to leverage LinkedIn better, feel free to contact me for a no-obligation chat about where you can start generating new opportunities.?

Please connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/socialgen

Or email me at [email protected].