There is no one-way Market Funnel from A to B, it doesn’t reflect the digital behavior. The Customer Decision Journey is anything but linear, it is complex and out of your control. It’s personal and a two-way conversation with permission. No one will be reduced to a segment.
The explosion of quality information on the internet makes it very easy for buyers to collect information independently. And that means salespeople have less access and fewer opportunities to influence people’s decisions.
Marketers have long used the famous funnel metaphor to think about touchpoints: Consumers would start at the wide end of the funnel with many brands in mind and narrow them down to a final choice.
Companies have traditionally used paid-media push marketing at a few well-defined points along the funnel to build awareness, drive consideration, and ultimately inspire a purchase. But the metaphor fails to capture the shifting nature of consumer engagement.
Of the B2B buyers that considering a purchase they spend only 17% of that time meeting with potential suppliers. They probably compare multiple suppliers‚ so the amount of time they spend with your sales rep may only be 5-6%, according to Gartner research.
The modern Customer Decision Journey moves away from the “funnel” way of thinking and doing things, which is a journey from point A to B, but it’s clear that today’s consumers are not held by such linear constraints, shows McKinsey study.
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