This week we hosted a webinar with Rex Galbraith and Betty Mok (CRO and SVP of Marketing at Consensus) on the buyer who's quietly become the hardest one to sell to: the one who'd rather do anything than get on a call with your AE.

The data backs them up. Forrester says 75% of buyers now self-educate. Gartner pegs the time sales gets during an evaluation at 17%. Rex and Betty pulled from six million buyer interactions at Consensus to lay out what's actually working when most of the buying happens before you're in the room.

B2B buyers increasingly prefer self-service over talking to reps. Forrester reports 75% of buyers now self-educate, and Gartner finds sales teams get just 17% of a buyer's time during evaluation. The old playbook doesn't work in this world.

"One of the monumental shifts that's happening in the marketplace is the way buyers buy. Buyers do not want to talk to you upfront," Galbraith said.

Transparency, content, and trust have to come before the sales conversation.

Drawing on data from over six million buyer interactions, Galbraith laid out four principles:

"When we deployed deal momentum scoring, we realized how much business we were missing. This gave us insight well before disaster struck, and our close rate went up significantly."

Early demo access changes the dynamic of every sales call.

"Transparency is now the new currency. Give buyers access to information using clips, tours, and documentation. When they come to the call, it feels like a second call," Galbraith said.

Mok added a sharper point: "Competitors will access your ungated content anyway. Leading transparency allows you to set the record straight and educate the market first."

Mok's team uses AI to build interactive demos where buyers can skip sections, ask questions, or request summaries.

"When stakeholders tell you what they care about, you personalize their experience and let them set the agenda at scale. That's how you double conversion rates and accelerate deal cycles."

Personalized demo experiences make buyers 34% more likely to qualify as opportunities.

Buyers experiencing product value through demos convert at six times the rate of MQLs.

"The philosophy behind ungating is driving engagement, because engagement yields buyers. The more you show, the more they trust, and the better results you achieve," Mok said.

Modern B2B sales starts with rethinking the old playbook, embracing transparency, and meeting buyers where they are.

Learn more about Consensus at goconsensus.com.

Want to learn from more Revenue Creators? Join the RevGenius community and be part of the movement rewriting the GTM playbook.

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