There’s abundant evidence to show that today’s B2B buyers are reaching out to vendors far later in their decision making process - after they have done their research on the web, reached out to their trusted networks for recommendations, and started to form a clear view of what sort of solutions they should be looking for. By the time they decide to engage with vendors they have already started to define their needs, their requirements, the shortlist of solutions they should be considering, and even the decision criteria they ought to be applying. It’s hard for any vendor entering the conversation at this stage to influence the prospect’s agenda. ...

As every end-of quarter approaches, sales people have a natural tendency to focus their attention on the opportunities they see as “closable” - and who can blame them? But it raises a natural question: “who is looking after next quarter’s pipeline while they are focusing on closing current quarter business?”...