2019 B2B Buyers Survey Report
Research Shows Buying Committees Engaging And Rewarding Agility And Relevance Of Potential Solution Providers
THIS REPORT WILL HIGHLIGHT:
Buyers are engaging earlier with sales and conducting many of the key steps in their path to purchase to support a more agile approach to selecting new solutions.
How buyer expectations for quicker engagement impact the sales funnel; The importance of first-contact channels, such as websites and advertising, in the B2B purchase cycle; How a stronger necessity for ROI analysis requires vendors to have a steady stream of reliable resources to fuel buying decisions; and How knowledgeable sales reps are helping further educate and accelerate purchase decisions.
B2B buying cycles are still lengthy and involve several stakeholders, but the increasing focus on agility in the process underscores the reality that buying journeys are not a linear, predictable funnel.
There is a noticeable uptick in the time buyers engage with sales reps of vendors:
With buyers moving at their desired pace through the sales funnel, first points of contact — such as display advertising and website content — have become critical.
Vendor websites are seen as an invaluable first-contact channel for buyers as they research purchase decisions:
74% said they conduct a more detailed ROI analysis before making a final decision, up from 70% in 2018.
Buyers are conducting ROI analysis at increasing rates.
Due to this, buyers are relying on more resources.
75% said they are spending more time researching purchases, up from 72% in 2018.
97% said that it was important to them that vendor websites have relevant content that spoke directly to their company—68% considered this very important.
Vendor websites were one of the top resources that informed buyers about the solution in question. 48% said they were one of their first three resources utilized.
97% said that it was important to them that vendor websites offered easy access to content (i.e. no gates or minimal gates)—56% considered this very important.
73% agree that they are relying on more sources to research and evaluate purchases.
The key differentiator that's working with B2B buyers is the ability for sales reps to educate and accelerate purchase decisions.
97% said it was important that sales reps demonstrate a stronger knowledge of buyer needs. 66% considered this very important.
Sellers need to be flexible and adaptable to meet the constantly shifting needs and expectations of their potential customers.
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68% said they notice ads from the solution provider they chose during the research process. 37% of them said that those ads positively impacted their view of the company.
95% said it was important that the vendor’s sales team had more insights about their company and needs. 55% considered this very important.
Is your company equipped to meet the needs of today’s buyers and deliver the information and experiences they crave?
83% agree they often accelerate or put purchase decisions on hold based changing business needs and/or priorities
42% said that they spoke to and engaged with reps from the vendor in the first month,
compared to 33% in 2018.
39% said that they “strongly agree” with that statement
