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IBM-NRF Study: Brands and Retailers Navigate a New Reality as AI Shapes Consumer Decisions Before Shopping Begins
Masimo to Sell Consumer Audio Business to HARMAN International HARMAN
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At this stage, salesfolks must position themselves as trusted advisors, not just sellers. They are now evaluating different approaches or methods to pursue the goal or solve their challenge. Because of this, sales folks must approach potential buyers with sensitivity, not sales pitches. When offered at the wrong time, these steps add zero value from their perspective.
They explore articles, industry reports, case studies, videos, and expert recommendations. Without a clear understanding of the problem, buyers often struggle to evaluate solutions later. This stage creates awareness and sets the foundation for the rest of the buying process. Every B2B purchase follows a series of steps, but the path is rarely straight. B2B purchases often affect operations, budgets, and customer success.
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We help companies implement a systematic approach to grow leads and revenue. Problem Identification is where marketing can have significant impact through thought leadership, content that reframes a business challenge, and demand generation that helps buyers articulate a problem they may not have fully recognised. With 20+ years of experience helping small and mid-size companies achieve measurable growth, Peter provides senior-level marketing expertise without the full-time executive cost.
Key Differences Between B2B and B2C Buying Journeys
Aligning your marketing and sales strategy to that process is how you turn understanding into revenue. This is one of the core reasons The Geisheker Group’s AI-Authority Content System is built directly into every client engagement. What has changed dramatically in the past two years is the role of artificial intelligence in how buyers research, evaluate, and shortlist vendors. For budget constraints, demonstrating phased implementation options, risk-reduction mechanisms, or performance-based pricing can unlock stalled opportunities. For stakeholder conflict, the most effective intervention is helping the buying group achieve internal alignment, which means understanding each stakeholder’s primary concern and creating materials that bridge those differences. For sellers, the tactical response to deal stalling depends on the cause.
Map all digital and human touchpoints.
Case studies provide real examples of how companies solved similar challenges. IT leaders, security teams, and technical specialists often review integrations, data protection, and scalability requirements. They focus on company goals, return on investment, and long-term impact. Research shows that 66% of buyers find the amount of organizational change overwhelming during major purchases.
Some companies also consult industry analysts and reports from Gartner and Forrester to identify potential vendors and gain insights into market leaders and emerging players. The business to business buying process (B2B buying process) is a set of steps needed to sell and purchase goods or services between businesses. Explore Anthropic‘s enterprise offering, Claude Enterprise, and how it‘s transforming the way organizations leverage AI, with a focus on control, audit, and security features. “B2B on Shopify allows us to leverage technology to streamline and automate our wholesale processes, so we can maintain a high level of focus on retail consumers.” —Andy Knox, general manager at Van Compass The changes in B2B buying are making it even more necessary for B2B sellers to have an active web presence and strong digital marketing strategy. As technology improves, B2B buyers now expect B2C-like customer experiences online as well, which means B2B companies have to continue innovating in order to stay one step ahead.
Make your case studies immediately accessible — research shows 42% of B2B buyers say case studies and success stories are the most influential type of content in their decision process. Top-of-funnel content — thought leadership articles, industry trend reports, educational blog posts, and LinkedIn content — should articulate the problems your buyers experience and name the cost of inaction. Understanding each stage — and what sellers should do at each — is the foundation of the Geisheker B2B Buying Intelligence System. Gartner’s framework describes B2B buying not as a linear funnel, but as a set of six distinct “buying jobs” that buying groups must complete — often looping back and forth between them (Gartner, 2024). If you are not creating high-authority content, establishing thought leadership, and building digital presence across the channels your buyers use for research, you are invisible during the most critical phase of the decision process.
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DEMAND CAPTUREBuyer journey: vendor vetting, driving internal consensus
- End users may focus on usability, while finance teams focus on costs and executives focus on business outcomes.
- Ready to take the next step in the B2B buyer journey strategy?
- Study your target segments, analyze your CRM, and identify the segments you want to focus on.
- However, companies like MailChimp have launched multi-channel campaigns with great success.
Category shifts, online growth, and service adoption can change the whole shape of a year. It earns revenue from selling products Business-to-business buying journey and from selling services tied to those products. It sells the devices people use, the systems that connect those devices, and help that keeps it all working. In its most recent annual reporting, the firm lays out a wide set of product and service categories. The products change, how people shop changes, and the business has to keep moving with them.
Dave Rogers, President of HARMAN’s Lifestyle division, said, “This acquisition represents a strategic step forward in the expansion of HARMAN’s core audio business and footprint across key product categories such as Home Audio, Headphones, Hi-fi components, and Car Audio. The sale follows the previously announced review of Masimo’s consumer audio business and will support the Company’s strategic focus on driving innovation in its core professional healthcare segment. IBM's breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and consulting deliver open and flexible options to our clients. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Descriptive analyses identified key patterns, and validated statistical techniques were applied to compare priorities and assess trust-focused engagement strategies. In retail, understanding AI-influenced consumer behavior will become a defining competitive advantage, separating brands and retailers that shape decisions from those that simply fulfill them.
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This data-driven approach ensures the business acts on buying signals early in the B2B buyer journey, securing that coveted “pre-contact favorite” status. It requires an 8-step framework that starts with deep persona research and ends with continuous optimization. Since 82% of buyers trust peer testimonials over vendor claims, these mixers allow your happy customers to do the selling for you in the “dark funnel.” With 89% of buyers purchasing solutions with AI features, you must prove your tech is future-proof. Emotional factors like “reduced anxiety” and “career impact” play a massive role in moving through these jobs. According to Bain’s 40 elements of B2B value, these jobs within the B2B buyer journey aren’t just about logic and features.