5 B2B Buying Behaviors You Can’t Ignore

Understanding how your buyers think is crucial. If you’re in B2B sales, you’ve likely noticed that the playbook keeps changing. From self-driven research to the growing power of digital channels, modern buyers are taking control of their purchasing decisions like never before. Adapting to these changes isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a must if you want to win business and build lasting relationships. 

Here are five buying behaviors reshaping the B2B landscape, and how you can align your sales strategy to win: 

1. The Rise of Self-Education 

Today’s buyers are anything but uninformed. Research from Bain & Co, as cited in Harvard Business Review, shows that 80% to 90% of B2B buyers already have a shortlist of preferred brands in mind before they even start their buying process. Furthermore, 90% of these buyers end up choosing a vendor within that initial set. This means they’ve done their homework well before reaching out to sales. 

What this means for sales teams: 
Your buyers aren’t waiting for a sales call to start gathering information — they’re already forming opinions based on what they find online. They’re researching your products, pricing, sustainability practices and supply reliability. If your digital presence doesn’t tell a compelling, clear story, or if your competitors make it easier to compare value, you’ve already lost ground. 

Buyers no longer want to have to call a rep just to ask for a data sheet, product catalogue, find pricing ranges, or check lead times. Sales teams must shift from being the source of information to being the interpreter of insights. That means stepping in after the research phase to validate buyer assumptions, address specific use cases, and build confidence in the decision with quick, precise and omnichannel configure, price, quote (CPQ) capabilities. 

2. A Shift Toward Personalization at Scale 

Gone are the days when a one-size-fits-all approach worked in B2B. Buyers now expect interactions, offers and pricing that reflect the specifics of their business — whether it’s industry context, order history, location or urgency. This shift mirrors what they experience in their personal lives: curated product suggestions, real-time pricing updates, and seamless reordering. In 2025, B2B personalization isn’t just about knowing a customer’s name — it’s about anticipating their needs. 

And the value of personalization is clear: a 2019 survey by PROS showed that 70% of B2B buyers agree that personalized recommendations help them obtain more value from vendors, while 53% say they would pay up to 5% more for these tailored suggestions — a staggering premium in industries where purchasing teams are typically rewarded for negotiating lower prices. That kind of behavior signals a clear shift: personalization isn’t just a sales advantage — it’s a revenue opportunity. 

What this means for sales teams: 

If you’re selling into highly specialized segments — think agriculture distributors with seasonal needs, chemical buyers with regulatory requirements, or industrial buyers with unique supply constraints — today’s buyer expects you to already understand those constraints and respond accordingly. 

If your offers feel generic (or worse, inaccurate) you risk losing to a competitor who understands how to tailor at scale. And with more B2B buyers moving to digital channels, those personalized touches must be embedded in both human and digital interactions. 

Embedding AI-powered tools that surface relevant insights at the account level help sales teams solve these issues. Think: dynamic pricing engines that adapt in real–time, or guided selling solutions that identify the next best offer. The goal is to make every interaction feel bespoke, even when you’re operating at industrial scale. 

3. Demand for Transparency and More Collaboration 

B2B buyers don’t just want to purchase from vendors, they want to partner with them. That means open conversations and frictionless quoting processes that feel more like a dialogue than a black-box transaction.  

In place of static quotes and long approval cycles, they want interactive, real-time quoting tools where they can review, revise and approve with ease. That expectation extends to how they interact across channels. They want the ability to start a quote online, ask questions via a sales rep, and finalize the deal across any sales channel — all while seeing consistent pricing and product availability at every touchpoint. 

Transparency is no longer a differentiator — it’s an expectation. And when it’s paired with collaboration, it builds the trust and speed today’s complex buying processes demand. 

What this means for sales teams: 

Many sales teams are still operating in a siloed, seller-driven model — where pricing is opaque, quoting requires multiple back-and-forth emails, and buyers are locked into one channel (usually phone or email). 

New, digital-first buyers want the ability to co-develop quotes in real time, toggle between digital and human interaction seamlessly, and understand why prices are what they are. This is especially true in industries with complex pricing structures (like chemicals) or highly negotiated deals (like industrial distribution), where speed and accuracy are often at odds. 

