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Alarming and Promising Statistics on B2B Sales and Marketing

Alarming and Promising Statistics Chart

The latest statistics show that opportunities abound for B2B sales and marketing teams who leverage the Internet to connect with buyers. However, misguided marketing campaigns (not measurable, not lead generation focused) and non-revenue generating sales activities (researching, cold calling) are chipping away at the gains that can be made. Here are some noteworthy stats:

Internet Marketing

  • B2B interactive marketing spending will climb to nearly $4.8 billion in 2014, more than double the amount in 2009: $2.3 billion.
    • Source: Forrester Research
  • 74% of C-level executives say the Internet is very valuable for finding information and 53% say they prefer to locate information themselves.
    • Forbes Insight - The Rise of the Digital C-Suite
  • 36% of B2B executives have a “low interest in social media” compared with just 12% of B2C executives.
    • Source: BizReport
  • 49% of B2B marketers confess to not measuring ROI.
    • Source: The B2B Barometer

Business Product Buyers

  • 90% of business buyers say when they’re ready to buy, they’ll find you.
    • Source: DemandGen Report
  • 93% of business buyers use search to begin the buying process.
    • Source: Marketo
  • 58% of buyers report that sales reps are unable to answer their questions effectively.
    • Source: Forbes Insight - The Rise of the Digital C-Suite

Business-to-Business Sales

  • 53% of sales leads are generated by sales people, compared to 24% by the marketing team.
    • Source: CSO Report 

  • 80% of the average sales person’s day is spent on non-revenue generating activities, including not knowing where to find good prospects or recognizing them once they find them.
    • Source: TeleSmart.com

  • 90% of marketing deliverables are not used by sales.
    • Source: The New Rules of Sales Enablement 

  • Over 25% of B2B sales cycles take seven months or more to close.
    • Source: Harvard University and Gallup
  • 4% percent of the sales people in the U.S. sell 94% of the goods and services.
    • Source: Harvard University and Gallup