What factors weigh on tech purchase decisions?

MarketingCharts staff Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is a summary of a current article from MarketingCharts, a Watershed Publishing publication providing up-to-the-minute data and research to marketers. Tech marketers targeting small businesses should focus on their owners as 83 percent of these companies lack an IT staff and 72 percent of owners say they’re typically responsible for making tech buying decisions. That’s according to Salesforce’s recent “2016 Connected Small Business Report,” which delves into how small businesses use and perceive technology. The report indicates that, on average, small businesses spend about 15 percent of their annual budgets on technology. That makes price a key consideration — and in fact it’s the most commonly cited “important” factor when making tech buying decisions, named by roughly three-quarters (74 percent) of the small business owners surveyed. While there’s less consensus surrounding other factors, many small business owners pointed to convenience (43 percent) and compatibility with current infrastructure (37 percent) as important considerations when making technology purchase decisions. Vendor trust (32 percent) and technology that scales with their business (28 percent) are important to more than one-quarter of respondents. It’s clear that customer education is also important for marketers targeting small businesses. In a recent survey from Cox Business and Forbes Insights, small businesses that had scaled up cited the following as their leading technology challenges during that process:

• Understanding changing technology needs and what products and services to use (31 percent citing as top challenge); and
• Finding reliable, ongoing IT support for expanding technology resources (17 percent).

Research also shows that to improve the tech purchase experience, vendors should clearly articulate how the solution helps small businesses improve specific business goals. The Salesforce survey taken in mid-November included 304 small business owners in the U.S. with less than 100 employees and less than $1 billion in annual revenue.

• What Are Small Businesses’ Most Important Factors When Making Tech Purchase Decisions? – Marketing Charts
• 2016 Connected Small Business Report – Salesforce
• How SMBs Feel Tech Vendors Can Improve the Buying Experience – Marketing Charts
• Are You Keeping Pace With Your SMB Customers? – SMB Group