To win net-new B2B deals, it is critical to understand when and why prospects decide to switch vendors. We recently analyzed thousands of B2B conversations conducted by our lead development representatives (LDRs) targeting decision-makers in the enterprise and mid-tier business sectors to promote our client’s technology solutions. The result is a ground-level view of buying intent, key initiatives, and vendor vulnerability.
Here are the two most significant findings that are currently influencing sales cycles and strategies.
Key Finding 1: The B2B Buying Timeline: More than Half of Qualified Leads will Purchase in Six to Twelve Months
When analyzing qualified lead intent, the reality of enterprise sales becomes apparent: the majority of a healthy funnel consists of future-focused opportunities.
Analyzing the distribution of over 1000 recent qualified leads, we categorized purchase intent into three buckets: Immediate-Term (0-3 Months), Short-Term (3-6 Months), and Mid-Term (6-12 Months). All qualified leads analyzed meet these critical criteria: defined need, budget allocation, purchase intent, and willingness to engage in a next step with a sales representative. Not included are top-of-funnel prospects, information requests, and long-term projects beyond 12 months.
Intent Distribution by Timeline: Our data shows that 55.13% of all qualified leads fall into the Mid-Term category (6-12 months). This means a critical focus for sales and marketing teams must be to deploy strategies that guide thinking and build relationships.
| Purchase Intent Category | Percentage of Qualified Leads | Key Strategy Implication |
| Immediate-Term (0–3 Months) | 21.80% | Requires immediate sales focus and enablement content aligned to how your solution will quickly solve problems. |
| Short-Term (3–6 Months) | 23.07% | Ideal for value-focused sales strategies and content, such as ROI calculators, before-and-after case studies, product adoption, and solution demonstrations. |
| Mid-Term (6–12 Months) | 55.13% | Dominated by mid-funnel sales strategies to guide thinking. Provide decision frameworks, ROI models, checklists, and highly personalized thought leadership to frame RFPs (as a trusted advisor), build credibility, and win future business. |
The Pace of Intent Varies by Type of Technology
While the average remains consistent, we found a significant variance in the proportion of Immediate-Term leads (0-3 months’ intent) between the types of technologies represented in the analysis.
The pace of buyer intent varies significantly by technology.
- Segment A focuses on infrastructure and core systems, and has a lower percentage of immediate buyers, with 15.67% of leads being Immediate-Term (0-3 months). This suggests that Segment A requires a longer evaluation timeline and more extensive planning, particularly when considering a change in vendors.
- Segment B focuses on distributed systems and end-user solutions, and attracts nearly double the rate of immediate buyers, with 34.43% of leads falling into the Immediate-Term category. This higher proportion of buyers in Segment B demands faster velocity and more aggressive sales follow-up.
Insight for Sales & Marketing: A critical focus for sales and marketing teams must be on deploying strategic nurture and mid-funnel strategies focused on thought leadership and relationship building. Additionally, if your offering focuses on end-users or distributed systems, prepare for a higher percentage of immediate-term leads, and optimize your sales velocity for speed.
The Dominant Initiators: Why Technology Buyers Engage
There are four dominant market narratives driving prospects to engage with new vendors for their technological needs. These four categories drive 70% of the purchase plans analyzed.
- Technology Roadmap & Refresh Cycles (Nearly 50%): Seeking to gain a strategic advantage by integrating and leveraging new technology/security features, while replacing and updating aged systems. This is the single most powerful, quantifiable event that forces spending and defines the technology evaluation window.
- End-User Requirements (Just over 10%): Driven by internal demand for better tools and problem-solving technology, focusing on operational efficiency and adoption.
- Cloud Migration (Just under 10%): Indicates a fundamental shift in infrastructure strategy, often involving complex integration requirements.
- Support/Service (Just over 5%): Often reflects dissatisfaction with the current provider’s support and service levels, which serves as a catalyst for evaluating new vendors.
Insight for Sales & Marketing: Technology roadmap and refresh cycles should be the cornerstone of prospecting efforts and lead development. Focus on illustrating how solutions provide strategic advantage while enhancing functionality and replacing aged systems. While new buyers are primarily driven by that and the need to meet ever-changing end-user requirements, the data also confirms that dissatisfaction with support and service can be a catalyst for investigating alternative options.
Key Finding 2: Customer Loyalty: High Satisfaction is the Best Retention Tool
Analyzing why buyers are committed to their current vendors is equally essential when pursuing net-new business. To understand the most significant factors in customer loyalty and retention, we analyzed thousands of conversations that did not result in a qualified lead.
Customer loyalty is earned, not assumed. The data on vendor loyalty is highly compelling, proving that high satisfaction and recent investment are the two most substantial barriers to a competitive threat.
Why Do Customers Stay?
The top reasons customers cite for remaining with their current provider highlight the keys to effective retention and customer success:
High Satisfaction Level
High contentment remains the best retention tool. Satisfaction is often directly linked to continuous, proactive communication about support options and enhanced service levels. By ensuring that current customers receive the support that best meets their needs, vendors can successfully prevent their customers from becoming a competitor’s new buyer.
Recent Investment
Buyers are reluctant to undo a recent investment, even if challenges persist. This confirms that securing an investment effectively sets the customer relationship and secures it for the immediate future.
Interestingly, the presence of an existing long-term contract is rarely cited as the sole reason for staying with a current provider (mentioned only 15 times across thousands of analyzed conversations), suggesting that high value and improved satisfaction can overcome contractual barriers. Contracts alone do not guarantee loyalty.
Insight for Sales & Marketing: Retention is won through continuous engagement and high-touch customer support. Treat “satisfaction” as a proactive marketing and support effort. Focus on engaging with customers who have recently purchased, proactively addressing any challenges to capitalize on their high retention potential.
Conclusion
This market intelligence emphasizes two critical mandates that every B2B sales and marketing team must embrace: first, actively influence the mindset of mid-term buyers; and second, prioritize sustained retention by providing exceptional proactive customer communication and service.
Identify and Capitalize on the 6-12-Month Buyer:
With more than 50% of qualified leads indicating mid-term purchase intent, focusing only on immediate buyers will result in missed opportunities and a competitive disadvantage. Instead, teams must also invest in proactive sales strategies that guide the thinking of their mid-term buyers. Thought leadership, relationship building, and positioning as a trusted advisor will allow input on pending RFPs, vendor checklists, and decision criteria, leading to a competitive advantage and a larger percentage of net-new wins.
Commit to Proactive Customer Retention:
Customer loyalty is earned, not guaranteed by contracts. The most effective defense against competitive threats and the best way to drive expansion revenue is investing in high, proactive customer satisfaction. Ensuring customers feel supported and continually communicating service value are substantial barriers against competitive entry.
By understanding the purchase intent timeline and the definitive drivers of customer loyalty, teams can successfully shift resources to a data-driven, strategic framework that captures revenue and fosters high customer loyalty, proactively guiding the buyer journey and fortifying the customer base against vendor vulnerability. Contact us to discuss how to finetune your strategy.