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Now check this out: I received a fax the other day. That’s right – a fax.

I don’t have an actual fax machine, but apparently I’m still paying for an eFax service subscription (who knew?). I saw it in my inbox, and my interest was piqued. So I opened it. It was a product promotion I wasn’t interested in, but I still opened and read it. Definitely not the same ol’ marketing email overflowing my inbox!

Give this song by Mötley Crüe a listen with me as we see what the experts are saying this week.

The B2B Buyer in 2023

What does your buyer look like? Insider Intelligence provides details on what the B2B buyer looks like in 2023. Some highlights:

  • 75% agree that the average buying cycle time has increased
  • 59% of B2B buyers are aged 26-40

Before a B2B sales meeting is accepted, buyers go to the supplier’s site, attend webinars by the supplier, conduct research, and evaluate the supplier on peer review sites.

The first time I saw John Neeson from SiriusDecisions (now Forrester) speak WAY back in 2007, the trends he identified in the B2B space were:

  • A 22% longer sales cycle compared to 5 years earlier
  • More people involved in the sales cycle (3.5 more stakeholders than previously for enterprise decisions)
  • More research being done by the buyer BEFORE even speaking to a vendor

Sound familiar? It seems like the same trends are being regurgitated every year!

What are you seeing in your organization? Is the B2B sales process becoming more involved and difficult, or is this just the same ol’ ball and chain?

Radio Still Rocks!

New data shows that we still love listening to the radio. Tuning is up since people started going back to the office!

Just over 3,100 Canadians were asked about their habits when it came to audio listening. Compared to spring 2021, things break down like this:

  • AM/FM radio accounts for 39% of all listening, followed by YouTube and then ad-free streaming services like Spotify’s premium tier.
  • Tuning on smartphones is up by 5% (27-32%) and by 4% on computers.
  • In the car, radio’s share is up to 62%, largely because we’re commuting to work again.
  • For freemium model music streaming, ad-free listening is up from 23% to 25%, while the ad-supported tier is down from 22% to 18%.

You know we just gotta say, incredibly, old-fashioned radio still wins!

Maybe it’s not the same as a resurgence in fax communications, but it does show that some of these old-school channels are still successfully reaching audiences! Maybe we should rethink the channels we’re using to contact our buyers. There’s a lot of B2B noise out there – how do you get in front of your buyers without winding up in the same ol’ situation??

As always, don’t hesitate to call me to brainstorm or just say hello – and feel free to fax me at 519-489-2713! I’d love to hear from you!

Looking forward,
Rick

Rick Endrulat, President | ricke@v-causeway.com | www.linkedin.com/in/rickendrulat