Most B2B marketers think they understand their buyers. They check their CRM, analyse website traffic, listen to sales calls, and maybe even run a survey or two.
But the reality? 95% of the customer journey happens before a buyer ever speaks to sales.
That means if you’re relying on lead data and pipeline metrics to understand your customers, you’re only seeing a tiny fraction of the story.
We caught up with Ryan Paul Gibson (founder of Content Lift), an expert in B2B customer research, who puts it bluntly:
“Sales calls and surveys often get you high-consideration data, but marketers have to influence buyers long before that.”
The difference between marketers who struggle and marketers who generate demand for their brand comes down to this – the ones winning are the ones who actually understand how buyers make decisions.
Too many marketing teams skip straight to “How do we generate more leads?” when they should be asking:
✅ What triggers a buyer to start looking for a solution in the first place?
✅ What roadblocks slow down their decision-making?
✅ Who actually makes the buying decision – and who influences it?
If you don’t have clear answers to these, your marketing is guesswork.
This guide breaks down how to do B2B customer journey research properly – so you can stop making decisions based on assumptions and start getting real insights that drive revenue.
We’ll cover:
- Why most marketers get customer research wrong
- The 5 key stages of the B2B customer journey
- How to interview buyers the right way to get insights that matter
- The best questions to ask to uncover real decision drivers
- How to apply research findings to improve your marketing & sales strategy
If you’re tired of guessing what your customers want and want to start creating marketing that actually works, keep reading.
Listen To The Episode
Watch The Episode
The 5 Stages of B2B Customer Journey Research
Most B2B marketing teams obsess over lead generation and conversion rates, but here’s the problem – by the time a buyer is ready to talk to sales, the real decision-making has already happened.
That’s because B2B buyers don’t move neatly through a marketing funnel like we’ve been taught. In reality, they go through five key stages before making a purchase – and if you’re not showing up early in the process, you’ve already lost the deal.
Understanding each stage in how they make decisions is crucial to inform your demand generation framework.
1. Prioritizing the Problem
B2B buyers don’t wake up thinking, “I need to buy software today.” They start by identifying a problem in their business that needs to be solved. The issue might exist for months or even years before they take action. And guess what? They’re balancing a dozen other priorities at the same time.
As Ryan Paul Gibson put it:
“There’s all sorts of things happening in the business, all sorts of problems. The key question is: What’s the tipping point that makes them actually want to invest time and money into solving it?”
Ryan Paul Gibson – The B2B Playbook
If your marketing isn’t helping buyers realize the cost of NOT solving that problem, you’re invisible to them at this stage.
2. Exploring All Possible Solutions
Here’s where most marketers get it wrong. Buyers don’t immediately start comparing vendors. First, they evaluate different ways to solve the problem.
Ryan explains:
“When buyers start looking at solutions, they aren’t just considering software or services—they’re thinking about ALL possible ways to solve a problem, including hiring someone or changing internal processes.”
This means you’re not just competing against other products – you’re competing against doing nothing, hiring internally, or patching together a DIY solution. Your marketing needs to educate buyers on why your approach is the best path forward.
3. Shortlisting Vendors
At some point, buyers start building a shortlist of potential vendors. This process isn’t instant.
“That short list can be built quickly when they isolate a problem, or it can be built over months or years.”
Here’s where brand awareness kicks in. If your company isn’t on their radar before they start shortlisting, you’re not even in the conversation.
4. Deep-Dive Evaluation
Once buyers have their shortlist, they start putting vendors under the microscope. This is where they’ll compare features, pricing, case studies, and ROI.
Most marketing teams only focus on this stage, but by then, it’s often too late.
“Sales calls and surveys often get you this high-consideration data. But marketers have to influence buyers long before that.”
Ryan Paul Gibson – The B2B Playbook
If you only start showing up when buyers are deep into the selection process, you’re already playing catch-up.
5. Final Decision & Internal Buy-In
Even once a buyer chooses a solution, there are still internal hurdles to clear. They may need to justify the purchase to leadership, secure budget approval, or get buy-in from other departments.
At this stage, your job is to make it easy for champions inside the company to sell your solution internally. Case studies, ROI calculators, and clear messaging help push deals over the line.
Why This Matters for B2B Marketing
Most companies focus only on buyers in the evaluation stage, but 95% of your potential customers aren’t there yet.
If you want to win more deals, you need to be part of the buyer’s journey from the very beginning – helping them recognize problems, evaluate solutions, and understand why your approach is the best fit.
As Ryan summed it up:
“Marketers have to stop thinking in terms of funnels and start thinking in terms of buyer decision-making. If you only show up at the final stage, you’ve already lost.”
So if your marketing isn’t influencing buyers before they even start shortlisting vendors, you’re leaving massive revenue on the table.
