It used to be that technology vendors could set the agenda for the buying process. It was the vendor that held most of the information about products:
- how to deploy them
- technical specifications
- competition
- pricing and financing
Prospective buyers were dependent on the sales team for the information they needed to make an informed purchase.
Our sales and marketing vocabulary reflects this history and the desire to be in charge of the process. We target customers, attack a market, fight the competition, drive prospects through the sales funnel, close the business, extract an order, and make our numbers.
Role reversal
But this has all changed. As more and more information has become available to technology buyers, the roles are reversed.
Surveys and research from companies like Enquiro and MarketingSherpa tell the same story. Today it is the buyer who is driving the process and setting the pace. Technology buyers are getting the information they need at all stages of their purchasing journey from the internet – industry sites, company sites, forums, online trade pubs, and webinars.
What information are they looking for? What they aren’t looking for is some soft information about the company so that they can become a sales lead.
They want everything they need to know to make a purchase decision. Technology buyers don’t want to talk to you, they want to do it themselves!
These buyers want information so they can study the industry trends, find the relevant vendors, create a short list, compare products, and get competitive pricing to use in their negotiation with you.
Is all this information on your website?
Can visitors easily navigate your site and find the information they are looking for?
Is the information on your site written in a way that it can be understood and remembered?
Is it specific and detailed?
Does your site make it easy to contact you and take the next step when the buyer is ready?
And finally, is your site visible in the search engines? Because this is how people expect to find you.
Gone are the days when we could be in charge of the process. The buyer is in charge today. The technology companies that give buyers the information they want are the only ones that are taken seriously.
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