Wednesday Wisdom: B2B Buyers Are Not Blank Slates

Hi everyone,

We’re sharing a new article from our Buyer Experience Research series, focusing on what we call the Blank Slate Fallacy of B2B Buying. This fallacy describes the common (but mistaken) assumption that buyers enter the sales process with little to no knowledge of providers or their competitors.

Our research, however, shows a very different reality—buyers are rarely starting from zero. Here are just a few examples:

• Research from Bain (published in the Harvard Business Review) shows that 80% to 90% of B2B buyers already have a shortlist of vendors in mind before beginning their own research.
• 78% of B2B purchases involve renewing, replacing, or enhancing existing solutions, rather than acquiring something entirely new.
• 90% of buying group members report having prior experience with one or more of the vendors they evaluate.
• Most B2B purchases are driven by buying groups, not individuals, with group members bringing varying levels of knowledge about the business problem, potential solutions, and providers.

Check out the article to explore what these insights mean for reshaping your approach to the buyer journey and making a lasting impact in a more informed B2B landscape.

@Kerry