Opportunities Missed! – Between Gap in Case Study Use and High Rate of Effectiveness
Yet another survey has revealed the inner workings of how IT buyers make purchase decisions.
The 2007 TechTarget and CMO Council Technology Buying and Media Consumption Benchmarking Survey uncovered an interesting gap between case study use and effectiveness.
- Twenty-eight percent of IT buyers surveyed use customer case studies in technology purchases.
- BUT, when used, they had a 75 percent rate of effectiveness.
The survey pointed out that case studies showed the greatest gap between effectiveness and actual use, with videos and software trials following behind as useful but not leveraged to their full potential.
The survey writers prophesied that "case studies, videos and software trials are set for rapid future growth."
So, why aren't case studies used in more buying decisions? A few possibilities:
- Vendors don't have them or don't have enough of the right case studies to hit their various audiences.
- Buyers can't find them on vendor Web sites.
- Sales reps and resellers aren't utilizing case studies in the process because they don't know where to access just the perfect one for each sales opportunity.
Solutions?
- Create case studies that hit all your different buyers – by industry, size, challenges, geography, etc.
- Make them super easy to find – maybe even a link off your home page
- Communicate continuously with reps about where they are located.
Why not use this highly effective tool more often?