Understanding technology buyer by Market Directions

No matter what technology it is you sell – you need to figure out what’s influencing B2B customers to buy. They’re not buying technology; they are buying a solution. However, the problem that your solution solves is not always viewed the same from various stakeholders within the organization.

Understand Technology Buyer Presented by:

Market Directions

Un nders stand ding the Tech T nology Buyer B r W Surve With S eys and a R Resea arch Insig ght into buyers b is difficult to o come by, b but no ot imposssible. Surrveys, interrviews and evven on--site da atabase research h can help orga anization’’s undersstand who o will buyy, when th hey will buy b and how h to reacch them. Thiss paper briefly highlights h s Markett Directio ons’ exp periencess and concclusions from researching buyyers forr variouss techn nology com mpanies. We’d love to help you u with you ur next prroject tha at includess looking into yourr buyers and perspective buyers. b

Market Directtions | Boston

Please call for a free (617) 323‐1862 | (800) 475‐99808 survey dessign Buye Unde erstanding the Technology r mary@markettdirectionsmr.ccom consultatio Marke et Directions Boston (C) Copyright 20 015 All Righon ts Reserved www.marketd directionsmr.co om

Tech hnolog gy B Buyer Seg gments s Lorem ip psum dolo or

Experts:: install and maintain n gy "overse eers", technolog IT ers: Financie CFO's, Co ontrollers, Accountants, even CEO's ers: End-Use actual users of the gy to solve ea technolog problem

No matteer what tecchnology it is you sell –– you need to figure ou ut what’s in nfluencing B B2B customers to buy. They’re nott buying technolo ogy ; they arre buying a solution. H However, th he problem that your solution solves is nott always view wed the sam me from various sstakeholderrs within the e organizatiion. Surveying an audience about ttechnology requires research skillss and expe ertise that ggo beyond u usual surveyy design. In n a B2B world if yyou are selling technollogy: softw ware, SaaS, h hardware, o or telecom,, surveying requires segmenting yyour audience before collecting results. A And requires separate ssurveys for each audiencee. Typicallyy, technologgy audiences for surveyying are divided into att least threee segmentts: The experts, the fin nanciers, an nd the end‐ users. O Other audien nces that caan be surveyyed includee influencerss, techniciaans and sup pport. This paper discussess the process of surveyying techno ology research h’s three maain audience es: Experts:

install and mainttain techno ology "oversseers"

Financiers:

CFO'ss, Controllers, Accounttants, even CEO's

End‐Users:

actuaal users of the technolo ogy to solvee a problem m

Segment Characteristics Market Directions not only does customer satisfaction surveys after the sale, but also exploratory surveys before the sale to determine who within an organization has the greatest influence over purchasing and who has the greatest need to solve a problem. The two are often mutually exclusive. After researching thousands of technology audiences our findings indicate that each audience has various influences over budget, decision power, and perception of the need for the technology product or service. The experts, usually reside in IT and are one of the most sought out audiences for technology surveys. The survey design requires technical language so that the respondents when taking the survey are convinced that the topic speaks to them and understands that they are experts and are the “only ones” within the organization that can possibly understand the ins and outs of technology. You must appeal to their ego. Additionally, since they are sought out by so many surveyors, they usually require a hefty stipend to answer surveys. Our results over the years have indicated that IT experts are usually not the ones in charge of the budget. While they do not control the budget they do have heavy influence in the decision. Their decisions are typically driven by time. Most IT professionals will say they are overworked, so championing another install is a disruption to their already behind project management. They typically are the most resistant to bringing in new technology. The financiers, all technology projects go through a through cost benefit analysis. Each industry, firm, and department has their own measures to determine if it is financially feasible to purchase technology. Often financiers, such as CFO’s are the ones who sign the final contract. While they will do all of the analysis they may or may not be accountable for the budget. Often this is the part of the process that may hold up a sale and/or install. Finance is busy determining ROI, NPV, IRR or any other financial group of letters you can think of.

Seg gment Cha aracte eristics (conttinued) When surveying ffinanciers, q questions sh hould be deesigned in th he form of ccost benefitts, cost saavings and increases in n revenues. It is a difficcult part of survey design, becausee financiers are ofte en not interrested in so olving the prroblem, butt solving thee problem, profitaably. Even tthough orgaanizations ggo through sstrict financcial analysiss, we have found that they actual budgeet and botto om line deccision belongs to the en nd‐user. Th he departtment or arrea of the firrm that willl benefit thee directly frrom what yo our techno ology offerss. The en nd‐users, th hey typicallyy are the champions fo or a new tecchnology, an nd they typicallly have to kkeep reminding IT and finance thaat they havee a project iin the que. Projects that are budgeted fo or in the an nnual budgeet typically h have already gone througgh the proce esses required by IT an nd finance. Projects that are not b budgeted fo or, typicallly have a lo onger sales cycle. design for th hese respon ndents requ uires describ bing the tecchnology in Surveyy question d the sim mplest term ms, not usingg industry jaargon and d defining terms along th he way. A good ssurvey can aalso have a story, a “what if” scenario to help p the respon ndent undersstand the problem, and d the solution, and how w it makes his/her job easier. Of the thrree surveyss, end‐user rrespondentts will spend d the most ttime on a survey and answeer the most open‐ended questionss. They wan nt to feel ass though you as the surveyy sponsor un nderstands their day to o day challeenges. End ussers vary in title from aadministratiive assistants to CEO’s,, making an end‐user techno ology surveyy one of thee most difficult surveyss to design, properly.

