Metric Monday: Lots of Outreach Won’t Change Their Timeline

Hi all,

Happy first post of the year! The 6sense Research team is looking forward to everything we’ll be researching and sharing with you in 2025.

To kick off the first of many Metric Monday posts, let’s revisit the point of first contact between buyers and sellers. We know with confidence that this happens over two-thirds—or roughly 69%—of the way through the buying journey. We also know that buyers initiate contact with sellers in over 80% of purchases, not the other way around.

We’ve long suspected that buyers receive outreach from sellers before they make that first move—likely ignoring it until they’re ready to engage. Until now, however, we hadn’t asked buyers directly about the outreach they receive. In our most recent survey of 600+ buyers, we asked whether they’d received outreach from sellers prior to initiating contact, and if so, for how long. Indeed, 83% of buyers had received outreach before they made the first move. Here’s how that breaks down:

• 32% for a few days
• 30% for a few weeks
• 19% for a few months

Does the amount of time outreach is received (days, weeks, months) change when buyers initiate contact with sellers? The answer is no. Contact is made at 69% or later across all three groups listed above. Whether you reach out for months, weeks, or days, you can't really change when buyers are ready to talk to you. Pushing for meetings for months or weeks is a lot of effort for little return. Instead of chasing meetings you’re unlikely to get, focus on offering valuable content that helps buyers progress through their buying journey. By doing this, you’ll stay top of mind when they’re ready to reach out.

@Kerry