Metric Monday: How Many Vendors Are on Buyers' Day 1 Shortlist?

saraboostani

Hi all

A few weeks ago, we discussed the Bain & Google stat in a Metric Monday post: 80% to 90% of B2B buyers already have a shortlist of vendors in mind on Day 1 of their buying journey, and 90% of those buyers ultimately choose a vendor from that original list.

Recently, 6sense Research surveyed over 600 B2B buyers to explore this further. We asked buyers how many vendors they include on their initial shortlist and whether the ultimate winner came from that Day 1 list.

Here’s what we found:

• 98% of buyers had at least one vendor on their evaluation list from Day 1.
• 86% of buyers selected a vendor from their Day 1 list—remarkably close to Bain’s 90%, confirming this is a very real and consistent trend!
• On average, buyers evaluate 4.5 vendors during their journey, with 3.5 of those vendors added to their shortlist on Day 1.

You need to be on that Day 1 shortlist!

@Kerry

Kerry

Buyers are not naive to our brands and solutions when they start a buying process, and that means the buying process itself is not really about educating themselves on brands and potential solutions. Maybe updating their knowledge, but it isn't starting from zero. So, does your content fit within that model?