Why is buying so hard? And how it could be easy..

Perhaps the biggest decision we’re going to make as social intelligence practitioners is what software to purchase.  I spoke with social data tech superuser, Michael Brito from Zeno group about buying software.  

Is it always hard to buy software?

Buying software is not an easy journey - in fact, a recent Gartner survey found that 77% of b2b buyers rated their purchase experience as ‘extremely complex’. So the first thing to know is that you’re not alone if you’re finding the process painful.

Why is buying software so hard?

One reason is that there’s an abundance of information out there. You can (and most likely do!) spend hours researching.

Another reason lies in the way we buy software as an organisation. There’s not just one decision maker, so getting consensus is a crucial part of the process.

And then there’s the biggie - the buyers’ journey isn’t linear, it’s dynamic, unpredictable and often all over the place. That’s because no matter your business or goals, the software purchase process has a lot to go through. There are lots of different jobs that need to be done before a decision can be made.

How can we make it less painful?

So here’s the good news - there is, according to the same Gartner study, a journey that everyone goes through. There are six aspects to it:

Problem identification
Solution exploration
Requirements building
Supplier selection
Validation
Consensus creation

Under each phase is a set of jobs that need to be completed. This means we can optimize that journey.

In fact, before we do optimize, it’s not a journey at all. The jobs that need doing under each heading happen simultaneously, in complex loops. This web of activity is, unsurprisingly, long and inefficient but there is a way through.

How do I keep the sales people off my back?

The thing that annoys us about sales people is that the calls seem irrelevant, intrusive and impersonal. Let’s reframe the question to ‘how can I make the most of the sales?’

Ultimately, there might be something interesting these guys have to offer us - it’s just about knowing how to find it. How about we use sales and marketing as an opportunity to tick another very important box - staying up to date with the market.

We need to stay up to date with our market to stay ahead. Software reps are one of the best sources for that, if you know what you want. Ask the right questions, direct the conversation to something that’s relevant to your current business challenges and you might even be thanking them.

Catch Michael in his keynote at our Tech Demo Day event 18th June. He’ll be giving his top tips on questions to ask, comparing tools and having an effective RFP process. Sign up for free here.

*Michael Brito is a TedX speaker, digital strategist and author.

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