It's not about how you sell. It's about how they buy.
Everyone's talking about buyer-centric selling. But few teams truly understand what their buyer's day looks like.
Sales assumes buyers are reading decks, forwarding one-pagers, and discussing solutions with stakeholders.
In reality? They're jumping between meetings, Slack threads, and last-minute fire drills, with your deal competing for attention among dozens of priorities.
This post walks you through a typical day in the life of a B2B decision-maker. It reveals the real blockers to deal momentum and how to enable decisions that fit into their world.
8:42 AM – Drowning in decisions before coffee
Your buyer logs in to 47 unread emails.
Your follow-up is somewhere between a legal approval chain and a PTO policy update.
They meant to read your proposal. But a cross-functional request derailed their focus. It's not that they're uninterested. They're overwhelmed.
How to enable them:
- Deliver all relevant content in a single hub
- Make it easy to return, scan, and re-engage on their schedule
- Use email notifications strategically, not frequently
10:11 AM – Stakeholder conflict kicks in
Now they're in a meeting with Sales, Finance, and IT.
They mention your solution, hoping to get alignment.
The CFO asks: "What's the ROI?" IT says: "We need to see the compliance checklist."
Your buyer didn't have the answers ready. They feel unprepared, and momentum fades.
How to enable them:
- Provide role-based content ahead of internal meetings
- Share summaries tailored for each stakeholder
- Preempt common objections with shareable resources
12:34 PM – The ghosting isn't personal
Lunch break. They open your shared Doc again. Skim through.
Just as they consider responding, Slack explodes. A CRO fires off a high-priority request. Suddenly, you're forgotten.
Not because your offer isn't relevant, but because you're not top of mind.
How to enable them:
- Track content views and revisit patterns
- Follow up based on buyer engagement, not your cadence
- Send helpful nudges when they actually re-engage
3:07 PM – Death by tab overload
Your buyer now has six vendor tabs open.
Yours looks like the rest: dense decks, generic one-pagers, no context.
They can't remember which tab belongs to which vendor. Frustration builds.
How to enable them:
- Brand and personalize your content experience
- Group assets by decision context
- Add TL;DRs and stakeholder summaries
5:58 PM – Decision fatigue sets in
After a long day of context-switching, they're out of energy. They bookmark your portal and tell themselves, "Tomorrow."
But tomorrow is more of the same.
How to enable them:
- Use short-form content (video, summaries, mini-cases)
- Remove non-critical friction (logins, downloads, clutter)
- Keep things structured, simple, and focused
How to sell in the chaos your buyer lives in
Buyers aren't slow. They're overloaded.
They're navigating internal politics, approval workflows, and conflicting priorities.
Want to speed up your sales cycle? Start by slowing down your assumptions.
Your job: Reduce friction. Build confidence. Stay relevant. Without being pushy.
The key question: Are you enabling decisions, or just adding pressure?
The emlen way: Built for the buyer's world
At emlen, we build every experience from the buyer's point of view:
- One link with all relevant content
- Tailored views for stakeholders like Finance or IT
- Revisit-friendly layouts and clear structure
- Analytics that guide your follow-up based on real intent
Instead of just tracking opens and clicks, you see who's engaged and when, so you follow up when it matters.
Our goal? Make buying easier, not just selling smoother.
Conclusion
Stop guessing what your buyer wants. Start building for how they actually work.
When you align your sales content, structure, and timing to the real-life context of your buyer, you stop selling against resistance and start winning with relevance.
Enable the journey they're already on, and they'll take you with them to the finish line.
Ready to experience your deal from the buyer’s side? Take our interactive Product Tour and see how emlen transforms buying experiences.
