--- title: The Truth About the 57 Percent | The Sales Blog description: For a long time, the folks that sell inbound marketing and “social selling” have used CEB’s research that buyers are 57 percent into the buying process. image: https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_159555032.jpg --- ### [Now booking SKO meetings for 2026/27! 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CEB does not share this statistic to make any of the above points. Quite to the contrary, the point that they make with this statistic is that you should try to command as much of your dream client’s [mindshare](http://thesalesblog.com/2014/10/12/mind-share-or-the-spreadsheet/) as they move down this path—especially when you can initiate the change by coming in at 0 percent! Because the buyer is doing a lot of work to understand and frame their problem, meet with people on their team, and explore some of their options before they proactively reach out to a salesperson, that isn’t an excuse to passively wait for your prospective client to reach out to you. But please don’t take my word for any of this. Listen here as I ask [Brent Adamson](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brentadamson/) (CEB, now Gartner) to explain this in his own words—and act accordingly. ###### Tags: [Sales](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/tag/sales) [2017](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/tag/2017) Post by [Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/author/anthony-iannarino) on June 30, 2017 Written and edited by human brains and human hands. ![Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/ai-blog-profile-crop.jpg) Anthony Iannarino is an American writer. He has published daily at [thesalesblog.com](https://www.thesalesblog.com) for more than 14 years, amassing over 5,300 articles and making this platform a destination for salespeople and sales leaders. Anthony is also the author of four best-selling books documenting modern sales methodologies and a fifth book for sales leaders seeking revenue growth. His latest book for an even wider audience is titled, The Negativity Fast: Proven Techniques to Increase Positivity, Reduce Fear, and Boost Success. Anthony speaks to sales organizations worldwide, delivering cutting-edge sales strategies and tactics that work in this ever-evolving B2B landscape. He also provides workshops and seminars. Connect with Anthony on LinkedIn, X or Youtube. 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What we’re doing right now **is working**, even in this challenging economy. **Would you like some help?** [![Solve for Sales](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2922376/d3a4938b-2008-4a27-8b44-7b2223f6d035.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2922376/d3a4938b-2008-4a27-8b44-7b2223f6d035) ### Join my Weekly Newsletter for Sales Tips Join 100,000+ sales professionals in my weekly newsletter and get my *Guide to Becoming a Sales Hustler* eBook for FREE! --- ```json { "@context" : "http://schema.org/", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Anthony Iannarino" }, "dateModified" : "2021-09-17T2:01:23 PM", "datePublished" : "2017-06-30 21:41:31", "description" : "For a long time, the folks that sell inbound marketing and “social selling” have used CEB’s research that buyers are 57 percent into the buying process.", "headline" : "The Truth About the 57 Percent", "image" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "height" : 16, "url" : "https://f.hubspotusercontent20.net/hubfs/2922376/Image/favicon.ico", "width" : 16 }, "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/the-truth-about-the-57-percent", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "name" : "The Truth About the 57 Percent", "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "height" : 24, "url" : "https://f.hubspotusercontent20.net/hubfs/2922376/TSB/images/TSB%20Logo%20Dark.svg", "width" : 228 }, "name" : "The Sales Blog" } } ```