Why B2B buyers choose the brand they already know

Short answerBecause most of the decision is made before anyone calls you. Research from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute suggests that only around 5% of business buyers are in the market for a given product at any one time. When their moment comes, they shortlist the names they already know and trust. A brand is how you get on that list before the tender, the RFQ or the trade fair.

Many industrial companies put everything into the moment of sale: fairs, quotes, discounts, visits. That moment matters. But by then, most buyers already have two or three names in mind.

The 95–5 rule

Companies don’t change suppliers every month. They do it every few years, when a contract ends, a plant opens or a problem appears. That is why Professor John Dawes of the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute concluded that around 95% of B2B buyers are out of the market at any given time (The 95-5 Rule, LinkedIn B2B Institute, 2021).

If your communication only speaks to the 5% buying now, you are invisible to the 95% who will buy next year.

Buyers research on their own

Gartner found that B2B buyers spend only 17% of their buying time meeting potential suppliers. The rest goes on research: websites, catalogues, LinkedIn, colleagues and, more and more, AI assistants. If your brand doesn’t explain you clearly when you are not in the room, a competitor’s will.

What “known” means in B2B

It doesn’t mean famous. It means three things:

Easy to recall when the need appears.
Clearly linked to one thing. “The covering specialist for e-mobility” beats “a reliable supplier since 1965”.
Easy to check. The website, the cases and the people confirm what the buyer has heard.

What to do about it

One clear idea. A positioning the whole company can repeat.
A consistent identity. The same brand on the stand, the catalogue, the fleet and the website, so every contact adds up.
Show up between purchases. Cases, articles, trade press and LinkedIn: useful things, regularly.
Be findable by AI. Buyers ask assistants for suppliers. Clear pages with real answers get cited. See how AI assistants choose.

FAQ

Isn’t word of mouth enough in our sector?

It works until something changes: a new purchasing manager, a new market, a new generation. Then the brand is what they find.

We sell to engineers. Do they care about brand?

Engineers decide on specifications, but they shortlist by reputation, and they check your website before they call. A clear brand makes the technical case easier to read.

Want to be on the list before the tender? Write to [email protected].