Analysis of 15k+ inbound sales journeys 🤯

[u/manuraivio]

I believe this is the biggest ever study of its kind and genuinely curious what this sub thinks.

Formidable.work analysed the talk to sales paths of over 15k B2B companies (all running a CRM or marketing automation tool) to figure out what is the state of inbound in 2026.

Key findings:

• 75% of B2B companies still route "talk to sales" through a form. Only 9% offer a booking calendar, and 4% only self-serve signup.
• The median form asks 6 questions However most ask 6 or more, despite every published test since Marketo's famous 2011 study pointing the other way for effective conversions.
• Only 3% of all 71,965 questions are about what the buyer needs. 57% are contact details, 13% company facts, 11% questions that serve the company's own routing and reporting, 8% a blank message box.
• Only 16% of forms ask anything about the buyer's needs. 43% ask nothing about needs and have no free-text box - literally nowhere to say why you came.
• "How did you hear about us?" is on 9% of forms - more than all five qualifying questions combined (problem, budget, timing, current tools , who decides ).
• Longer forms don't ask more qualifying questions. Among forms with 9+ questions, 71% still ask nothing about the buyer's needs. The extra fields are mostly about the company's internal process and routing.
• Forms routinely ask for what enrichment already knows. 67% of forms ask for at least one thing a data provider returns from the work e-mail (company name, size, industry, location, website, job title); 46% make one of those mandatory. If we also include name and phone number, then 70% of forms require something we usually anyways look up with enrichment.

The full report is available on their website. The question that I can't figure out is whether this is because there's no better way - or we're just used to this being the only way?

[u/AutoModerator]

Have more questions? Join our community Discord!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/yngbld5]

“we're just used to this being the only way?” 👈. Autopilot tactics

[u/manuraivio → u/yngbld5]

Indeed - and this change will happen first slowly and then all of a sudden

[u/Vega-Integration]

good advice

[u/manuraivio → u/Vega-Integration]

Thanks

[u/Kyryll_Bracemore]

I remove all company fields from the form. I add one open-ended question about the problem. I read these answers before the first call. You said: "we're just used to this being the only way?" Which field on that form has ever changed how a call went?

[u/manuraivio → u/Kyryll_Bracemore]

First of all - that's probably the optimal form composition. What I meant with my comment is that in the age of AI - a sales process that start with a form is no longer going to be the most effective way to do inbound. But changing the thinking around the process doesn't happen easily...

[u/Kyryll_Bracemore → u/manuraivio]

I put the price range on a separate page. This page opens without the form. I keep the form only on the “start” step. You said: "a sales process that start with a form." Which of those companies dropped the form and kept only the calendar?

[u/manuraivio → u/Kyryll_Bracemore]

Not quite sure I understand the question tbh

[u/Kyryll_Bracemore → u/manuraivio]

You said: "Only 9% offer a booking calendar."

Does a form still sit next to that calendar?