If it feels like you’re hacking through the jungle searching for the lost city of B2B Sales, take a moment to regroup.
You don’t need to be an adventurer like Indiana Jones to succeed; you need a clear plan—specifically, one that outlines the B2B buyer journey.
Successful expeditions are about discovering new opportunities and establishing the right strategies to help your team find new revenue sources and guide prospects from “Who are you again?” to “Take my money!” without losing them to indecision.
Now, let’s navigate our way to B2B buyer success. Read on 👇
What is the B2B buyer journey?
The B2B buyer journey refers to the process businesses go through when making purchasing decisions, from initial recognition of a need to the final acquisition of a product or service.
This journey typically consists of several stages influencing how potential buyers engage with suppliers, assess options, and ultimately make decisions.
It encompasses the various touchpoints and interactions that occur along the way, shaping the overall purchasing experience. Understanding this journey is crucial for organisations looking to tailor their marketing and sales strategies to better meet their B2B customers’ needs.
Unlike B2C buyers who might make quick impulse purchases while sipping their morning coffee, B2B buyers are in for the long haul —full of research, stakeholder approvals, and enough meetings to fill an entire calendar year.
Importance of the B2B buyer journey
When buyers arrive for a product demo, they’ve already done their research, compared you to your competitors, and read extensive customer reviews.
B2B buyer journey statistics support this claim. Sirius Decisions reports that buyers now complete 67% of their journey digitally.
What does this plethora of online info mean for your sales team?
It means that it’s very easy for buyers to collect information independently, and your outbound sales reps have fewer opportunities to influence their decisions.
Gartner research finds that when B2B customers consider purchasing ‚ they spend only 17% of that time meeting potential suppliers.
And if you consider that they compare multiple suppliers, the amount of time they spend with your sales rep may only be 5-6%.
SaaS sales leaders often attribute this lack of customer access to sellers’ failure to deliver enough value in their outreach and demos.
However, the problem is rooted far less in reps’ struggles to sell and far more in customers’ struggles to buy.
The typical buying group for a complex B2B solution involves 6-10 decision-makers, each armed with 4-5 pieces of information they’ve gathered independently.
At the same time, buying groups have more options and solutions to consider; new B2B technologies, products, and services emerge every year.
These factors make it increasingly difficult for customers to make purchases. More than three-quarters of Gartner surveyed customers described their purchase as complex or challenging.
Understanding the B2B customer journey is crucial to solving this problem and making your B2B sales process smoother.
Once your reps know who your buyers are, what they’re looking for and where they’re looking, they’ll be able to:
- Improve the buyer experience.
- Build value for your product or service.
- Increase win rates.
- Move prospects quickly through the sales funnel.
How does the B2B customer journey differ from B2C?
While both B2B and business-to-consumer (B2C) journeys aim to convert prospects into customers, key distinctions include:
1. You sell to teams, not individuals
B2B purchases usually involve multiple stakeholders, from end-users to procurement and C-suite executives. Convincing one person isn’t enough—you need to win over an entire team. In contrast, B2C decisions are often made by individuals and can be more spontaneous.
B2B transactions emphasise building long-term relationships and trust, while B2C transactions may prioritise immediate satisfaction and brand appeal.
2. The sales cycles are longer
The B2B sales cycle is generally longer, reflecting the complexity and higher stakes of business purchases compared to the often shorter B2C cycle. The average B2B buying cycle is 6-12 months longer than the B2C customer journey.
3. The deal sizes are bigger
Most B2C purchases throughout the year fall in the ~$100 range. And these can often be made on impulse without much thought, research, or in-depth analysis.
B2B transactions are typically larger both in terms of deal/order size and total revenue per customer.
Meaning:
Deals can take a lot longer to develop. But you often make much more money on each sale when they do.
This also means that, compared to B2C companies, you can be more choosy and afford to pay more to acquire each B2B lead. You want to ensure they’ll be the right fit for your business.
4. You need more content assets
B2B purchases often involve significant investments, meaning due diligence is extensive.
This means you need a much slower ramp from attention to interest to purchase. You have to break down your B2B marketing and sales strategy into bite-sized chunks that can be consumed over a few months.
The trick is to provide upfront education and value that convinces all the decision-makers to get on board. In other words, you need a logical progression of micro-conversions to lead people from one step to another seamlessly.
5. B2B is more emotional
On the surface, it seems like B2B decision-making would be more logical, while B2C is more emotional. However, that’s not the case.