Unde erstanding the Technology Buyer

Common Characteristics Marketing in a digital age has brought new challenges and has varied the buying process dramatically. Today’s technology buyers are more educated about vendor choices and solution availability. B2B buyers are acting more like consumer buyers in the sales process. They research extensively before they buy. Some consulting firms have stated that up to 90 percent of the buying decision is made before a vendor is contacted. There are some common characteristics that we have found amongst all buyer segments; they are educated about their choices, they are careful and deliberate in their selections, and they contact vendors anonymously to begin the process. Buyers are looking for vendors that can provide speed, that is who can install and get the solution up and running the quickest. Buyers are looking to reduce risk, the risk in the wrong decision about vendor choice and the risk of not achieving the stated goals. And finally, technology buyers are looking for flexibility in the relationship. They do not want 10 year relationships, but shorter contracts and vendors who are adaptable and accommodating to the customer’s needs as the customer grows and changes.

Gathering the Information Gathering information about your buyers and potential buyers can be accomplished in many ways, in market research terms in can be gathered quantitatively or qualitatively, with primary research tools or secondary research tools. If you have access to a large database of customers or potential customers an online survey is the most cost effective and quickest method. This is a quantitative study using a primary research tool‐‐‐ the survey instrument. Using secondary research tools could include doing an online search to see what other companies have done before and published, doing a win‐loss of past sales or delving into your database to assign characterstics to each of your customers.

G Gatherring the Infforma ation (continu ( ued) Fin nally, a qualitative stud dy through in‐depth intterviews can also be co onducted. TThe intterviews should be dessigned to assk probing q questions and develop a discussio on beetween the interviewer and respo ondent. Thiss type of research is tyypically the most exxpensive and takes the most time to complete. The mosst difficult aaspect of this type of research is the reecruiting the correct reespondentss.

N Next Steps S On nce all of th he informatiion and data are gatheered, marketers should d share the intterviews with their salees team. Th his is imporrtant becausse the saless team will eeither em mbrace the data or rejeect it as nott typical of w what they see as they m make sales calls. Ass businessess know the relationship p between ssales and m marketing caan be a strained on ne and it is iimportant tto communiicate and geet input from sales. W While this paper just quiickly brushees over the sales and m marketing diilemma, wee are go oing to assume for timee sake, saless agrees witth marketin ng’s findingss. The next thing to do then is to segmentt the market, first by in ndustry, theen by title, revenues, ettc. Th he final step p is to createe buyer perrsona’s.

Unde erstanding the Technology Buyer

Buye er Pers sonas s Undeerstand your buyerrs betteer by creatting prof ofiles that define d th heir pain points, p motivvations, and roles in the purch hasing proceess.

Personas are a compo osite picturee of real peo ople (the peeople whom m you wish to buiild a relationship with) who buy products and d services th hat solve their problems. Buye er personas give insightts into the b buyers’ prob blems, their pointss of view, w what affects their behavviors, and w when and how they make decissions. By peersonalizing the buying journey, bu uyer person nas take into accoun nt the fact tthat your teechnology iss purchased d by individu uals, not by demographic group ps or targett markets. Persona’s aare: •

are a semi‐fictiional repressentation off your ideal customer b based on ng customeers. marrket researcch and real data about your existin

•

Includes: • demographics • behavio or patterns,, • motivattions, and ggoals.

•

Buyyer personas provide sttructure and d insight to o your markketing and d sales.

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Devvelopment o of personass helps yourr marketing efforts attrract the mosst valuable visitors, leaads, and cusstomers.

Unde erstanding the Technology Buyer

The e End d While this paper highlights ggenerally, and on averaage our find dings when surveying o buy technology, its in ntention is n not to say th heses resultts occur 100 0 respondents who me. It is thee outliers from the aveerage that th he most interesting. percent of the tim Resultts do vary greatly by industry. In sstating thatt, Market D Directions an nticipates that m marketers th hat wish to survey buyers, realize it is difficult and requires experttise in order to get it riight and in o order to pro ovide inform mation thatt supports the difficult saless process of selling tech hnology. urvey proceess, please For more informaation aboutt Market Dirrections’ technology su mr.com, or vvisit our website at contacct Mary Maalaszek, marry@marketdirectionsm www.marketdireectionsmr.co om.

Ma arket Direc ctionss Discoover Youur Custoomers Markeet Directions is a full service custom m market reseaarch firm that helps comp panies to identiffy and clarifyy distinct marketplace op pportunities. 1994, we havve enabled o organizationss, both large and small, to understand their Since 1 custom mers in new w ways. By askking the rightt questions aand analyzingg the answerrs, our uniquee, hands‐on m methodologyy enables seenior marketting and salees executivess, to significcantly increaase sales and d gain measurable compeetitive advan ntage. o this by using a variety o of market ressearch tools— —from indiviidual intervie ewing to We do broad‐‐based electrronic data gaathering—an nd present our clients witth new, excitting, and profitaable ways to understand their custom mers and theeir environme ents. will understaand your customers and Our prromise to you? That as a result of ourr work, you w your b business in a whole new w way. You will see your prroducts and sservices as yyour key mers see them, and, equiipped with this critical in nformation, tthat you will save both custom moneyy and time, d delivering your products to new markkets of eagerr, highly‐qualified buyerss.

Please P call for f a free survey s design d conssultation

Market Directio M ons | Boston ( (617) 323‐1862 2 | (800) 475‐98 808 m mary@marketd directionsmr.co om w www.marketdi irectionsmr.com m

Unde erstanding the Technology Buyer