AI, influencers and even strangers: who really decides to buy now?

The traditional model of the B2B sales funnel, structured in linear stages of attraction, qualification, negotiation and closing, no longer describes the reality of corporate purchasing decisions. It has been replaced by a more diffuse and interconnected logic, in which different actors participate simultaneously in the construction of choice. It's the advance of calls buying networks: Broad networks of internal and external stakeholders that directly influence decisions, often with the participation of AI agents, market influencers and multiple research sources.

recent report of uproughR, entitled Buying Networks: Your Buyers’ New Reality, shows that the B2B journey is no longer conducted by a limited committee and has now involved a more complex ecosystem. Consultants, analysts, industry peers, influencers, technical teams, young professionals from the millennial and gen Z generations and even artificial intelligence agents enter the process as opinion makers. “This requires companies to abandon the idea of an ideal decision maker and start adjusting their messages for an entire network, with content that reduces uncertainty, generate confidence and make the risks and benefits clear to all involved”, he explains. Fernanda Nascimento's, B2B Marketing and Sales Specialist and CEO of Stratlab.

According to her, the phenomenon redesigns the rules of commercial games. “Today, those who decide are no longer a person, but a network. It is not enough to push leads through a linear funnel. Companies need to orchestrate conversations, build authority and offer clarity at different levels of knowledge and expectations”, he says. For this, he highlights, the salesperson stops acting as a gatekeeper and starts to assume the roles of consultant and facilitator.

Fernanda reinforces that adaptation is not optional. “With increasingly autonomous, informed and exposed buyers exposed to multiple voices of influence, insisting on traditional tactics, such as plastered forms, SDRs focused only on volume and massive firing of emails, for example, tends to become irrelevant or even harmful,” he says.

For the executive, the buying networks represent a structural change in the business environment. It is not a one-off trend in marketing or technology, but a profound change in the way companies build reputation, relate and compete. In this new scenario, she recommends that executives and B2B leaders:

• Recognize that they no longer control the purchasing process: they are part of a network with multiple voices and interests, requiring adjustments in commercial and marketing governance;
• Produce clear, accessible and relevant content even before the first human contact. Transparency and context have become essential assets;
• invest in authority and reputation through editorial presence, Focus on, Relations with Influencers, Media and Market Communities;
• Restructure marketing and sales to deliver continuous value throughout the journey, with agility, empathy and focus on solving real pains;
• They regard automation and AI as strategic supports, not substitutes for human intelligence.

“For Brazilian companies, especially those that work with technology, consulting, services and B2B, adopting this new logic can mean a real gain in competitiveness. Ignoring this transformation can lead to invisibility, a drop in conversion, customer frustration and loss of relevance”, concludes Fernanda.