From cold outreach to closed deal: How buyers engage with vendors [based on research]

Read time: 4 minutes

Let’s be honest—vendor engagement in B2B marketing is messier than most sales decks would have you believe. There’s no single golden path from awareness to purchase. Instead, buyers weave in and out of touchpoints, sometimes ghosting entirely, other times demanding answers right now.

So, how do you navigate that? By understanding how buyers actually want to engage, with insights that go beyond assumptions and dive deep into behaviours, frustrations, and preferences.

Let’s unpack what the data tells us about the new rules of engagement and how you can meet buyers where they are (without annoying them).

First impressions matter: where engagement begins

When it comes to first contact, 30% of buyers want to speak directly to a sales rep, and 30% would rather try a product demo or trial. That’s not a coincidence. It signals a desire for clarity, human interaction, and the ability to get hands-on with a solution from the get-go.

And if you're thinking digital channels are less important, think again. 20% of buyers opt to evaluate vendors independently via their website. So yes, your sales team matters. But so does your site experience, demo accessibility, and how easily someone can get a sense of your value offering without talking to someone.

This multi-pronged behaviour is echoed with McKinsey’s findings, which reveal that B2B buyers now use 10 or more channels to interact with vendors (double what it was just a few years ago).

What this means for marketers: Your website, demo flow, and sales outreach strategy need to work together, not in silos. Buyers want options, so meet them with pathways that match how they prefer to buy.

Company size doesn’t change the top 3, but it shifts the nuance

Whether you're selling into startups or enterprises, the top three engagement preferences are the same:

• Talk to sales
• Request a demo
• Research independently

But here’s the nuance: companies with 1,000–4,999 employees are more likely to get irritated by aggressive follow-ups and slow responses. For vendors, that’s a flashing warning light. Enterprise buying cycles might be longer, but expectations for relevance and timing are high.

Takeaway: Larger organisations want proactive, but not pushy. If your sales and marketing teams aren’t aligned on lead nurturing, this is where cracks show, and deals slip.

Stakeholder roles shape engagement styles

There’s no such thing as a single B2B buyer. You’re dealing with a group, and each role in that group brings different expectations.

• Researchers are most likely to visit your website and evaluate independently.
• Final decision-makers? They're 19% more likely to download gated content and prefer speaking directly with a vendor.

Each person in the decision-making unit (DMU) has different needs. Content that speaks to business pains will land with executives, while functional teams want to see integrations, support details, and workflows.

This highlights the importance of reflecting the varied priorities of each stakeholder in your content strategy.

Content strategy tip: Build journeys that reflect this diversity; self-serve for researchers; deeper technical detail for influencers; business outcomes and ROI for the C-suite.

What frustrates buyers? It’s not just the hard sell

Here’s what gets under the skin of B2B buyers the most:

• 69% say lack of transparent pricing
• 63% cite aggressive or persistent follow-ups
• 61% are frustrated by slow responses

And those numbers climb when vendors don’t do their homework: 56% of buyers say vendors don’t understand their business needs, and 51% are annoyed by generic communications.

In short? Buyers don’t have time to be educated on your terms. They expect vendors to come prepared with relevant insights, industry context, and answers that show you understand their world.

Practical fix: Audit your follow-up sequences and outreach messaging. Are they tailored or templated? And do they prioritise helpfulness over the hard close?

What smart vendors are doing differently

Modern buyer engagement isn’t about shouting louder. It’s about making every interaction feel considered and useful.

Leading vendors are:

• Creating role-specific nurture tracks instead of one-size-fits-all sequences.
• Giving prospects clear pricing information, even if it’s a range or “starting from” structure.
• Responding fast, because speed signals respect.
• Enabling demo requests or product tours without lengthy qualification forms.
• Aligning sales and marketing teams on what qualifies as useful follow-up (hint: it’s not a call just to “check in”).

And above all, they’re respecting the buyer’s time and intelligence.

Final thought: Respect the journey, don’t rush it

Every cold outreach has the potential to become a closed deal—but only if you get the journey right.

This means meeting buyers on their terms, listening before pitching, and showing that you understand their business, not just your product. The stats tell us what buyers value. The real challenge is building experiences that reflect that value at every stage.