(By the way – Ryan has previously shared with us how to conduct customer interviews here).
Why 1-on-1 Interviews Are the Best Research Method
Most B2B marketers obsess over numbers – survey results, CRM data, website analytics. But here’s the problem: data only tells you what happened, not why it happened.
You might see that a lead took six months to convert, or that a deal stalled in procurement, but unless you actually talk to buyers, you have no idea what was really going on behind the scenes.
Ryan Paul Gibson puts it perfectly:
“Quantitative data answers what, but qualitative research—like interviews—helps us understand why.”
Ryan Paul Gibson – The B2B Playbook
That’s why 1-on-1 interviews are the most powerful way to uncover how and why buyers actually make decisions.
Surveys and Dashboards Only Show Surface-Level Insights
Most marketers think they understand their customers because they have data. But data without context is dangerous.
Let’s say you run a survey asking buyers why they chose your product. The most common answer? “It was the best fit.”
Sounds good, right? But what does that actually mean?
- Was your pricing better?
- Did they like your brand more?
- Were they forced to choose you because of internal constraints?
Without digging deeper, you’re left guessing. That’s why interviews are so important – you get real, detailed answers instead of vague survey responses.
B2B Buying Decisions Are Highly Considered & Complex
Unlike consumer purchases, where decisions can be made in seconds, B2B purchases take weeks, months, or even years. Buyers are dealing with budgets, internal politics, and risk management.
Ryan explains:
“If I’m buying a bottle of water, I don’t think about it. But if I’m buying a machine for a bottled water plant, it’s a totally different process.”
Ryan Paul Gibson – The B2B Playbook
This is why interviews matter. They help you understand the real factors that influence decisions – things that won’t show up in a CRM or a dashboard.
Buyers Evaluate Solutions Based on Context – Not Just Features
A mistake marketers often make is assuming buyers choose a product based on features alone.
In reality, how they evaluate solutions depends entirely on their business model and internal processes.
- A SaaS tool for one company might replace manual work.
- Another company might see the exact same tool as a way to improve team collaboration.
- A third company might just be checking a compliance box and never actually use half the features.
“Buyers don’t just look at use cases – they evaluate them through the lens of their business model and internal processes.”
If you don’t understand how your buyers think, your messaging and positioning will miss the mark.
The Buying Committee: More People Than You Think
B2B decisions aren’t made by one person. You might be marketing to a CMO, but the real decision could be influenced by:
- A CFO looking at cost savings.
- An IT lead worrying about integration.
- A procurement team focused on compliance.
Ryan shares an example of an IT security deal where 15 different people had input on the decision:
- The IT manager wanted the tool
- Leadership had to sign off on it
- Finance scrutinized the cost
- Legal raised compliance concerns
If you’re relying on sales calls and surveys, you’ll only see the final step of the decision – not the months of internal debates that led up to it.
Why This Matters for B2B Marketing
If you only look at lead data and closed-won reports, you’re making huge blind bets on what actually drives sales.
One-on-one interviews reveal the full story – the objections, the politics, the hidden priorities that shape B2B buying decisions.
As Ryan puts it:
“Marketers have to stop thinking in numbers alone and start talking to real buyers. That’s the only way to truly understand what’s going on.““ [05:45]”
Ryan Paul Gibson – The B2B Playbook
So before you spend another $50K on an ad campaign, ask yourself – do I actually know why my customers buy? If not, it’s time to start talking to them.
The Right Way to Ask Questions in Customer Research
Most marketers assume that if they ask customers why they bought, they’ll get useful insights. Wrong.
If you just ask, “Why did you choose us?” you’ll get surface-level answers like:
- “It was the best fit.”
- “Your product had the best features.”
- “We liked your brand.”
That tells you nothing.
The truth is, buyers don’t always know why they made a decision, and even when they do, they’ll summarize it in a way that sounds logical in hindsight but skips over critical steps in their journey.
You’re not asking opinions or hot takes. You want to understand facts, behaviours, and actions – how people actually move through a process and make decisions.
That’s why how you ask questions is everything. If you don’t structure interviews properly, you’ll walk away with shallow insights that won’t actually help you improve marketing.
Vague Questions = Useless Answers
A big mistake marketers make in customer interviews is being too broad.
For example, if you ask:
❌ “How did you find our product?”
You’ll get:
“Oh, we looked around, checked some reviews, and decided to go with you.”
That doesn’t tell you anything actionable.
Instead, you need to break it down into specifics:
✅ “What triggered you to start looking for a solution?”
✅ “What was the first thing you did after realizing you needed one?”
✅ “How did you decide which options to explore further?”
Ryan calls this unpacking the decision-making process:
“People will skip over key details in their decision-making unless you ask them to walk through it step by step.”
The “What Did You Do Next?” Method
One of the best techniques for getting real insights is simply asking what happened next.
