To overcome the barriers of new business development, we must first understand them. So we employed the “5 Whys” approach to see what we could uncover. Here’s where we landed.
1st Why
Why don’t clients want to engage with new vendors?
Gartner reports that around 60% of B2B buyers prefer to avoid engaging with a sales representative early in the buying process. And according to Trust Radius, nearly 80% of buyers prefer to gather info on their own before reaching out to vendor. So there’s clearly hesitation on the part of B2B prospects that make it difficult for new vendors to break through. And unless something with their current vendor “breaks” (i.e. they fail to deliver), they’re less likely to consider a change.
2nd Why
Why do clients stick with their current vendors until something breaks?
For many clients, the thinking is: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The effort and risk of switching vendors often outweighs the perceived benefits. Gartner reports that 80% of buyers say switching vendors can create significant operational disruptions, and a Forrester survey found that 64% of buyers feel that changing vendors requires too much time and retraining, impacting productivity and often leading them to stay with current providers.
Perhaps most telling, a DemandGen Report revealed that 53% of B2B buyers believe that many vendors’ offerings are simply too similar, making it difficult to justify a switch without a clear added value for doing so.
3rd Why
Why do clients perceive little differentiation between vendors?
There are myriad reasons for the perceived parity between vendors. B2B buyers may view products and services as commodities — one just as good as the next. But perhaps the biggest lack of differentiation between vendors comes from the way they market, position, present, and pitch themselves.
In the Forrester study, 59% of B2B buyers said they feel that most vendor content and messaging look alike, contributing to a perception that vendors offer similar solutions with minimal differentiation. The DemandGen study backs that up, finding that 54% of B2B buyers are challenged to distinguish between vendors due to similar messaging, leading to stalled decision-making and longer sales cycles. And a LinkedIn survey indicated that 52% of B2B buyers struggle to see clear distinctions in brand messaging among vendors. So if your pitch or presentation sounds like your competitors’, you’ll likely have a harder time closing the deal.
4th Why
Why do pitches and presentations sound the same to clients?
Pitches often comes across as generic or me-too because the vendor focuses on broad offerings or nitty-gritty technical details, rather than unique differentiators, niche expertise, and the value they bring. Clients don’t have the time, patience, or attention span to sit through presentation after presentation from vendors who all say the same thing or who don’t clearly state their value proposition.
According to Gartner, 68% of B2B buyers believe vendors don’t effectively communicate their value propositions, which makes it harder for the buyer to understand the unique benefits of that vendor. Forrester found that 63% of B2B buyers said that vendors are too focused on their product features and not enough on how their offerings solve specific business challenges — making the vendor’s value proposition unclear or irrelevant. DemandGen’s survey found that 61% of B2B buyers had a hard time understanding the specific value vendors bring to their organization, particularly when vendors emphasize technical details over tangible business outcomes.