According to this study conducted by Google, Gartner and Motista, on average, B2B customers are significantly more emotionally connected to their vendors and service providers than B2C customers.
According to Bain, B2B offerings provide customers with 40 distinct kinds of value. Some of these revolve around logical decisions (does it offer the features I need? Do I have the budget for it?).
But after that, it becomes more about who’s a better ‘fit’ than which provides the lowest price. This represents an emotional decision on the part of the B2B buyer.
Check out how Mallory Lee, VP of Operations at Nylas, tracks the B2B customer journey and improves GTM alignment. 👇
The 3 stages of the B2B buyer journey
There are typically three B2B buyer journey stages:
1. Awareness stage
At this initial phase, potential buyers identify a problem or need within their organisation. They seek information to understand and define their pain points, often turning to industry reports, blogs, and thought leadership articles.
Your strategy:
Focus on thought leadership, SEO optimisation, and social media outreach to make your brand visible.
2. Consideration stage
Here, buyers have clearly defined their problem and are exploring various solutions. They evaluate different approaches, methodologies, or products that could address their needs, often engaging with whitepapers, webinars, and case studies.
Your strategy:
Highlight unique selling points and differentiation while addressing common sales objections.
At Cognism, we’ve created handy calculators to help potential customers measure ROI.
Check them out:
3. Decision stage
In the final stage, buyers have decided on a solution strategy and are compiling a list of potential vendors. They assess specific offerings, request proposals, and may engage in product demonstrations or trials to make an informed final decision.
Your strategy:
Remove any last-minute barriers and make the purchasing process as easy as possible.
How to create a B2B buyer journey map
Mapping the B2B SaaS buyer journey isn’t just about drawing a few lines on a whiteboard and calling it a day. It’s about constructing a detailed, data-driven roadmap that reflects how real buyers move through your funnel.
Done right, it helps you predict customer behaviour and increase deal closures.
Here’s a step-by-step process for creating an actionable B2B buyer journey map:
1. Research your audience:
Your B2B buyer journey map should be based on real customer data, not assumptions.
- Talk to your sales team: They interact with prospects daily and can provide insights into common objections, buying triggers, and deal breakers.
- Survey existing customers: Ask them how they discovered your company, what influenced their decision, and what nearly stopped them from purchasing.
- Analyse behavioural data: Use Google Analytics, heat maps like Hotjar, and CRM reports to track how visitors interact with your site and where they drop off.
- Conduct social listening: Monitor LinkedIn discussions, industry forums, and reviews to understand what buyers say about their challenges and competitors.
At the end of this step, you should have a clear buyer persona—a representation of your ideal customer, including demographic data like their age, personal data like their roles, and behavioural data that influences pain points, motivations, and decisions. If you’re in B2B SaaS, you can take it one step further and include technographic data.
Cognism can help you with your B2B buyer journey mapping. Have a look at our TAM calculator 👇
2. Define B2B buyer journey touchpoints
Now that you know who your buyers are, it’s time to map out their path from discovery to purchase. Identify where and how buyers interact with your brand throughout their journey, such as through your website, social media, or direct sales engagements.
- Stage one: The buyer realises they have a problem. Touchpoints include blog posts, SEO searches, social media, and industry reports.
- Stage two: The buyer actively looks for solutions and evaluates different vendors. Touchpoints include: webinars, product comparison sheets, and case studies.
- Stage three: The buyer finalises their choice and selects a vendor. Touchpoints include sales calls, product demos, free trials, and contract negotiations.
Remember the post-sale stage. This is often neglected, but nurturing customers after purchase improves retention, upselling, and referrals.
3. Identify friction points and optimise each stage
Think of your buyer’s journey as a process with smooth steps and challenges. The key is to minimise friction wherever possible.
For example:
- High bounce rates on landing pages? Your messaging might not be clear or relevant.
- Customers dropping off after requesting a demo? Maybe they didn’t receive a follow-up fast enough.
- Decision-makers not converting? You might need more substantial proof of ROI.
Using heat maps, A/B testing, and conversion tracking, optimise these friction points and create a seamless journey across your SaaS sales funnel.
4. Align content and marketing efforts with each stage
Each stage of the B2B purchase journey requires different types of content.
Ensure appropriate content and resources are available at each touchpoint to meet your prospective customers’ needs and advance them to the next stage.
- Top of the funnel (Awareness) Educational blogs, whitepapers, and infographics.