Sellers need to be empowered with tools that support collaborative quoting and omnichannel workflows. This means integrated CPQ solutions that sync across sales channels, deliver pricing consistency, and allow for real-time edits and approvals. By making buyers feel like partners in the pricing and quoting process, you deepen trust and accelerate deal velocity. 

4. Digital-First Engagement and Omnichannel Sales 

Speaking of digital first… The digital era has transformed how buyers engage. Before calling or emailing, buyers often start their journey online, interact with a chatbot or portal, and then turn to a sales rep to validate or customize their order. In 2025, being “digital-friendly” is no longer enough. Sales organizations must become digital-first, meeting buyers wherever they are and delivering a consistent, seamless experience across all channels. 

Buyers expect the transition between channels to be invisible and the experience to be consistent. Whether a buyer is browsing a product catalog, requesting a quote or finalizing a deal, they want to pick up where they left off — without having to repeat themselves or re-enter information. 

They also expect fast, self-service options to manage routine tasks like quote requests, order status checks and replenishment. This is especially critical in industries like manufacturing, distribution and chemicals, where reorder frequency is high and speed matters. If a competitor offers a faster or more integrated digital experience, your buyer may switch without hesitation. 

What this means for sales teams: 
You need to invest in your online presence. It’s time to stop thinking of digital and sales as separate. The most effective teams don’t just support omnichannel — they sell omnichannel. That means arming both your digital platforms and human reps with the same data, pricing and customer history, so every interaction builds on the last. 

Sales teams must also get comfortable engaging earlier in digital channels, whether that’s answering product questions in a chat window, collaborating in shared portals, or delivering a custom quote via email that syncs with a customer’s online profile. It’s about being visible, helpful and responsive at every touchpoint. 

Audit your buyer journey and identify where digital handoffs break down. Integrate your CPQ, CRM, eCommerce and customer portals, so that sales reps and buyers are working from the same playbook. Sales teams should be trained not just to sell through digital tools, but to sell with them— augmenting the buyer experience, rather than duplicating or slowing it down. 

5. AI Expectations and Predictive Decisioning 

B2B buyers aren’t just more digital today — they’re more data-driven. They increasingly expect vendors to meet them with the same intelligent, AI-powered experiences they now rely on in other parts of their business. Whether it’s smart product recommendations, or dynamic, AI-powered pricing, buyers want tools and vendors that help them make better, faster decisions. 

In fact, AI is shifting from a buzzword to a baseline. Buyers assume you’re using AI in how you engage, price and serve them. They’re looking for predictive insights that help them plan inventory, manage risk and optimize costs. And they expect sellers to bring data to the table: not just anecdotal selling points, but hard metrics such as purchase history, historical pricing trends, top-selling products, services and bundles, etc. 

What this means for sales teams: 
AI is shaping the future of sales. You’re not just selling a product — you’re selling clarity. In complex and often volatile sectors, AI-powered insights are becoming a competitive differentiator. Buyers expect you to anticipate needs, surface relevant solution, and provide data-backed pricing guidance — ideally before they even ask for it. 

That means AI can no longer live solely in the back office. Sales reps must be equipped with intelligent tools that inform decisions in real time: Which product is likely to be needed next? What’s the optimal price for this customer today? What risks or supply issues should be flagged? If your sales team can’t deliver those answers, someone else will. 

Businesses can use AI to recommend bundles, prioritize high-value recommendations, detect churn risk or alert sellers when a key account shows signs of demand shift. Salespeople don’t need to be data scientists — but they do need to trust and act on AI insights to provide the consultative, proactive experience buyers expect. Effective, advanced CPQ software can give sales teams the confidence they need to efficiently close deals. 

The New Rules of B2B Engagement 

The B2B buying journey in 2025 is more sophisticated, digital and buyer-led than ever before. From self-education and personalization to AI-powered insights and omnichannel collaboration, these five behaviors aren’t passing trends — they’re permanent shifts in how your customers want to engage. 

This means rethinking not just how you sell, but how buyers want to buy. It’s time to move beyond traditional sales tactics and build experiences that are informed, connected and personalized at every step of the journey.