What did LinkedIn’s new research find?
The deal starts long before the first call. Buyers research for about 124 days before they speak to a seller, and the deals that win reach more of the buying group, earlier.
LinkedIn published the findings on 24 September 2026, in a post by Greg Willis on the LinkedIn Marketing Blog.1 The data comes from Factors.ai. It covers more than 50,000 closed deals and more than $5 billion in deal value.1,2 Factors.ai describes the base as 850+ LinkedIn advertisers, with 100+ B2B companies connecting their CRM data.2
The post is written for marketers, and much of it is about ad spend. The most useful findings for sales teams are about people: how many a deal reaches, and when.
One more finding matters for sellers. Engaging a mix of internal end users, influencers and technical evaluators lifted win rates by 22 percentage points.1 Yet 76% of LinkedIn ad spend targets roles from director up to owner.1 Most teams aim at the people who sign, and miss the people who shape the decision.
Read the numbers with care. This is vendor research, published by LinkedIn about LinkedIn. The public pages do not define exactly what counts as reaching a contact.2 The lifts show that deals with more people involved won more often, not that adding people causes the win. In our view, the direction is still right, and it matches what sellers see in long deals.
Why does the deal start before your CRM knows about it?
Because buyers do most of the work alone. By the time they call you, the group has already formed a view.
Four months is a long time. In that window, people at the account read reviews, ask AI assistants, compare vendors and talk to peers. TrustRadius found that 63% of technology buyers used AI during their purchase journey.3 It also found that 94% of those buyers fact-check what the AI tells them, at least some of the time.3
None of that shows up as a stage in your CRM. The opportunity is created when someone raises a hand or takes a meeting. By then, the shortlist may be set, and the 13 internal stakeholders may already disagree about what they need.
Our viewThe CRM records when you joined the deal, not when the deal began. If your process starts at opportunity creation, you are starting about four months late.
This connects to a point we made in how to win over a buyer who needs more convincing. Buyers now arrive informed and skeptical. The seller who has been useful to several people during the research window starts the deal with trust. The seller who arrives on day 125 starts with a pitch.
How do you reach six people before the deal exists?
Start with research, not outreach. Each person needs a reason to hear from you that comes from something real at their company.
Six cold messages to six titles is not multithreading. It is volume. The research found the lift came from reaching the group, including end users and technical evaluators, not from reaching more directors. Each of those people cares about a different part of the problem.
Work through it in order:
- Research the account. Look for what changed recently: new hires, launches, pricing moves, partnerships, funding. A change is the most honest reason to reach out.
- Map the group. List the likely end users, the technical evaluator, the budget owner and the person whose team feels the problem most. Include people below director.
- Find each person’s reason. The end user cares about the daily work. The evaluator cares about fit and risk. The budget owner cares about cost and timing. Write one line for each.
- Reach them where they are. Use email and LinkedIn, and keep every conversation with the account in one place, so each message builds on the last.
This is where AI earns its place. It can gather what changed at the account, suggest who belongs in the group, and draft a first message. The rep still decides who matters, what to say and when. In Duologue, for example, each account carries a timeline of hires, launches, pricing moves and funding, each with its date and source, and every email and LinkedIn conversation with the account sits on one thread.
| Before the deal opens | During the active cycle | |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Six or more people at the account know who you are and why you are relevant | Three or more further people are engaged as the evaluation widens |
| Who to reach | End users, influencers and the technical evaluator, as well as leaders | Finance, security, procurement and anyone new to the group |
| Reason to reach out | A real change at the account, tied to that person’s work | The part of the case each person has to approve |
| What to track | What changed at the account, and who responded | Who has seen what, who has concerns, and what changed since the last touch |
What should sales teams change this quarter?
Move the start line. Treat target accounts as live deals before the opportunity exists.
Most sales processes begin at the first meeting. The LinkedIn data says the decision started four months earlier. That gap is where reps can build the relationships that the win-rate lifts point to.
The deal starts when the buyer starts,not when your CRM creates the record.
The old questionWho raised a hand this week, and how fast can we book the meeting?
The better questionWhat changed at our target accounts, and who in each buying group should hear from us?
Three changes to make this quarter:
- Count people, not only accounts. For each target account, track how many people in the buying group you have reached before an opportunity opens. The research suggests six is a useful bar.1
- Reach below the title line. Add end users and technical evaluators to every account plan. They shape the decision even when they do not sign it.1
- Keep going after the deal opens. The research found a separate lift from engaging three or more further people during the active cycle.1 New people join the group as the evaluation widens. Find them early.
RecommendationPick five target accounts that are not yet in your pipeline. For each, write down what changed there this quarter and name six people who should hear about it from you. Then reach them, one real reason at a time.
Frequently asked questions
How long do B2B buyers research before talking to sales?
About 124 days, according to research LinkedIn published on 24 September 2026, based on Factors.ai data from more than 50,000 closed deals. Buyers research, evaluate and discuss solutions for roughly four months before they speak to a seller.
How many contacts should you reach before an opportunity is created?
The LinkedIn and Factors.ai data found that reaching 6 or more contacts before a deal is created in the CRM lifted win rates by 17 percentage points. Engaging 3 or more further contacts during the active cycle lifted win rates by another 16 points.
How big is a B2B buying group in 2026?
LinkedIn’s article says the typical buying decision now includes 13 internal stakeholders and nine external influencers. That is why a deal with one contact is fragile: most of the people who shape the decision never hear from you.
Does this research prove that multithreading causes higher win rates?
No. It shows that deals where more people were reached won more often. The published pages do not define exactly how a contact was reached, and bigger or healthier deals may simply involve more people. In our view, it is still strong support for reaching the buying group early.
What should a sales rep do before an account is in the pipeline?
Research the account, map the buying group, and find a reason to talk to each person that comes from something real at the company. Reach end users and technical evaluators, not only directors, so the group already knows you when the deal opens.
Sources
- LinkedIn Marketing Blog: The B2B marketing mistake that’s costing you the deal (Greg Willis, 24 September 2026)Checked 28 Sep 2026
- Factors.ai: From Benchmarks to Blueprints, the LinkedIn Revenue Engine reportChecked 28 Sep 2026
- TrustRadius 2026 B2B Buying Disconnect Report (via HG Insights, 15 July 2026)Checked 28 Sep 2026
Written by the Duologue team. The research discussed here was published by LinkedIn and based on data from Factors.ai. Every figure on this page comes from the pages linked in Sources, checked on 28 September 2026. LinkedIn is a trademark of its owner. If anything here is out of date, tell us and we will fix it.