- Middle of the funnel (Consideration) Webinars, case studies, ROI calculators.
- Bottom of the funnel (Decision) Demos, free trials, competitor comparisons.
Using automated workflows, email sequences, and retargeting ads, ensure your marketing and paid teams deliver the right content at the right time.
5. Review and update the journey map regularly
The buyer journey constantly evolves—new market trends, emerging competitors, and shifting customer behaviours can change how buyers interact with you. Continuously collect data using real-time analytics and sales feedback to refine your journey map, ensuring it remains accurate and effective.
Enhancing the B2B customer journey: 9 tips
Creating a customer journey map is just step one. Enhancing it ensures that your buyers don’t abandon the path before reaching the destination (aka the purchase).
Here’s how you can refine and optimise the experience at every touchpoint:
1. Create personas
If you don’t know your buyers, you’ll be fumbling in the dark. This is why B2B buyer journey research is vital. Detailed personas help you craft targeted, relevant messaging that speaks directly to your customers’ needs and behaviours.
- Identify key roles in the buying committee (e.g., IT managers, CFOs, procurement officers).
- Determine their most significant pain points—what keeps them up at night?
- Find out where they get their information—are they active on LinkedIn, do they prefer email newsletters, or do they attend industry webinars?
2. Customer segmentation
Segmenting your audience based on industry, company size, or purchasing behaviour allows you to tailor your messaging and offers to resonate with different groups. This will enable more personalised experiences throughout their journey.
3. Create awareness
If buyers can’t find you, they won’t consider you. Your SEO, content marketing, and paid ads increase brand visibility and attract potential buyers in the awareness stage.
- Optimise your website for high-intent search queries
- Use LinkedIn Ads to target decision-makers in specific industries.
- Publish industry reports and whitepapers to establish thought leadership.
4. Analyse your customer journey insights
Without data, you’re just guessing. Leverage analytics tools to monitor buyer interactions and gather insights, allowing data-driven decisions to enhance the modern B2B buyer journey.
- Google Analytics: Tracks website engagement and bounce rates.
- HubSpot/Marketo: Measures email and content engagement.
- LinkedIn Insights: Shows ad performance and audience demographics.
Use these insights to refine your strategy and double down on what works.
5. Create content for every stage
Develop targeted content that addresses buyer needs at each stage, from educational materials in the awareness phase to detailed product information in the decision phase.
A common mistake is creating great content for awareness but nothing for decision-making. Your content should match your buyer’s mindset.
For example:
- Awareness: Create a blog like “10+ Tips to Get Past the Gatekeeper in Sales [+Scripts]”
- Consideration: Host an interactive webinar like “Email Teardown with Will Allred and Morgan J Ingram.”
- Decision: Showcase a compelling case study along the lines of “How Drift Booked 70% of Meetings With Cognism's Mobile Data.”
6. Prove your product’s ROI
B2B buyers want numbers, not vague promises. Provide ROI calculators, case studies, testimonials and clear data demonstrating your product’s value.
7. Guide the buyer to a decision
Offer clear calls to action, streamlined purchasing processes, and responsive support to facilitate and expedite the buyer’s decision-making.
8. Use technology
Leverage AI marketing tools to automate and personalise the outreach and nurture leads.
- Use chatbots to send instant responses to your site.
- Implement lead scoring to prioritise the most engaged prospects.
- Automate email sequences with dynamic personalisation.
9. Don’t end your support at the close
The buyer’s journey doesn’t end after the purchase. To foster long-term relationships and encourage repeat business, continue to provide support and value after the sale through onboarding, training, and customer success initiatives.
Transform your customer journeys with Cognism
Cognism is the ultimate tool to ensure a seamless B2B buyer journey with fresh and accurate data.
With Cognism, you get:
- Phone-verified cell phone numbers to help you connect with 87% of your list.
- Unrestricted access to person and company-level data*. With coverage across EMEA, NAM & APAC.
- Instant and scheduled CRM enrichment and on-demand CSV enrichment.
- Intent data by Bombora to help you connect with customers in the market to buy.
- Focus on quality GDPR and CCPA-compliant data with a database checked and cleaned against DNC lists in 13 countries.
- AI Search for faster prospecting.
*Subject to a generous fair usage policy.
If you’re keen to learn more about our product, book a demo. However, if you’re not ready for that, you can learn more about our tool via our interactive online demos. Click 👇
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