Join Nick Telson-Sillett, co-founder at trumpet, and Chris Wickson, co-founder and CEO at ReelFlow, in this four part series as they unpack the rise of the “silent buyer” and what it means for modern go to market teams.

Nick and Chris discuss how anonymous stakeholders really research, how to read digital body language, how to design a frictionless buyer journey and how to activate interest without scaring buyers off.

About this series

In this edition of GTM by trumpet, Nick sits down with third time founder and ReelFlow CEO, Chris Wickson, to explore a simple truth. Most of your real decision makers will never fill in a form, never reply to a cold email, and never show up to your demo.

They are the silent majority.

Across four tactical episodes, Nick and Chris share real world strategies for spotting and serving these hidden stakeholders. From smarter website experiences and video led education to signal stacking and all bound motions, they walk through how to build a buyer journey that feels frictionless for prospects and far more predictable for revenue teams.

Whether you are an AE, marketer, GTM leader or founder, this series gives you a practical playbook for selling to the buyers you cannot see.

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Episode 1: Who Is the Silent Buyer and Why Are They Running the Show?

Why the old, linear funnel was always a myth and what buying actually looks like inside modern committees.

Key takeaways:

• In most mid market and enterprise deals, you will have 8–10 stakeholders involved. Only a couple will ever speak to a rep. The rest do their own research, often anonymously, across your website, social content, review sites and peer networks.
  

• Gated PDFs and “book a demo” walls create friction for exactly the people you most need to educate.
  
  
• Brand, trust and clarity on your website now do as much heavy lifting as your discovery call.
  
  

“If there are ten people in the committee and only two ever speak to you, you ignore the other eight at your peril.”
Chris Wickson

Episode 2: Turning Digital Body Language into Buyer Insight

If buyers are not telling you they are interested, how do you know they are? Nick and Chris dig into the signals that really matter.

Key takeaways:

• Teams need to move beyond the “conversion trap”. Button clicks and form fills are not the whole story.
  
  
• Engagement depth beats vanity metrics. Time on site, pages per visit, product pages and case studies viewed and video watch time are all high intent signals.
  
  
• Signal stacking is essential. Website behaviour, content engagement, social interactions and competitive intent together tell you who is truly warm.
  
  
• Not all traffic is equal. A blog skim is not the same as a prospect watching your product demo and reading your customer stories.
  
  

“It is not about a single website visit. It is depth versus casual intent and the signals you stack together around that account.”
Nick Telson-Sillett

Episode 3: Designing the Perfect Buyer Experience for the Silent Majority

From first touch to deal close, how do you build a journey that feels frictionless for buyers and controlled for you?

Key takeaways:

• Buyers expect control and autonomy. They want to see under the hood, on their terms, before they ever talk to sales.
  
  
• Great B2B sites feel like a concierge, not a catalogue. They quickly route different visitors to the right story, proof and product views.
  
  
• Clear, human copy beats jargon. You have a few seconds to explain who you are, what you do and why it matters.
  
  
• Video is a powerful hook for attention and education, especially short, focused clips that lead buyers deeper into relevant content.
  
  
• Marketing websites and Digital Sales Rooms  should feel like one connected experience, not two disconnected worlds.
  
  

“Most B2B sites are full of great content that buyers never actually find. Experience design is about guiding them to the parts that truly matter.”
Chris Wickson

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Episode 4: Activating the Silent Buyer Without Scaring Them Off

Silent buyers do not want to be chased. In episode 4, Nick and Chris unpack how to turn interest into action using an allbound motion.

Key takeaways:

• Outbound without marketing air cover is hard. Marketing without smart outbound leaves revenue on the table. Allbound ties both together.
  
  
• When you do brand, content and website experience well, outbound feels more like a warm continuation of a journey than a cold interruption.
  
  
• Not every signal should lead straight to a “book a demo”. Low pressure offers like events, webinars and insight shares often work better.
  
  
• The silent journey does not stop at the sale. Trust and experience need to be consistent across marketing, sales, customer success and account management.
  
  

“Loud tactics might win you a meeting. Quiet consistency across the whole journey is what wins you a customer for years.”
Nick Telson-Sillett

Final thoughts

The majority of your influence today happens when you are not in the room. The buyers you never see are comparing vendors, forming opinions and building shortlists long before they hit your CRM.

Solving for the silent buyer is not a single tactic. It is a mindset. One that values brand, experience, signal driven outreach and authentic, video led education across the entire journey.

Watch the full series to learn how leading teams are adapting and how you can design buyer journeys that work just as hard for the people you never meet as they do for the ones you do.

FAQs

1. What exactly is a “silent buyer”?

Silent buyers are the stakeholders who influence or make decisions but never show up in your CRM. They rarely fill in forms, rarely reply to sales emails, and almost never join your demo. Yet they are reading your website, consuming your content, watching video and shaping internal discussions long before a rep gets involved.

2. How do I know a silent buyer is interested if they never identify themselves?

Through digital body language. Time on site, pages viewed, case studies consumed, video watch depth, social engagement, competitive intent signals, cross-touch behaviour, these create a signal stack that reveals who is warming up even when they remain anonymous.

3. How do I activate silent buyers without pushing them away?

By removing friction, not adding pressure. Offer low-commitment moments of value (events, insights, interactive content). Use video to build trust early. Keep brand, website, content, sales rooms and outbound tightly aligned so activation feels like a natural next step, not a cold interruption.