PROSPECTILY · RESEARCH
Sell to finance and accounting — and you have found the toughest buyers in B2B: careful, busy, slow to trust.
Here is where it breaks down — and how the best sellers win.
13 people help decide a typical business purchase - you have to win over a group.
Source Forrester, 2024
1
6-12 mo is how long a big finance software or system deal can take to close.
Source FintechSpecs
2
~70% of buyers will not buy from a company they do not trust yet.
Source Hinge Marketing
3
WHAT'S REALLY STOPPING YOU
TRUST
They won’t move until they trust you
These buyers lean on people they trust. A message from a cold and unknown name gives them no reason to reply.
84% of business buyers start with a referral, not a cold message
4
STANDING OUT
You blend in with every other pitch
Your message looks like every other save time or use AI finance pitch. Buyers can’t tell you apart, so they tune out or just compare price.
Buyers say rival tools look almost the same to them
5
TIMING
Bad timing beats a good pitch
Reach them during mid-close or deep in busy season and it won’t matter how good you are.
About 80% of accountants work 51+ hours a week in busy season
6
THE TRIGGER
They buy when it hurts
A funding round, a failed audit, a system that finally broke — that’s when they move. Without a fire to put out, even a great tool gets a "maybe later." No trigger, no urgency.
Clients often stay with a firm 8+ years - the window to switch is rare
7
THE RIGHT PERSON
You reach the wrong person
The one who replies can’t buy. The one who can never saw you. By the time the real decider looks, they’ve picked someone else.
Most of the buying journey happens before they talk to a seller
8
SECURITY
"Is my data safe with you?"
Every finance buyer asks it — SOC 2, access controls, audit trails — and ops isn’t far behind. Without clear answers on security and compliance, they won’t risk letting you near their money and records.
76% of finance chiefs worry about data security
9
SWITCHING
They don’t want to change what works
The old setup works good enough. Changing it feels risky and costly, so no is safe.
About 7 in 10 big software changes miss their goals
10
THE GROUP
One yes isn’t enough
A big purchase needs a whole group to agree — finance, procurement, security, and others. Win over one person and the others can still block it.
About 13 people weigh in on a typical business purchase
1
PROOF
They don’t believe it will pay off
The buyer liked it but couldn’t prove the payback, so they do nothing. They trust proof, not promises.
67% saw no real savings from tools they already bought
11
Take the group problem: it’s getting harder every year. The buying group has more than doubled since 2015. One yes isn’t worth what it used to be.
The buying group keeps growing
Average number of people who weigh in on a business purchase Gartner & Forrester 1,8
5.4
2015
6.8
2017
8.2
2023
13
2024
1.
Reach the group
One contact can’t carry it — reach several of the right people: the one with the problem and the one who signs off.
2.
Time it right
Reach out on a trigger — funding, an audit, a new hire — and keep it light on the busy weeks.
3.
Say something real
Skip buzzwords. Lead with the one pain point they have and a clear result you got for someone just like them.
4.
Feel like a warm intro
Use a shared name they know, be specific, and answer "is my data safe?" early. Show you get their world before you ask for time.
5.
Show up enough
One message rarely lands. Follow a planned sequence — enough touches to be remembered, without becoming noise.
Show me my buyer map →
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Sources & notes
1. Forrester — forrester.com
2. FintechSpecs — fintechspecs.com
3. Hinge Marketing — hingemarketing.com
4. Referral Rock — referralrock.com
5. ERP Today — erp.today
6. Distinct Recruitment — distinctrecruitment.com
7. Accounting Today — accountingtoday.com
8. Attainment Labs — attainmentlabs.com
9. Kyriba — kyriba.com
10. Sage — sage.com
11. Zuora / Harris Poll — zuora.com
All figures cover B2B buying — named studies plus a few industry estimates.
