The Phase That Decides the Deals Is Invisible to 6 in 10 Teams

saraboostani

Our AI-Driven GTM research is out. While some of the findings aren't entirely surprising (when we ran this study in 2023, teams were already over-indexed on identified, individual signals of buying intent), what's changed is the urgency. Every organization we surveyed (literally 100%) is now using AI for GTM, and it's being layered on top of those same models. The risk is going nowhere faster.

The underlying mental models need to update. There's too much evidence against the old, lead-centric way of thinking to continue on as such. This year, only 42% of organizations (about 4 in 10) are tracking anonymous signals. In a typical 12-month B2B buying journey, 6 to 8 months are spent in what we call the Selection Phase: a period of silent, anonymous deliberation in which buying teams shortlist and rank vendors before ever speaking to a seller. The vendor preferred at the end of that phase wins the deal nearly 8 out of 10 times. For 6 in 10 teams, almost all of that activity — where influence is still possible — is invisible. Once buyers initiate contact with sellers, the decision is largely made, and there's only about a 2 in 10 chance they'll change it. Before layering on more tools, the operating model itself needs to be right.

You can read the full research here: https://6sense.com/science-of-b2b/ai-driven-go-to-market-how-b2b-go-to-market-teams-find-prioritize-and-engage-buyers/

@Kerry

Kerry

This one really makes me scratch my head. If you are marketing in B2B, most of the response you get will be anonymous. This should be 100%.