This forces the buyer to recall the actual sequence of events, instead of just summarizing their decision in hindsight.
Example:
🚀 Buyer: “We realized we needed a CRM.”
🔍 Interviewer: “What did you do next?”
📌 Buyer: “We started looking at reviews and asking for recommendations.”
🔍 Interviewer: “How did you decide which ones to shortlist?”
By repeating “What did you do next?”, you build a timeline of real decisions, not just a neatly packaged story.
Real-World Example: Digging Deeper to Find the Truth
Ryan shares a story about a company choosing a content marketing service.
At first, the buyer said:
“It just made sense.”
Most marketers would stop there. But Ryan dug deeper:
“Walk me through what you mean by ‘made sense.’”
After pressing for more detail, the buyer revealed that the real reason was about removing uncertainty:
- They wanted clarity on workload expectations.
- They needed transparency in pricing.
- They weren’t just choosing a vendor – they were choosing to avoid risk.
“So many times in marketing, we stop at answers like ‘it made sense.’ But if we don’t dig deeper, we miss what actually influenced the purchase.”
Why This Matters for B2B Marketing
Good research means digging past the first answer to uncover the actual thought process behind the purchase.
So next time you interview a customer, remember:
- Avoid vague questions.
- Ask for actions, not opinions.
- Keep pressing: “What did you do next?”
Do this, and you’ll stop making marketing decisions based on assumptions – and start creating strategies that actually reflect how your buyers think.
How to Find the Right People for B2B Research
Getting good customer insights isn’t just about asking the right questions – it’s also about making sure you’re talking to the right people.
A lot of marketers only interview their existing customers. And sure, that’s useful. It tells you why people said yes. But what about the people who chose a competitor? Or the ones who never even considered you?
If you only talk to customers who bought from you, you’re missing the full picture.
Ryan Paul Gibson explains:
“Customers who have worked with you for six years think differently from someone who just bought—and both are different from people who don’t know you exist.”
This is why you need to expand your research pool beyond your happiest customers.
Who You Should Be Interviewing
To get insights that actually help you improve demand generation, you need to speak to a mix of:
✅ Current customers – Helps you understand what convinced them to buy.
✅ New buyers – Shows what tipped them over the edge.
✅ Lost deals – Reveals why buyers went with a competitor.
✅ Out-of-market buyers – Gives you insights into what could drive future demand.
Marketers hate talking to lost deals, but they are some of the most valuable interviews you can do.
If someone chose a competitor, wouldn’t you want to know why?
- Was it pricing confusion?
- Was another vendor positioned better?
- Did an internal stakeholder block the deal?
If you don’t talk to lost deals, you’re flying blind.
Your Best Customers Might Not Be Your Best Future Customers
Another big mistake? Assuming that your most loyal customers are a perfect representation of future buyers.
The reality is, market conditions change, decision-making shifts, and new competitors emerge. That means your best customers might not be representative of your best customers moving forward.
If you’re only getting feedback from people who already love you, you’re missing why others don’t even consider you in the first place.
Don’t Waste Time Interviewing the Wrong People
Just because someone works at a company that bought your product doesn’t mean they were actually involved in the decision.
If you interview the wrong people, you’ll get misleading insights. If you talk to someone who wasn’t actually part of the buying process, they’ll give you second-hand information. That’s dangerous.
Think about it – if you ask a junior marketer why their company bought a marketing analytics tool, they might say,
“Oh, we needed better tracking.”
But if you ask the CMO who made the final decision, they might say,
“We actually bought it because finance needed better ROI reporting.”
Totally different motivations.
Real-World Example: The Company That Only Talked to Happy Customers
Ryan shares a story about a company that only interviewed their happiest customers to shape their marketing strategy.
They assumed that the features those customers loved the most were the same ones that mattered most to new buyers.
Big mistake.
When they finally interviewed new and lost customers, they realized the real decision drivers were completely different.
“They thought they knew what mattered to buyers – but they were only listening to people who already loved them. That’s not how you build a demand generation strategy.”
Why This Matters for B2B Marketing
If you want to improve demand generation, you need to stop guessing and start talking to a mix of buyers.
Here’s the move:
- Talk to lost deals to understand why buyers said no.
- Interview out-of-market buyers to see what could trigger future demand.
- Don’t just talk to champions—make sure you interview decision-makers.
If you only talk to the customers who love you, you’ll keep marketing to the same small audience—instead of expanding your market.
Turning Customer Research into Actionable Marketing Strategy
Getting customer insights is only half the battle. If you don’t actually apply what you learn, then what’s the point?
Too many companies run interviews, collect research, create a fancy report… and then do absolutely nothing with it.
