Legal, finance and procurement decide B2B marketing and sales success

Some B2B marketing shops don’t even think about these groups on a buying committee, let alone develop messaging; a study by LinkedIn and Bain shows why that needs to change

B2B marketers instinctively target their marketing at decision-makers. This sounds logical and necessary. However, the over-intense focus neglects “hidden buyers” who, for reasons this study describes, can stall the sales cycle and tank deals. Those hidden buyers are buying committee participants from finance, legal and procurement.

That’s according to a “buyability” survey by the research firm NewtonX and commissioned by Bain & Company and LinkedIn. The survey polled 750 “buyers” in February 2026. To the best of my knowledge, a report wasn’t published; rather, LinkedIn and Bain each wrote about the survey separately.

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LinkedIn sets up the buyability findings this way [emphasis added]:

Hidden buyers influence B2B deals. “Finance, Legal, and Procurement, hidden buyers, rarely show up in your funnel. But they hold roughly 50% of total decision-making influence.”

Brand awareness and familiarity count a lot in the beginning. Further, “81% of purchases were made from vendors that ‘almost everyone’ in the buyer group already knew.”

Trust and reputation help things along. “Vendors are 20 times more likely to be chosen when the entire buyer group knows and trusts the brand at the start of the process.”

The track record beats performance and price. “Buyers are 3 times more likely to choose a vendor heavily recommended by peers or customers over one that promises a better product or lower price.”

Past experience with a solution provider is gold. Buyers “are 4 times more likely to choose a vendor they have had direct success with before, because past experience is, in effect, a recommendation from themselves.”

Fear of a mistake trumps FOMO. “40% of deals stall because the buyer group cannot agree, not because a competitor won. Buyers would rather do nothing than risk a decision that damages their career.”

The most significant factor in choosing a solution, according to LinkedIn, was this:

“I felt I could defend the decision even if it went wrong.”

In other words, the group of people who collaborate to procure a solution “are not just buying a solution. They are buying a decision they can defend.”

Among the final points LinkedIn makes about this study has nothing to do with product features or benefits:

“Buyers want to work with vendors who feel like them: same working style, same priorities, same understanding of their world.”

It’s not just the “decision-makers” who need to feel this way. It’s also the hidden buyers from other departments who will not be end users but can float or sink a deal.

And they tend to be an afterthought.

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B2B “loses” the deal in the beginning, not the end

Bain is more pointed in its interpretation of the survey:

“Most sales, marketing, and product executives at B2B companies think they lose deals in the final mile during evaluation, pricing, or negotiation. In reality, they often lose much earlier.”

This is the catch, too. Because B2B marketing and sales think they lose deals in the late stages:

“Companies often overinvest in late-stage sales motions but underinvest in the moments that determine whether they get a real shot at winning.”

Where’s the opportunity?

It’s much earlier in the process:

“Research continues to show that around 90% of buyers purchase from their Day 1 list, and the recent analysis by LinkedIn and Bain found that hidden buyers have half of the influence over that decision.”

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Practical implications for B2B marketing

“Vendors don’t need to fix everything,” according to Bain. “Rather, they need to identify and amplify the few strengths that tip decisions and ensure those strengths are visible where it counts.”

In fact, Bain provides a handy graphic that breaks out exactly what marketing needs to do [emphasis added]:

Build buyer “confidence in functionality and meeting current and future needs”;

Establish buyer “confidence in value relative to total cost”;

Ensure your product is “defendable internally” among prospects;

Demonstrate a track record of “successful execution and implementation; and

Be “collaborative” and “responsive” in nature during the sales cycle.

These findings seem to me to substantiate conclusions drawn in other studies I’ve covered on these pages. For example, a sizable study by Dentsu found “I feel safe signing a contract with them” was the top-ranked “decision driver.”

Other studies also suggest marketing can check off many of the requirements put forth in this study by Bain and LinkedIn with a genuine focus on thought leadership.

Why?

Because when a company illustrates in thought leadership that it understands an industry – its strengths, weaknesses, problems and opportunities – buyers stand to reason their products are probably pretty good too.

The keys to effective thought leadership are well documented:

Develop well-sourced material that informs rather than sells;

Distinguishes your thinking and view of the world from your competition’s perspective;

Demonstrates that your business understands your prospect’s market, business, challenges and opportunities; and

Provides tangible examples and case studies that convey a track record.

In light of the study by Bain and LinkedIn, some of this content has to address the concerns and interests of legal and financial professionals, who work in your target market, but are not the typical decision maker or product end user.

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