Well it’s confirmed. Technology buyers as well as other business decision makers purchase with a key influencing factor…losing their job if they make the wrong decision.
Technology buyers are under a lot of pressure as their decision can impact the organization quite quickly. Their new technology implementations provide function for many in the organization and if they are not driving value or supporting the intended business objective, everyone knows .
Ben Hanna at Business.com wrote about this recently and details a recent study among 3000 business decision makers Improve B2B Conversion Rates by Reducing Buyer Risk | Business.com’s B2B Online Marketing Blog.
I believe the key takeaway from this study for tech marketers is to lower the potential risk factors is hinged on a solid branding and credibility effort.
Your organization needs to have presence in the marketplace and establish credibility among your target audience as a viable entity. Brand efforts cannot be an after thought as they can eliminate some of the risk factor. A tech buyer will more likely consider your organization as an option if your are a known player in the market. this reduces some of their risk . I hate to say it but the cliche of “nobody gets fired for buying IBM” applies here.
Brian points out those of you marketing your technology at low price/low consideration from a dominant, market-leading position may not improve conversion rates by reducing business buyer risk since risk is so low already. But I believe a strong branding and credibility initiative can further the opportunities with this group.
On the other hand, marketers working to establish their offerings in new markets and/or selling higher-consideration purchases may have considerable opportunity to improve conversion rates by addressing business buyer risk factors. Complimenting a marketing initiative to drive presence in the marketplace here are some activities to reduce buyer risk such as:
- Trial offers at a reduced rate to establish the relationship and lower the financial risk.
- Free evaluation of their current architecture or business issue.
- Fueling on line and offline conversation to establish your solution with SEM, blogs, trade shows, white papers, on-line demos
- Using current customer testimonials in your lead gen efforts that share a similar “risk profile”
I recommend reading The Enquiro Buyer Risk Study. The author, Gord Hotchkiss examines differing buyer roles, the identified risk control mechanisms, and the relative effect of a vendor’s credibility and positioning. The paper provides a mapping process for marketers to gain the necessary external perspective on their products, the marketplace and business buyers in order to more effectively reach and engage their targets.
