“The leads are weak? You’re weak!” shouts Blake, Alec Baldwin’s irascible character in “Glengarry Glen Ross.”
Kerry Cunningham, head of research and thought leadership at 6Sense, who is decidedly more affable than Blake, and who has more than 25 years of experience in B2B demand generation, would likely retort, “Of course the leads are weak. Leads, by definition, are weak.”
6sense is a provider of AI-powered revenue intelligence software. As the company describes it, its SaaS tool “helps B2B revenue teams do more of what actually drives results and less of what doesn’t by using AI to reveal what matters, when it matters and make it instantly actionable.”
What too many B2B sales and revenue development teams don’t understand, Cunningham states, is that on the continuum of the B2B selling process, a lead is at the far end of a closed deal.
Of course, closing on a real estate transaction, as the salesmen in “Glengarry” are scrambling to do, is decidedly different than closing multimillion-dollar B2B deals. A lead in the B2B world, Cunningham said, typically refers to any expression of interest from a single person at what may or not be a prospective customer.
A prospect isn’t a strong prospect – “in market,” as Cunningham puts it – until several members of a buying team are pursuing more information from a provider. The challenge, however, according to 6sense research on buyer behavior, is that prospects conduct 70% of their research before identifying as being in market. What’s more, four out of five deals are won by the vendor that the customer identified as a favorite before it even made clear it was in market.
This research makes clear that business development reps (BDRs) must be persistent and patient when communicating with prospects early in the buying process.
Buyers engage when they are ready to engage, Cunningham said. The best BDRs are less focused on setting purely informational meetings and more focused on maintaining continual, informational communication with prospects.
“The one who will get to the top of a short list will be showing up during the non-contact process from the buyer. What companies get wrong many times is the BDR chases down someone who is not ready to talk with someone yet, and they are abandoned too quickly as not being a serious prospect,” said Cunningham. “Instead, when you know the account is in market but early, be patient. Deliver the best content you have and do all you can to ensure the account has the best buying experience you can provide.”
Understanding the Buyer Experience and How to Respond
6sense surveyed nearly 4,000 B2B buyers. Here are key insights from “The 2025 Global B2B Buyer Experience Report.”
Buying groups are large, experienced and their journeys span nearly a year. Typical purchases include 10+ people, average 10.1 months (down from 11.3 months in 2024), and almost always draw on prior vendor experience.
Buyers are contacting sellers earlier, but it’s still well down the decision-making process. The point of first contact shifted from 69% of the journey to 61% – a difference of six to seven weeks.
Vendor selection is largely decided before sellers are engaged. 95% of the time, the winning vendor is already on the buyer’s shortlist, and four out of five deals are won by the first vendor the buyer contacts.
Price and technical fit are the main triggers for reconsideration. Nearly half of buyers said they were either very likely or somewhat likely to consider a different vendor after reaching group consensus. Technical fit (29%) and price (28%) are the top reasons buyer considered a switch.
Past relationships heavily influence vendor choice. 85% of buyers report prior experience with the winning vendor, and 75% say they personally know sellers from the vendor organizations they evaluate.
