29 Powerful Statistics on Buying Groups & Opportunity Motions

Here are 29 statistics on Buying Groups, Opportunity-based motions, and MQLs that’ll make you rethink your current go-to-market strategies. 

Buying Group Statistics

Buying Groups are buying committees, just like those found in most Account-Based Marketing (ABM) initiatives. A Buying Group is connected to a particular deal moving through a sales cycle. At their core, buying groups are made up of individuals involved in an organization’s decision-making process.

Increased Influence on Buying Decisions

• Studies show that on average, 6.8 people are involved in a typical B2B buying decision (CEB).

• Conventional wisdom believed the buying committee was around six people. In reality, buying committees are 10, 12, 14 people or more (Forbes).

• The average Buying Group consists of 4-10 members, with operational leaders and managers accounting for the majority of decision makers (Infuse).

• 92% of B2B buying decisions are made by groups of 2 or more people (Forrester).
  
• There’s an average of 27 engagements with seller-related content (both known and anonymous) across a Buying Group (Forrester).

• Deals over $250,000 require an average 19 external stakeholders to close successfully (Clari).

Higher Conversion Rates

• Delivering a verified Buying Group to sales results in a 20% to 50% improvement in conversion rates (Forrester).
  
• In bigger Buying Groups, sales outreach can increase conversions by 3.4 — 4.4x if sales talk to 11+ people instead of just one person (influ2).

Enhanced Customer Experience

• 67% of companies that implement a structured Buying Group motion observed an improvement in customer experience metrics (Gartner).
  
• Companies report an increase in CSAT scores by 10-20% when adopting a Buying Group-centered approach (Qualtrics).

Increased Opportunities

• Organizations focused on Buying Groups experience 10% to 20% in new Opportunities as a result of the prioritization created from improved signal context (Forrester).

• Focusing on Buying Groups creates a 5% to 15% increase in new Opportunities from hidden prospects — target prospects in market but not engaged with the seller (Forrester).
  
• Companies using a Buying Group-centric approach have seen win rates improve by up to 50% (Gartner).

Opportunity-Based Motion Statistics

An Opportunity motion recognizes that today’s B2B buyer is a group of individuals, each performing a specific role on the buying committee. In this motion, marketing teams focus on identifying members of the buying committee and engaging with all of them.

Then, as marketing creates and qualifies a buying group, the group is placed into an Opportunity and sent to the sales team. 

Improved Sales Efficiency

• Businesses report a 30% reduction in the sales cycle when using Opportunity-focused strategies (HubSpot).

• 62% of B2B marketers have shifted their resources towards Opportunity-based marketing activities, finding it more cost-effective in generating sales-ready leads (Marketo).

• Implementing an Opportunity-centric motion can lead to an increase of up to 25% in deal closure rates (Salesforce).

• Businesses have noted a 40% improvement in sales forecast accuracy after adopting Opportunity-centric practices (Oracle).

• The average response time to customer inquiries drops by 50% with Opportunity-centric approaches, enhancing customer satisfaction and retention (Zoho).

Targeted Engagement

• Companies using an Opportunity-based motion see a 35% increase in the alignment between marketing and sales efforts, leading to more effective engagement strategies (SiriusDecisions).
  

“The number one reason organizations aren’t moving to buying groups, signals, and a more advanced revenue process is one word: culture. We’re addicted to MQLs as the cornerstone of our culture.”

Terry Flaherty Your MQL-Centric Culture Costs Millions, Forrester B2B Summit 2024

Stats Exposing the Problems with MQLs

While MQLs have been a cornerstone in B2B marketing strategies, several challenges undermine their effectiveness.

Low Conversion Rates 

• Only about 10-20% of MQLs convert to sales, indicating potential misalignment between marketing efforts and sales goals (Marketo).

• A Lead-centric process has a 99% failure rate, from inquiry to close (Forrester).
  
• Only 21% of MQLs convert to Sales Qualified Leads (Salesforce).

Quality Over Quantity Issues

• 61% of B2B marketers send all leads directly to sales despite only 27% of those leads being qualified (Gleanster).
  
• Companies who achieve 100% of their MQL goal, often only achieve around 30% of their pipeline goal (Madkudu).

• For every 100 MQLs, each marketing campaign should yield at least 13 successful SQLs (ClickUp).

High Cost per Lead

• The average cost per lead for MQLs can be as high as $150, with considerable variations depending on the industry and lead generation tactics (HubSpot).

• The average cost per lead in B2B SaaS is $237 (firstpagesage).

Delayed Follow-Up

• A significant gap in lead follow-up times often exists, with 23% of companies taking longer than 24 hours to follow up on a lead, reducing the effectiveness of the MQL strategy (InsideSales).
  

Inconsistent Metrics

• 50% of companies report that  the definition of an MQL is susceptible to change from quarter to quarter (Databox).

Buying Groups Are Here for Real

Organizations have been talking about Buying Groups for years but there’s clear momentum now based on two key trends: (1) current models simply aren’t working, and (2) technology is ready to connect and activate a Buying Group Strategy.

Two companies currently using a Buying Group strategy shared the following results at the 2024 Forrester B2B Summit:

Palo Alto Networks

• 2x the close won rate
• 20% improvement in MQL to opportunity
• 15% improvement in revenue

Reltio

• 39% improvement in conversion rate
• > 30 day improvement in deal velocity
• 71% improvement in new logo revenue 

Ready to take the first step into Buying Groups? Shift from Leads to Opportunities.