How Much of the Journey Happens Before a Vendor Hears From the Buyer
6sense’s analysis of B2B buying behavior found buyers spend roughly 70% of their buying journey doing independent research before ever talking to a vendor, a pattern 6sense states holds regardless of industry, company size, purchase cost, or how important the solution is. The average buying journey spans 11 months, with a buyer’s first contact with a vendor landing around 8 months in, roughly 69% of the way through, and that first contact is buyer-initiated 83% of the time rather than the reverse.
The same analysis found a counterintuitive wrinkle: vendors that went on to lose a deal had, on average, made contact earlier in the buyer’s journey than vendors that won. Evaluating six or more competing vendors extended a buyer’s independent research phase by 10.4% and lengthened the overall cycle by more than two months. 6sense is a vendor in the intent-data and ABM category itself, so treat these as 6sense’s own reported findings rather than an independently audited academic study, though the underlying pattern, extensive self-directed research before contact, is echoed across the other named sources below.
Why Most Buyers Already Have a Preferred Vendor Before Evaluation Starts
Forrester’s 2024 Buyers’ Journey Survey, covering 11,352 B2B buyers worldwide and reported by trade outlet Sword and the Script, found 92% of buyers start their evaluation with at least one vendor already in mind, and 41% already have a single preferred vendor selected before formal evaluation even begins. For first-time buyers specifically, that figure runs 48%, and C-suite buyers show earlier vendor loyalty, 47%, than individual-contributor buyers, at 34%. Forrester frames modern B2B buying as a process of confirmation more than selection.
A separate Gartner survey of 632 B2B buyers found 61% would prefer an overall rep-free buying experience, and 69% report noticing inconsistencies between the information on a seller’s own website and what a sales rep tells them directly. Gartner’s own report pages were not independently reachable during this research pass, so the exact percentages here should be treated as directional pending a direct check against Gartner’s published survey, a caution worth carrying given how much precision a statistics page implies.
The Numbers
B2B buyers spend roughly 70% of their buying journey doing independent research before ever talking to a vendor, a pattern 6sense states holds regardless of industry, company size, purchase cost, or solution importance.
6sense, Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You: What Research Says About When B2B Buyers Reach Out to Sellers
The average B2B buying journey spans 11 months, with buyers first contacting a vendor after roughly 8 months, about 69% of the way through, and buyers initiate that first contact themselves 83% of the time.
6sense, Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You: What Research Says About When B2B Buyers Reach Out to Sellers
Evaluating six or more competing vendors extends a buyer’s independent research phase by 10.4% and lengthens the overall cycle by more than two months.
6sense, Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You: What Research Says About When B2B Buyers Reach Out to Sellers
92% of B2B buyers start their evaluation with at least one vendor already in mind, and 41% already have a single preferred vendor selected before formal evaluation begins, per a survey of 11,352 buyers worldwide.
Sword and the Script, citing Forrester’s 2024 Buyers’ Journey Survey
61% of B2B buyers say they would prefer an overall rep-free buying experience, and 69% report noticing inconsistencies between a seller’s website and what its reps tell them, per a survey of 632 buyers (directional, primary report not independently re-verified this cycle).
Sword and the Script, citing Gartner’s 2024 B2B buyer survey
Sources
The external data in this article draws on the sources below. Figures described in the text as estimates or industry triangulations are directional and are not attributed to a single dataset.
- 6sense, Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You: What Research Says About When B2B Buyers Reach Out to Sellers
- Sword and the Script, citing Forrester’s 2024 Buyers’ Journey Survey and Gartner’s 2024 B2B buyer survey