Why 81% of Purchase Decisions Happen Before Sales Contact
The Critical Gap in B2B Sales Understanding
The modern B2B buyer operates in shadows far longer than most sales and marketing teams realise. Recent research reveals a startling reality: 81% of buyers have a decision made before they actually speak to a seller. This fundamental shift demands a complete rethinking of how marketing and sales teams identify, engage, and convert prospects in today's marketplace.
Stefano Iacono, who recently appeared on an episode of the Spotlight on B2B Marketing podcast, brings a wealth of experience in understanding these evolving buyer behaviours. As Marketing Director at 6sense, Stefano has witnessed firsthand how organisations struggle to bridge the gap between anonymous buyer research and meaningful sales engagement.
Understanding the Anonymous Research Phase
The anonymous buying journey encompasses far more activity than traditional lead scoring captures. The majority of people spend most of their time researching a purchase anonymously, engaging in behaviours that signal intent without revealing identity.
You might read up online. You might watch some videos. You might go look at some review websites might engage with the social profiles. You might read some blog posts all of these. These are all signals signals that you're intending to make a purchase, but they're not necessarily signals that you will share with the vendors, Stefano explains.
This research phase represents the critical window where buyer preferences form and vendor shortlists develop. The challenge lies in identifying these signals whilst respecting the buyer's desire for anonymity during their exploration phase.
Karen Lloyd, host of the Spotlight on B2B Marketing podcast, reinforces this insight: I really hate demos. I hate sitting through a demo or having someone show you something to me. I I like to go there and feel a bit more empowered. This sentiment reflects the broader shift towards buyer-controlled research processes.
The First Vendor Advantage
Perhaps the most compelling statistic from recent buyer behaviour research concerns vendor selection patterns. 84% of people buy from the first one that they speak to, highlighting the critical importance of timing in B2B sales engagement.
This phenomenon occurs because buyers conduct extensive due diligence before initiating vendor contact. You build a you probably as you're researching, you have maybe 10 companies you wanna buy from in line, you might will whittle that down to 2345. So you have a short list and what are you going to do when you're ready to talk to me? You're probably gonna start from the top of the list and work your way down.
The implication is clear: being first to engage when buyers are ready dramatically increases conversion probability. However, premature engagement can damage prospects, making signal identification paramount.
Moving Beyond Traditional Lead Scoring
The limitations of Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) become apparent when considering modern buying committees. Stefano's research with marketing leaders revealed that 97% of people said that they knew that MQL's were not the right metric. But interestingly, 78% of people said that they didn't really have the ability right now to move beyond that.
The fundamental issue stems from buying committee complexity. There's nearly 11 people on average based on the research that we've done who are in these buying committees, so the MQL isn't necessarily going to do what you need it to because it's actually more likely to be a false signal than anything else.
Account-based metrics offer a more comprehensive approach. You need to capture all the signals that you can from a business and assess them for how likely that business is to become an opportunity for your sales team. This includes website engagement patterns, intent data from research activities, and review site comparisons - creating a holistic view of account-level buying signals.
Strategic Sales Engagement Based on Intent Signals
When multiple signals indicate buying readiness, sales engagement transforms from cold outreach to warm conversation. At this point, it's not a cold call anymore. Really. It's a warm call, right? Because there's accounts are in a buying mode.
The key lies in personalising engagement based on captured signals. If you've captured the right signals, you might understand what they're looking at or why that they are hot and that like, that's something that sixth sense does. For example, we will tell our sales team, hey, this is a hot count and here is why.
This intelligence enables sales representatives to open conversations with relevant context rather than generic pitches, dramatically improving engagement rates and conversion potential.
What Can Business and Marketing Leaders Implement for Their Teams?
The insights around anonymous buyer research and account-based engagement present significant opportunities for marketing teams to improve performance and efficiency. Here are the key strategic implementations:
Develop comprehensive signal collection capabilities - Invest in technology platforms aggregating anonymous behavioral data across website analytics, intent platforms, and review monitoring while maintaining privacy compliance and sales collaboration.
Transition measurement frameworks from individual lead scoring to account-based metrics - Retrain marketing operations teams, update CRM configurations, and establish reporting structures focusing on account engagement rather than individual form fills.
Create personalised engagement strategies that leverage collected intent signals - Develop content libraries organized by buying stage, train sales teams on signal interpretation, and establish clear handoff processes based on account readiness.
Build foundation elements like Total Addressable Market and Ideal Customer Profile definitions - Establish accurate audience definitions before implementing advanced ABM tactics, as these underpin all subsequent marketing and sales activities for effectiveness.
The organizations that master anonymous buyer research identification and response will gain substantial competitive advantages in an increasingly buyer-controlled marketplace, particularly when scaling teams or expanding into new markets where understanding buyer behavior patterns becomes crucial for growth.
Karen Lloyd, November 2025
About Karen Lloyd
As the founder and director behind our recruitment approach, I bring almost 30 years of unique expertise spanning both recruitment and marketing. Having placed my first candidate in 1996, I've since built 5 start-ups, served as a Board Director for 25 years, and developed recruitment strategies that work in competitive talent markets.
I'm also the host of "Spotlight on B2B Marketing", where I explore B2B marketing trends with industry leaders. My passion lies in helping global businesses grow their revenue-generating teams through strategic hiring and fractional CMO services.
About Armstrong Lloyd
Armstrong Lloyd goes above and beyond being a pure search firm - we partner with your business because we have all stood in your shoes as experienced hiring managers, marketing, and operational business leaders. We have a hidden network that goes beyond LinkedIn searches, adverts, or referrals from ex-colleagues to ensure you're getting the top 1% of talent.
Whether you need interim leadership, marketing team building, or executive search across the UK and beyond, the team at Armstrong Lloyd are here to ensure you reach your commercial business goals by building the best marketing team and strategy to give you a competitive advantage.
Ready to transform your marketing team? Let's talk about how we can help you hire the right talent at the right time.
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