Ryan Paul Gibson calls it out directly:
“If you’re not applying what you learn to your website, messaging, content, and sales process, what’s the point of even doing research?” [39:30]
Customer research shouldn’t be something you file away in a Google Drive folder. It should be fuel for your entire marketing strategy.
Your Messaging Needs to Use the Words Your Buyers Use
Most B2B marketers write copy based on how they think about their product, not how customers actually talk about it. That’s why so many landing pages miss the mark.
Ryan explains:
“Your landing pages, ad campaigns, and sales scripts should be using the exact words your customers use to describe their problems.” [40:05]
If your website says something vague like, “Powerful AI-Powered Automation for Modern Businesses,” but your customers actually say, “I just need a way to stop wasting hours on manual work,” then your messaging is wrong.
Use their language, not yours.
Customer Insights Should Shape Your Entire Buyer Journey
When you understand what questions buyers ask at each stage, you can create content that actually moves them forward instead of just pushing product.
Ryan puts it like this:
“If you understand what questions buyers ask at each stage, you can create content that moves them forward instead of just pushing product.” [40:40]
For example:
- If buyers struggle to get internal buy-in, create content that helps them pitch your solution to leadership.
- If they compare you to a competitor, make it easier for them to see the difference.
- If they hesitate because of pricing concerns, create content that justifies ROI.
Customer research isn’t just about understanding buyers – it’s about removing friction from their decision-making process.
Applying Research to Demand Generation = Higher Conversions
Once you integrate customer insights into every stage of your demand gen strategy, you start seeing real results.
Ryan breaks it down:
“Once you understand the real triggers behind why people buy, you can create marketing that actually gets their attention instead of just blending in.” [41:15]
Research helps you:
✅ Write ad copy that grabs attention instead of blending into the noise
✅ Optimize website messaging based on what buyers actually care about
✅ Adjust sales enablement materials so reps speak the buyer’s language
✅ Create content that answers real objections instead of just talking about features
Real-World Example: How Rewind Changed Its Messaging and Doubled Installs
Rewind, a company offering a GitHub backup product, was struggling to generate leads despite launching with a clear value proposition. They originally positioned their tool as a simple backup solution for developers to save their code repositories, assuming this was the primary pain point. But when the leads didn’t come in as expected, they turned to customer research to find out why.
Ryan Paul Gibson was brought in to investigate and quickly realized they were framing the problem incorrectly.
After conducting customer interviews, they discovered that developers weren’t the ones actively looking for a solution – the real frustration came from IT teams managing in-house backup scripts. These teams weren’t just looking for a backup tool; they wanted a way to eliminate the hassle of maintaining their own solutions. With this new insight, Rewind completely changed its messaging—shifting away from “simple GitHub backup” and instead focusing on “a solution for IT teams tired of maintaining internal scripts”.
They updated their ads, content, and sales materials accordingly, and within just a few weeks, installs doubled. Ryan summed it up best: “We changed a lot of the messaging in the marketplace, tested this in ads, and built new content to support a larger process. That doubled the installs in just a few weeks.”
Why This Matters for B2B Marketing
Customer research is only valuable if you use it.
If you want higher conversions, better engagement, and more effective campaigns, then you need to:
- Use buyer language, not marketing-speak.
- Make sure your messaging reflects real customer pain points.
- Create content that answers the actual questions buyers have at each stage.
Most marketing teams don’t have a demand problem – they have a messaging problem. And the only way to fix that is to listen to what buyers are actually telling you.
Making Customer Research Your Competitive Advantage
Most B2B marketers are making huge decisions based on assumptions. They tweak messaging, launch ad campaigns, and create sales materials—without ever actually talking to their buyers.
But as Ryan Paul Gibson has made clear, the best marketing isn’t built on guesses—it’s built on real customer insights.
Throughout this guide, we’ve covered exactly how to do B2B customer journey research the right way:
- Understanding the 5 Stages of the Buying Journey instead of relying on the outdated funnel.
- Conducting 1-on-1 interviews to uncover real decision-making factors.
- Asking the right questions to get useful insights—not just vague opinions.
- Finding the right people to interview—not just your happiest customers.
- Turning insights into action by applying them to messaging, content, and demand generation.
If you take nothing else from this, remember:
- If you’re not interviewing customers, you’re just guessing.
- If you’re not digging into the real reasons buyers make decisions, your marketing will miss the mark.
- If you’re not applying customer insights to your messaging and demand gen strategy, you’re wasting time and budget.
What to Do Next
- Set up five customer interviews in the next month—talk to both wins and lost deals.
- Use the “What did you do next?” method to uncover real decision drivers.
- Update your website, ad copy, and sales messaging based on what buyers actually say – not what you assume they care about.
Want to learn how to turn customer insights into a high-performing demand generation strategy? Check out our demand generation course The B2B Incubator and start applying these principles today.
The B2B Playbook
Your GTM Playbook for B2B
