Buyers Make Bad Decisions (And We’re Not Helping)

Buyers desperately want to make sense of their problems. But we’re too busy talking about ourselves.

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You know this stat: B2B buyers spend about 70 percent of their buying journey doing their own research.

What you might not realize is what happens before that.

• 80–90% of buyers have their vendor shortlist before starting research (6Sense)

• 78% of B2B buyers shortlist only three vendors to evaluate deeply (Wynter)

So, most buyers have already decided who they want to shop before digging into the details.

And when they finally crack open those browser tabs? They're not starting from zero. They’re trying to:

• Understand their challenges

• Make sense of all the information they find

• Evaluate potential solutions

• Build consensus among stakeholders

Here's what nobody talks about—buyers already have their shortlist before they fully understand their problems. They're doing a ton of research, trying to piece it all together, but they often can't find the answers they need.

And that confusion comes with serious consequences.

The Cost of Confusion

Research from Florida State University's Sales Institute shows that even though buyers spend months doing their own research, they often haven’t identified their problem by the time they reach out to vendors.

It’s not because they're lazy. Trust me, these poor souls are spending too much time trying to understand what they’re doing wrong.

But instead of getting clear answers, they find a hot mess of:

• Vendors pushing their own agenda instead of addressing buyers' needs

• Generic 'thought leadership' that rehashes the same surface-level insights

• Competing claims and contradictory information that causes more confusion than clarity

It makes those buyers' decisions feel like untangling Christmas lights in the dark. And it creates a vicious cycle. The more overwhelmed buyers feel, the more they dig in their heels and stick with their initial assumptions—even when those assumptions are flat-out wrong.

Once buyers invest significant time and resources into a particular path, the psychological cost of changing course becomes too high.

So what happens?

• 71% of buyers go with their first choice product after creating their short list (TrustRadius)

And:

• 81% of buyers express dissatisfaction with their chosen providers (Forrester)

Think about that for a moment.

Buyers don’t find the answers they need, so they throw up their hands and default to buying from their first choice vendor—even when it's not the right choice.

The Root of the Problem

This cycle of confusion isn't entirely the buyer's fault. It's made a whole lot worse by how most companies approach content.

When executives plan their content strategies, they almost always start with their wants and needs:

• "We need to do webinars"

• "We need X blog posts a month"

• "We need more case studies"

• "We need to generate X amount of pipeline"

The logic appears sound. Producing content means more leads. More leads mean more pipeline. Simple math, right?

But there's a problem.

The Problem is that focusing on these self-serving tactics misses the bigger strategic picture. It perpetuates the cycle of confusion I just described.

As a result, most companies miss the opportunity to influence those critical deciding moments early in the buyer's journey—the very moments that determine whether you make the buyer's shortlist (or not).

Seven Critical Moments of Influence

Instead of creating content around what you want to say (which, let's face it, is usually "buy my stuff"), find out what your buyers actually need to know.

You can start by defining the moments where your buyers are actively seeking guidance—moments where you can help them name their problems and get answers they need.

Here's what the moments might look like.

Early in their research journey, buyers are trying to make sense of their challenges and figure out who can help. These early moments include:

• Initial Consideration: When buyers create their first list of vendors based on past experience and what others recommend

• Sense-Making: When buyers try to understand what's actually causing their problems

• Requirements Setting: When buyers decide what they think they need in a solution

In the middle of their journey, they're wrestling with bigger questions. How do they get their stakeholders to agree? How do they justify spending six or seven figures? These moments include:

• Consensus-Building: When buyers try to get everyone on their team to agree on the same solution

• ROI Justification: When buyers need to prove the solution is worth the money

As they get closer to a decision, they're looking for validation. They want to talk to other customers, see the product in action, and confirm they're making the right choice. These moments include:

• Trust-Building: When buyers want to hear from other customers about their experiences

• Validation: When buyers need to see the product in action to confirm it does what they need

"Okay," you say. "But how do we create content for all these moments without blowing our budget and waiting months for results?"

I'm glad you asked.

When Does This Pay Off?

Look, we can philosophize about the "right way" to do content all day, but you've got pipeline targets to hit.

You can't wait for a content transformation that pays off next year, so how do you make this practical and profitable right now?

The answer is: Work backwards from the point of purchase. (Revolutionary, I know.)

Start with content that influences active opportunities in your pipeline.

This is your fastest path to ROI. Focus on those validation and trust-building moments to help buyers clear up lingering doubts and confirm their decision. When you help buyers feel confident about their choice, deals close faster. That means revenue now—not later.

Then, build content that helps build consensus and make the business case.

In these mid-journey moments, your buyers are stuck in agreement-by-committee purgatory, trying to navigate a gauntlet of stakeholders—all with strong opinions, competing priorities, and absolute veto power. The right content here can rescue deals that would otherwise flatline next quarter.

Finally, move to content that helps buyers in early sense-making moments.

These are the moments when buyers are trying to wrap their heads around their problem, understand what solutions even exist, and figure out who can help them—not just sell to them. This is your opportunity to shape how buyers think about their problems and help them see solutions in your terms.

Yes, it's a long game. But it's also the best way to crack those vendor shortlists—before your buyers start their research.