{"id":356202,"date":"2025-06-27T16:50:35","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T11:20:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/?p=356202"},"modified":"2025-06-27T16:50:50","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T11:20:50","slug":"gartner-sales-survey-finds-61-of-b2b-buyers-prefer-a-rep-free-buying-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/gartner-sales-survey-finds-61-of-b2b-buyers-prefer-a-rep-free-buying-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Gartner Sales Survey Finds 61% of B2B Buyers Prefer a Rep-Free Buying Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Chief Sales Officers Must Adapt as B2B Buyers Choose Digital Self-Service Over Sellers.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

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While chief sales officers (CSOs) look for ways to enhance the quality of engagement with their buyers, 61% of B2B buyers prefer an overall rep-free buying experience, according to a survey by Gartner, Inc.<\/span><\/p>\n

A survey of 632 B2B buyers conducted in August through September 2024 found most buyers prefer to carry out independent research through digital channels. Although many organizations have increased investment in outreach to reach hard-to-access buyers, 73% of B2B buyers actively avoid suppliers who send irrelevant outreach.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMany B2B buyers feel overwhelmed and frustrated by the outreach they receive from sellers and the seller\u2019s organization. Bad prospecting actively damages relationships with potential customers,\u201d said\u00a0Robert Blaisdell, VP Analyst in the\u00a0Gartner Sales Practice.<\/strong> \u201cCSOs must rethink their outreach strategy to improve engagement and deliver the experience customers demand.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n

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Buyers Prefer Self-Service, But Sellers Are Preferred For Key Tasks<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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While buyers generally prefer digital self-service, their preferences shift at specific points of engagement. Buyers favor online self-service tools over sellers when searching for general information and learning new things. However, for buying tasks requiring contextual intelligence, such as determining whether a product or service fits their company\u2019s needs, buyers prefer to seek seller input. When considering all stages together, buyers prefer to:<\/span><\/p>\n
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  • Complete an average of 3.0 activities both online and with supplier reps.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Complete an average of 2.3 activities with supplier reps.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Complete an average of 1.8 activities via digital self-service tools.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    \u201cInstead of offering generic information that buyers can find elsewhere, sellers should offer unique guidance, acting as a sounding board for buyers,\u201d said\u00a0Alice Walmesley, Director Analyst in the\u00a0Gartner Sales Practice.<\/strong> \u201cCSOs must encourage their sellers to create value by understanding what is most important for buyers at every stage of the buying process.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n

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    Buyers Report Inconsistent Information Provided By Sales Reps<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Many buyers report frustrations with inconsistent or conflicting information. In fact, 69% of B2B buyers report inconsistencies between information on the sales organization\u2019s website and that provided by sellers.<\/span>\u201cWhen sellers provide information that doesn\u2019t match the organization\u2019s messaging elsewhere, it can create mistrust, potentially putting the transaction at risk,\u201d said Blaisdell. \u201cCSOs today must ensure synchronized company information across platforms, aligning website content with sales messaging for consistent communication of their organization\u2019s value proposition.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Chief Sales Officers Must Adapt as B2B Buyers Choose Digital Self-Service Over Sellers. While chief sales officers (CSOs) look for ways to enhance the quality of engagement with their buyers, 61% of B2B buyers prefer an overall rep-free buying experience, according to a survey by Gartner, Inc. A survey of 632 B2B buyers conducted in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14083],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-356202","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-technology-industry-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356202\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}