The B2B buyer journey: what happens before a prospect calls you

Much of a B2B buying decision now happens before a prospect speaks to a seller. Buyers research online, compare options and form a view on their own, and many would rather not involve a sales rep at all. Gartner's 2026 survey of 646 B2B buyers found that 67% would prefer a buying experience without one.

In episode 2 of Merlin5 Presents, Martin Hess and I talked through what that means for how a sales organisation covers its customers. I spent a decade as Global Head of Digital Sales at Vodafone Business, where I built the team from 25 people to 400 across six hubs.

Business buyers now research like consumers

The episode starts from a simple observation: corporate buyers now behave much as they do when buying for themselves. They search and compare before they get in touch. By the time someone fills in a form or picks up the phone, they often know what they want and who is on the shortlist.

That changes the job of the first conversation. A seller who opens with a product pitch is repeating what the buyer has already read. The useful conversation helps the buyer test a decision they are close to making.

Cover the research stage as well as the meeting

Most field sales models start when a buyer asks for a meeting. The research stage gets little coverage, and so does the long tail of accounts that only ever get a renewal call.

This is where digital inside sales earns its place. A team working by phone, video and email can engage buyers earlier, work leads over weeks until they are ready for a meeting, and look after accounts a field seller has no time to reach.

Field teams often assume these teams can only handle small, transactional deals. At Vodafone, field organisations insisted digital teams could not close million-pound deals. My teams went on to close them, and then five-million-pound ones.

There is a cost case too. Most of an expensive field seller's week already goes on research, admin, follow-up and CRM work at a desk. Moving that work to a team built for it frees field sellers for the strategic deals that need them in the room.

The data comes first

Coverage only works if you know who to cover. The episode's warning about AI applies to the whole model: if the ideal customer profile was never in the CRM, no tool can tell a seller who to call next. It is the same reason we say AI is only as good as the process behind it.

Four questions to ask about your own coverage

• Which accounts has nobody called this year?

• How long do new leads wait before someone works them properly?

• How much of your field sellers' week actually reaches a customer?

• Is your ideal customer profile recorded in the CRM, or only in people's heads?

Frequently asked questions

What is the B2B buyer journey?

It is the path a business buyer takes from recognising a need to choosing a supplier: researching, building a shortlist, evaluating options and getting internal agreement. Much of it now happens before the buyer speaks to a seller.

Sources

1. Gartner, sales survey of 646 B2B buyers, press release, 9 March 2026. https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2026-03-09-gartner-sales-survey-finds-67-percent-of-b2b-buyers-prefer-a-rep-free-experience

2. Merlin5 Presents, episode 2, "Most of the buying decision is made before anyone calls you", with Chris Thomas and Martin Hess. https://merlin5.com/merlin5-presents/ep2