500 MQLs a month.

The dashboard is green.
The presentation looks impressive.
Everyone is celebrating.

Only one thing is not moving: the buyer.

That is the gap we examine in the latest episode of Match B2B Insights:

Why the Old MQL Funnel Collapses in 2026 and the Math of Buyer Momentum

The problem is not that marketing teams are not working hard. The problem is that marketing activity does not necessarily create buyer progress.

The research explains why:

• Gartner found that 74% of B2B buying teams experience unhealthy conflict during the decision process.
• Forrester reports that the average B2B purchase involves 13 internal stakeholders.
• According to 6sense, buyers select the vendor they preferred before speaking with sales roughly 80% of the time.

A whitepaper download, website visit, or opened email does not mean that a buying decision has progressed.

In this episode, I introduce the Buyer Momentum model I developed and the operating principle behind it:

Value Clarity × Trust × Urgency

When one of these forces is weak, the deal slows down or stops.

In the episode, we explore:

• The six stages through which buyers progress—from recognizing a problem to realizing value.
• Why different people in the same buying group may be in completely different stages.
• How to identify whether the buyer is missing Connection, Clarity, Confidence, or a Catalyst to act.
• Why a CFO, professional user, and risk officer need different forms of evidence.
• How to build a system based on Evidence, Mapping, Diagnosis, Build, and System.
• What it takes—in time, resources, and investment—to turn Buyer Momentum into an operational system.

We also examine a MedTech scenario: the internal champion is ready to proceed, while the CFO still cannot justify the financial impact and the risk officer remains concerned about implementation.

One deal.
Three stakeholders.
Three different barriers.

The production of this episode is also part of the story.

Brian Newman and I are the real participants. Dafna Cohen and Daniel Mercer are AI-powered virtual panelists built from structured professional profiles and carefully curated data.

The podcast itself is an AI-enabled content product developed by Match B2B and used in our work with clients.

If you are a CEO, marketing leader, or sales leader—and your pipeline looks full while deals remain stuck—this episode is for you.

After listening, take one stalled opportunity and ask:

Where did buyer progression stop?
Which stakeholder is blocked?
What is missing for that person?
What must change for the next decision to become possible?

Stop building content calendars.
Start building buyer progression.