B2B selling is more digital and self-service led than ever before
Digital-first B2B buyers self-serve, demanding trustworthy content and evidence of differentiation throughout purchasing journeys.
6 min read
Jul 2025
For decades, academics, researchers and leading business thinkers have been exploring the differences between B2B and B2C sales and marketing. While the nuances differ from sector to sector and across business sizes, the B2B sales funnel typically differs from the B2C one in the following ways:
Educated buyer – the buyer typically isn’t as knowledgeable as the seller, but has some relevant domain knowledge
Formal processes – to manage budget, get best value and implement good governance, the B2B buyer often puts formal processes in place as they move to buy a product or a service, particularly a high-value one
Extensive negotiation – dedicated procurement people and teams are focused on cost saving, cashflow management (typically through extended credit) and favourable contractual terms
Multiple buying criteria – B2B organisations typically have a series of objectives they wish to achieve when they buy something, which can contradict each other (or least be held in tension), involve various stakeholders and include small ‘p’ office politics
Long sales cycles – whereas the holy grail of B2C sales is that the buying decision is made and executed in a single transaction, B2B sales cycles tend to involve multiple discrete steps
More out of the market than in – a close cousin of the previous point, the B2B buyer spends well over 80% of their time not looking to buy (admittedly this varies between industries), meaning vendors need to stay front of mind for a long time to get their chance of a sale in the future
These broad principles have long been established and businesses that successfully sell in B2B environments have carefully crafted sales processes to manage its unique challenges and opportunities.
For businesses who understand themselves, get why they are different, appreciate what unique value they bring the market, and are prepared to invest in the content and marketing needed to prove it, the opportunity to resonate with today’s B2B buyer has never been stronger.
And while these foundational principles remain unchanged, a series of recent reports from heavyweight analysts such as Gartner, Forrester, Bain&Co, McKinsey and TrustRadius inform us that digital is having a profound impact on buyer behaviour. Here’s what they tell us:
An increasing number of B2B buyers are millennials – between 60% and 64% of buyers were born after 1980, are digitally native, and so bring with them a series of digital behaviours and new buying expectations. Key among these is that millennials seek peer review content more than twice as often as industry analysis content when assessing vendors. Businesses no longer need to impress analysts alone, they also need to influence online thought leaders.
As digital natives, they have a strong desire to self-serve – between 69% and 87% of buyers want to self-serve part or all of their buying journey, with 57% wanting to make purchasing decisions without speaking to a vendor. The impact of this is that a website hasn’t completed its job when it generates a lead or gets a salesperson an appointment – rather the buyer is highly likely to be referring to digital information throughout the sales cycle, not relying fully on what a salesperson tells them, and will be expect the brand experience to align with the brand promise.
Buyers are spending less time with vendors – while vendors have always sought more time with buyers, they currently spend no more than 17% of their buying time with vendors. This means that if a vendor is on a shortlist of 3 potential suppliers than they have little more than 5% of the buyer’s total buying consideration time. Throw into the mix that 67% of the buyer journey is carried out digitally and the picture is clear that buyers are fiercely independent and want to keep control of the process throughout the sales cycle.
Buyer organisations are changing at pace and are nervous – 99% of purchases are driven by organisational change and 90% of survey respondents have stalled purchasing in the last five years due to budget crunches. It has never been more important to communicate solidity and be confident around offering brilliant ‘boring’ basics. You need to convince them that you are a safe pair of hands, that you’ve been there done that, and have delivered dozens of projects just like this one.
Buyers have less sway than previously, driving up the number of stakeholders – while research suggests different specific numbers of buying stakeholders, all research is aligned that the number in general is rising. Gartner suggests 5 to 11 stakeholders in a buying decision, with Bain&Co suggesting a staggering 17 influencers. Forrester tell us that today’s buyer is weaker at driving consensus than yesterday’s buyer and so a website needs to increasingly appeal to a diverse set of audiences.
Buyer selection criteria has been consistent in recent years – the top three criteria for vendor selection are i) existing relationships, ii) ability to deliver results and iii) industry knowledge. There are lots of common-sense takeaways for B2B companies to reflect on as a result of this insight. First, keep a tight hold of current customers and protect those relationships above all else. Second, always lead case studies and thought-leadership content with impact not activity. And third, demonstrate strong sectoral knowledge when presenting your wares. To paraphrase former FBI Negotiator Chris Voss, make sure that your prospect knows that you are seeing the same thing that they are seeing.
Pre-sales is more important than ever – it has always been important, but a staggering 92% of buyers have a shortlist of preferred vendors before they start the buying process. From a vendor perspective, thought leadership remains the primary means of being on that shortlist to drive growth (creating content 37%, brand differentiation 27%, social media 26%). RAIN group summarises very well what buyers want to see in the content:
Differentiation "I can see how they are different to others”
Resonance "I need what they are selling"
Substantiation "I can see evidence of what they are claiming"
These new dynamics are rich with opportunity for those who grasp it. For businesses who understand themselves, get why they are different, appreciate what unique value they bring the market, and are prepared to invest in the content and marketing needed to prove it, the opportunity to resonate with today’s B2B buyer has never been stronger.
I’m old enough to recall the early days of the web when tired old clichés were regularly trotted out such as “let your website sell for you when you’re asleep” and “your website is your 24/7 sales agent”. They fell away as they were simply too hackneyed and didn’t convey enough truth. It’s ironic therefore that we have come full circle, and that in 2025 it is possible to create a digital voice, footprint and shadow that is differentiating enough that it supports your sales effort, perhaps not when you’re asleep but certainly when you’re not in the room and definitely 24/7.
