What are B2B Tech Buyers Wary of?
If your company sells a tech product or service, then you might have asked yourself what the biggest fears of your buyers are and what you can do to alleviate them. If you haven’t, you definitely should! Knowing why some people stay away from your product is the first step in winning them over.
Unlike “regular” buyers, tech ones usually don’t have a history with the type of product you sell. So they need to make two leaps of faith: they need to trust you and the technology itself. This obstacle is especially difficult to surmount when your buyer is a non-techie. Let’s see some of the most common fears tech buyers share and the means to put them to rest.
Tech buyers fear they will not have the ROI they expected
“It sounds great, but I just can’t convince the board of execs to commit to that kind of money.” “I love the product, I’m just not sure it’s for us”. If you have been in the business long enough, you definitely heard some variations of the above statements more than once. This is what they translate to: your product sounds excellent and it would make people feel like they’re on the Enterprise, but they are not sure they can make money off it. In fact, that the ultimate goal of any business, right? CIOs may get it and be ready to commit, but the other execs don’t fully understand how to make technology work for them, so they pass up on the opportunity.
The solution: give them numbers and case studies. Let’s say you are selling cloud services: explain how previous clients became more agile and had better internal and external communication due to the cloud. Don’t assume everyone knows what cloud services are; explain it in detail and start with the basics. Tell them that they can access all the files they need from anywhere in the world – business execs who travel a lot will love it. Create white papers, webinars and gather all the testimonials you can – your clients’ fears will be put to rest if they can see success stories and understand the product better.
Tech buyers fear security issues
OK, it’s pretty neat that they can access their files from all over the world, but WHO ELSE can? Cloud computing has been the subject of more than a few controversial debates on security issues. In fact, most of the innovative tech products of today carry a baggage of similar scrutiny – just think about Internet of Things. Will your clients lose all their data? Will their customers’ data fall into the wrong hands? Even worse, will they be victims of corporate espionage?
This is again, where your insightful content comes into play. Give numbers and facts; write white papers that detail how you came up with innovative security features and how their data is safer than ever.
Tech buyers fear the learning curve
We are all creatures of habit. Yes, even C-level executives who take great pride in their company’s innovative spirit find comfort in familiar tools. Coming up with new apps or ERP systems might frighten them. How long will it take for them to learn how to use their new (and expensive!) tools? What about the employees? How many (paid) hours will they take in order to learn the ropes? For how long will this affect productivity?
The solution: offer all the types of training materials you can think of and pair them with a lot of flexibility. People learn things in different manners: some like to read a PDF, others want to watch a video and others prefer in-person demos and trainings. Provide all of these options and let the client choose the one that suits him best. If needed, offer different types of training to different departments – you need to make sure that your client’s work flow is interrupted as little as possible.
Tech buyers fear the future
Obviously, I am not referring to zombie apocalypses here or to oil price fluctuations. When I comes to tech products and services, B2B buyers need to know if your solution is scalable and if it remains relevant even after 5 years. What happens if my company grows? What happens if I change computers or operating systems? Will your product still be compatible?
Solution: Talk about your frequent updates and scalability options. Your client needs to know that your company is fully invested in this product and that you have a team who is in charge of constant updates and upgrades.
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