Buyer Enablement - The Time is Now
Hank Barnes
Chief of Research-Tech Buying Behavior, Gartner - Exploring the Challenges and Opportunities Surrounding Tech Buying Decisions
The ideas around buyer enablement have been around for quite some time. But for many, the ideas of what type of buyer enablement to provider varies. Our broad definition is around content that helps buying teams complete buying jobs. To me, you can extend that to helping with activities (what could also be called sense-making). Some think it is just buyer self-service---that is not good enough.
For me, the spirit of buyer enablement is to help buying teams build confidence in their overall decision approach. We've just got the data back from our most recent buying behavior study (that I teased in my last post) and my first research from it is now live. It is called "The Rising Demand for Buyer Enablement" (client access required).
The note illustrates the high level of value and trust buying teams place in buyer enablement content and activities. If anyone thinks, "why would buyers want this type of help from us," this research shows that they do --whether they full trust it and value it or trust it but also verify with other sources.
But that is not the sole story. The demand part is not just that buyers want it, but leaders of marketing and sales teams must demand that their orgs prioritize it highly.
Why?
For the simple reason that when orgs say they value buyer enablement (and lots of it), they are more likely to result in a high-quality deal (HQD). And HQDs, we know from other research is also linked to a much faster buying decision.
Take a look at this side by side chart:
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The left hand side shows the increasing occurrence of HQDs based on the number of different buyer enablement types that our respondents "completely trusted and valued." One added note to this one, those that chose all of them had 48% HQDs.
The right hand side shows counts of different buyer enablement types that respondents told us they do not leverage in their buying processes. The chart flips, as respondents indicated they did not use more of these buyer enablement types, the likelihood of an HQD sank.
This is just the beginning of the developing story around this study. I encourage clients to read the research and then engage with me to discuss it further or with our analysts that work with clients on developing buyer enablement. You'll be glad you did.
The articles in this newsletter do not follow Gartner's standard editorial review. All comments or opinions expressed here are mine and do not represent the views of Gartner, Inc. or its management.
Logical but needed data and insights Hank. We see time and time again in our research that buyers are as, or more afraid of making the “wrong” decision and “messing up” as making the “right” one. The provider who does the best job of making them feel confident and assured in their buying decision usually wins and it’s typically multiple and tangible buyer enablement mechanisms that get them there.
Sr. Product Marketing Manager — cultivating market understanding of Forcepoint's unique approach to cybersecurity
6 个月Hank Barnes how do you think the delivery of buyer enablement will change in the future if buyers rely more on AI services to tell them how to approach B2B tech solutions and purchases? Is it a none-issue because AI services will pick up that vendor content from the public internet, or are there tactics vendors should be thinking about to increase the probability that those AI services advise the right buyer enablement content for target markets effectively?
Senior Executive | COO/CIO/CRO - Full Time, Fractional & Interim | Strategic Consultancies | Crucial Initiatives | PE/VC-Backed Start-Ups | High Growth
6 个月Hi Hank: Your post reminds me that the best time to address something truly needed today, is long ago... or at least yesterday. Still, I continue to agree wholeheartedly with your broad definition of buyer enablement and the increasing urgency for sellers to adopt this perspective. That said, I still think the way companies decide what to measure remains a big part of the problem. Today, companies measure customer satisfaction, customer effort, customer renewals, customer churn, etc. But, when you ask them about their buyer metrics, other than maybe abandoned carts or a rare loss review, most companies don't understand much about why buyers never become customers. There are some excellent strategies available to efficiently gain this knowledge. However, they are more labor intensive (and ultimately more trustworthy) than generative AI tools. But given the current executive penchant for replacing seasoned marketing people with AI, we're getting further away from solving this problem, rather than closer to doing so. I hope your research accelerates this very necessary paradigm shift.
Founder @ Inflexion-Point | Inspiring B2B sales organisations to deliver consistently compelling customer outcomes
6 个月This is SO important, Hank!
Product Marketing @ TestBox | Storyteller & Strategist for B2B SaaS
6 个月No one wants to be sold to, but everyone wants to be guided. This very much resonates with something we're hearing across GTM teams: that leaders want to multiple methods to proof value (product tours, demos, POCs) that meet buyers where they're at and let them fully experience the product if they so choose. Looking forward to more great insights as always Hank Barnes!