A look at the state of B2B buying & the decision-makers driving it.

1. Inside the Mind of
the B2B Buyer 2020

2. The 2020
B2B Decision
Environment is…
Trust &
Quality
Access
Over-
whelmed
Industry
Peer &
Third-Party
Clear &
Concise
Connected
Experience
Inside the Mind of
the B2B Buyer 2020
A peek into the fluid state
of the B2B buying process
and how decision-makers
feel about vendors’
content and experience.
Increasingly complex and being
reshaped by a diverse group of
DECISION-MAKERS,
INFLUENCERS & END USERS.
A buying center
can comprise up
25
people in large
organizations
54%
of buyers have
increased the size of
their buying centers
WHAT IS A
BUYING CENTER?
A group of individuals within an organization that make
decisions about a substantial purchase or investment.
AKA
• Buying Committee
• DMU (Decision-Making Unit)
IDGDemand Gen
Business Dictionary

3. Regardless of company size, there
are three main divisions of labor
Note: In smaller
organizations, the
influencer and user
can be the same. In
larger organizations,
there can be several
more roles.
• Mandates the
evaluation
• Builds/sells/approve
business case
• VP, SVP, C-Suite
UserInfluencer
Decision-
Maker
• Conducts research;
helps build short list
• Can be champion,
gatekeeper or
shadow stakeholder
• Sr. Mgr., Director
• Most impacted; vets
the shortlist
• Can kill a deal; can
also be a gatekeeper
• Lead, End User, IT,
Operations 78% have to spend
more time researching
The consideration phase is
grueling
Demand Gen

4. Studies show each year that vendors
keep “missing the memo”
62%
want sales people to know what
content they downloaded during
follow-up
Content that buyers find helpful for
decision-making = content that vendors
find difficult to produce.
Case
Studies
Analyst
Reports
Reviews
Industry
Specific
Time, Cost
& Effort
ROI
IDG

5. In their own words…
Vendor collateral glosses over important details. (Trust Radius)
Vendor websites are limited, provide little insights, and are only geared to get
your information for a sales call. (Trust Radius)
I know the types of information that is put on a website – it’s useful, but I find
resources from outside the company to be more trustworthy and honest.
(Trust Radius)
While, I as an IT Professional, am not the decision-maker, I have two important
roles: decision influencer & gatekeeper. If a vendor doesn’t convince me they
don’t make it, the decision-maker & I can make or break most IT decisions.
(Spiceworks)
Don’t make me fill out a form to register with you before I can download a
whitepaper that tells me how your solution addresses a problem I am
researching. (Spiceworks)

6. Twitter.com/ComBlu
ComBlu.com
ComBlu Lumenatti Blog
Jennifer Voisard
jvoisard@comblu.com
Cheryl Treleaven
ctreleaven@comblu.com
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