Monday I watched the latest 6sense webinar on emerging buyer trends, delivered by Kerry Cunningham and Sara Boostani (Frazier), M.S. The insights were nothing short of eye-opening, some even a little alarming for anyone working in B2B sales

Here’s the headline insight: buyers are reaching out to sellers slightly earlier in the process than before (now at 61% instead of 70%). But, and this is the part that should grab every salesperson by the shoulders, by the time they make contact, they’ve already chosen their preferred supplier

In most cases, that decision is locked in, and there’s minimal chance of dislodging it

The unmistakable lesson?
If you aren’t consistently visible, valuable, and building relationships with buyers before they enter the market, you’ve already lost

Modern buyers don’t wait for a sales conversation to form their opinions, they arrive with a shortlist, often a shortlist of one

When they call you, they’re usually just validating a choice they made months earlier

You can dive into the full set of insights and watch the webinar here: https://lnkd.in/epJ9hrie
 

And if you want to understand where you stand today in your social selling maturity, here’s a free assessment to get started: https://buff.ly/UNxZxcZ

Conclusion
In today’s buyer-led world, the race is won long before the selling starts

If you aren’t influencing, educating, and showing up for your buyers every day, you’re not even in the running when they enter the market

The question is no longer “How do I win the deal?” It’s “Will I be known, trusted, and chosen before the deal even exists?”