You can find the full article on the LinkedIn for Marketing Blog here.
If you thought you had the best product, a strong champion, a pitch that landed, and the deal still died…
The problem probably wasn't your product. Research from LinkedIn and Bain points to the real culprit: buyers aren't just buying a solution. They're buying a decision they can defend. That's Buyability, and most B2B strategies aren't built for it.
What is Buyability?
Buyability is a B2B model showing that buyers don't just buy products: they buy decisions they can defend to their team.
🔎 Research from LinkedIn and Bain found 40% of deals stall because the buying group can't agree.
Buyability puts the buying group - not the individual - at the center of B2B decision-making. To be "buyable," a brand has to win the confidence of every member of that group.
💡 Here's the surprising part: it's an emotional threshold, not a rational one. The top emotional driver for buyers wasn't "I felt confident the product would work." It was: "I felt I could defend the decision even if it went wrong." Three of the top five decision drivers come down to group dynamics, not product capability.
The 5 rules of Buyability
Rule 1: Make risk the enemy
40% of deals stall because the buying group can't agree, not because a competitor won. Buyers fear making a wrong call more than missing out (FOMU beats FOMO every time).
👉 Lead with proof that you've helped companies like theirs succeed, and make choosing you feel safe.
Rule 2: Your target buyer isn't your only buyer
Finance, legal, and procurement rarely show up in your funnel, but they hold roughly 50% of decision-making influence. The research is clear: 81% of purchases went to vendors almost everyone in the buying group already knew.
👉 Vendors are 20 times more likely to be chosen when the whole group knows and trusts the brand. Make sure hidden buyers know your name before your pitch.
Rule 3: A defensible decision is the product
When everyone on the shortlist meets the basics, product capability stops being the differentiator. What moves buyers is whether they can walk into a room and justify the decision with confidence.
👉 If your marketing hasn't built that case across the full Buyer group, your champion walks in alone.
Rule 4: Peer advocacy is a multiplier
Buyers are three times more likely to choose a vendor heavily recommended by peers over one promising a better product or lower price, and four times more likely to choose a vendor they've succeeded with before.
👉 Customer advocacy isn't a nice-to-have. It's your highest-leverage asset at the final stage.
Rule 5: Show them you understand companies like theirs
Buyers want vendors who feel like them: same working style, same priorities, same understanding of their world.
👉 Across all five Buyability drivers, socially oriented attributes (including peer recommendations) consistently outperform rational ones.
Conclusions
To succeed, build a strong presence with the entire buying group, not just your internal champion. Prioritize customer testimonials and case studies over product claims, making peer validation a core part of your strategy. Remember, the vendors who win aren't always the ones with the best product: they're the ones who are perceived as the best decision.
Have you seen a strong deal stall because the wider group wasn't on board? Share your story in the comments - let's learn from each other 💪
