Why the Hell Is B2B Decision-Making So Slow?

Let’s talk about something everyone in B2B knows but rarely wants to say out loud:

Closing a deal in B2B takes forever.

Not because the product or service doesn’t add value. Not because the chemistry’s off. Not because the case studies weren’t compelling. But because the machine is broken.

Or rather, it was never designed to move fast in the first place.

While B2C operates in milliseconds, B2B decision-making often drags for months, sometimes years, turning what should be strategic progress into a bureaucratic labyrinth. And if you're on the selling side of that equation? Strap in. Because it’s rarely a linear ride.

Here’s why.

1. Hierarchy on Hierarchy on Hierarchy

B2B means Big to Big. You’re not just dealing with a decision-maker. You’re dealing with layers of them.

There’s a CMO who wants innovation. A CFO who wants cost control. A CTO who needs to know it won’t break their stack. And a CEO who needs to justify it to the board. Each layer adds a review cycle. Each person brings their own fears, motivations, and ego to the process.

This isn’t consensus. This is negotiated hesitation.

2. Procurement: The Necessary Evil

Procurement isn’t just involved, it’s embedded. And while their job is to protect the business (and themselves) from risk, what they often end up doing is protecting it from progress.

Negotiations become multi-week redline wars. Contracts ping-pong back and forth over NDAs, MSAs, SLAs and T&Cs. The irony? You’re trying to solve a commercial problem…but you can’t move commercially.

Want to know when you’re really close to a deal? When procurement stops replying altogether, because now they’ve gone internal for another round of due diligence.

3. Burned Before, Wary Forever

Most buyers have been mis-sold before.

They were promised the world by a shiny SaaS tool or an “award-winning” agency. But the implementation sucked. The ROI never showed up. And the relationship was transactional at best.

Now, you’re not just selling yourself, you’re battling the ghosts of failed providers past. The scars are fresh, and the appetite for risk is thin.

Even if you tick every box, fear of repeating history slows everyone down.

4. Legal Hell and Global Complexity

In global B2B, nothing’s standard. Contracts must align across geographies. Local laws. Tax codes. Payment terms in euros here, net-90 in USD there. Data residency in APAC. A holding company based in Jersey.

Your beautifully straightforward proposal? Buried under 67 legal footnotes.

Even when the commercial team is aligned, Legal becomes the ultimate bottleneck, and often, the veto point.

5. The Ownership Problem

On the client side, no one really owns the switch. The person who signs the contract isn’t necessarily the one who’s going to have to live with the new platform, onboard the teams, or clean up the data.

And if they’re under-resourced, they’ll stall. Not because they don’t believe in you, but because the change management ask is too damn high.

Remember: you might be one project to you. But to them? You’re just one of fifty they're juggling. Internal inertia kills more deals than pricing ever did.

6. Locked Into Yesterday

Even if the decision is made to move forward, legacy contracts can act like concrete shoes. Incumbent suppliers often come with lock-in clauses, long notice periods, and fuzzy handover requirements.

So even when the new ship is ready to sail, you're stuck watching the anchor drag along the seabed.

7. Fear of Being That Person

Nobody wants to be the person who took the risk…and got it wrong.

Even if the current provider is mediocre. Even if performance is flatlining. Change means scrutiny. And in enterprise environments, scrutiny can mean career risk.

So, what do many stakeholders do? They stall. They circulate another round of discovery meetings. They commission another internal report. Better to delay than to bet.

8. Death by Stakeholder Consensus

B2B decisions aren’t made by one person. They’re made by all the people. And unless every stakeholder is bought in: from Finance to IT to Ops…you’re going nowhere.

The problem? Most suppliers don’t equip their sales teams to sell across functions.

That’s not a sales challenge. That’s a strategic gap.

Sales enablement should be built to navigate complexity, anticipate stakeholder objections, and give buyers the ammunition they need to build internal alignment.

But too often, we send in slick decks and hope for the best.

9. The Old Boys’ Club Still Lives

In B2B, everyone knows someone.

A pitch process might look open and competitive, but more often than not, there’s a legacy partner in the room. A favoured incumbent. An ex-colleague from three jobs ago now working at a competitor agency.

That’s not dirty. That’s reality. But it means you’re not always competing on capability; you’re competing on history. Which makes speed and objectivity a myth.

10. Beauty Parades That Break Your Soul

And then there’s the pitch process itself.

Multiple rounds. Free strategy. Unpaid prototypes. Campaign plans gifted in exchange for vague promises of “next steps.”

Then you come second. Again. For reasons that don’t square with the brief, or the feedback, or the energy in the room.

It’s why the best suppliers are becoming increasingly reluctant to play the pitch game at all, especially when the outcome was pre-wired from the beginning.

So, What Do We Do About It?

If you’re buying: Respect the time and value of those you’re inviting in. Communicate clearly. Be transparent about the process and the politics. And if you’re not ready to buy, don’t brief.

If you’re selling: Get savvier about the internal dynamics at play. Map stakeholders. Equip your champions. Stop relying on features and benefits. Build political capital and commercial confidence.

And if you’re everyone else? Challenge the game itself. Stop expecting strategy for free. Stop dressing up fear as due diligence. Start embracing the reality that progress requires conviction.

Because the only thing more expensive than a poor decision is no decision at all.

Final Word

B2B buying cycles don’t need to be this slow. But fixing them requires confronting the cultural, political, and operational friction that’s built into how big businesses work.

The real question is: Are you prepared to move differently...or just more slowly?