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The 2018 B2B Buying Disconnect
An in-depth study on buyer preferences, vendor impact,
and the persistent trust gap in B2B technology
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Table of contents
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5
8
17
21
25
32
41
43
Introduction
Key Findings
Buyers use multiple resources when researching
products because none are perfectly adequate or
trustworthy
For some key selection criteria, buyers don't believe
vendors are the right source of information
Users are an important resource for many buyers, yet
vendors aren't sufficiently leveraging their advocates
Buyers are more influenced by vendors who are
transparent and trustworthy
Reviews are an effective and efficient way for vendors to
embrace authenticity
Conclusion
Appendix
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In 2017, TrustRadius conducted the first B2B Buying Disconnect study, which explored
the gaps, opportunities, and changing dynamics between technology buyers and
vendors. This research expanded upon studies from Forrester, SiriusDecisions, Demand
Gen Report, and others on the changing behaviors of B2B technology buyers, who are
more empowered than ever before. Our research also included the vendor perspective,
enabling a direct comparison between how vendors attempt to influence buyers versus
how buyers make purchasing decisions. 608 individuals completed our surveys, spanning
buyers who played a significant role in an important software purchase decision for their
organization and professionals who work in sales or marketing for a vendor.
INTRODUCTION
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For our second annual B2B Buying Disconnect study, 678 individuals (438 buyers and
240 vendors) completed aligning surveys. We checked in on the state of B2B information
sources, selection criteria, and the buyer-vendor dynamic to see if anything had changed
year over year. But we also added new lines of questioning to probe more deeply into
buyers' priorities/motivations and the specific tactics that make vendors trustworthy and
influential. Our goal was to provide a clearer, more actionable picture of the opportunities
for vendors.
Last year's report focused on identifying the gaps between buyers and vendors. The 2018
report takes it a step further by exploring the texture of those gaps, why they persist, and
what we can learn from the vendors who are making strides to bridge that disconnect.
Based on their responses, we identified three key disconnects and three key opportunities
for vendors:
1. Vendors focus on providing material that buyers don't find very useful or trustworthy.
2. Buyers don't trust all vendor claims, nor do they expect to.
3. Vendors see their role as strategic, yet most buyers said the vendor played a
pragmatic role.
1. Buyers want hands-on experience with the product and insights from customers.
2. Vendors have an arsenal of satisfied customers they are not leveraging.
3. Strategic vendors are in the best position to influence buyers.
Key Disconnects
Key Opportunities
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Key Findings
1. Buyers use multiple resources when researching products
because none are perfectly adequate or trustworthy.
2. For some key selection criteria, buyers don't believe
vendors are the right source of information.
Similar to last year, on average buyers use about five sources of information. The top
resources used were product demos, user reviews, vendor website, free trial, and
vendor representatives. According to buyers, the vendor's website and representatives
are less trustworthy and less influential than the other sources, though they become
more powerful when supported by outside sources of information. In general, when
buyers have access to a diverse mix of resources, they can cross-reference and validate
information more effectively.
Buyers say it is critical to get a complete picture of the product before they buy, and this
means consulting sources beyond the vendor's purview. Adoption and scalability are
two examples of areas where buyers want hands-on product experience, insights from
customers, and third-party perspectives.
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3. Users are an important resource for many buyers, yet
vendors aren't sufficiently leveraging their advocates.
4. Buyers are more influenced by vendors who are transparent
and trustworthy.
Less than a quarter of buyers have served as a customer reference, provided a
testimonial, or participated in a case study for the vendor they bought from, though most
are highly satisfied with the product they purchased. This participation rate has remained
relatively constant year over year, despite the fact that more than 75% are willing to do
more to advocate for their vendors and share feedback with other buyers. Vendors must
find more ways to activate their users to meet buyers' needs for customer feedback.
23% of buyers said the vendors they bought from were very influential, and those very
influential vendors engaged with their buyers differently than the rest, suggesting that
there are specific types of interaction that tend to lead to a bigger influence over buyers.
Highly influential vendors were more open, honest and responsive. Notably, vendors
that want to be more influential with their buyers should focus on cultivating authentic
interactions during the buying process.
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5. Reviews are an effective and efficient way for vendors to
embrace authenticity.
About Us
TrustRadius is a B2B technology review platform that serves both buyers and vendors.
Each month, about 300,000 B2B technology buyers use over 120,000 verified reviews
and ratings on TrustRadius.com to make informed purchasing decisions. An additional
1 million buyers per month read TrustRadius content in other venues, including review
syndication feeds. We also work directly with technology vendors. As a trusted third-party
resource, we aim to ensure all relevant products are accurately listed and represented
on TrustRadius.com. Additionally, vendors use our customer voice platform to leverage
TrustRadius content beyond the review site, from gaining valuable feedback about their
product to proactively using reviews across their sales and marketing channels.
Year over year, vendors continue to invest in tactics that, for buyers, are not widely used,
not very trustworthy, and not very influential. This is likely because vendors are working
with limited time, resources, and budget. User reviews present a valuable opportunity
for vendors to efficiently leverage their customer base and establish greater trust and
influence with a broader set of their buyers.
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Buyers use multiple resources when
researching products because none are
perfectly adequate or trustworthy
We asked buyers to select which information sources they used during their purchasing
process from a list of 15 options. Buyers then rated each source in terms of how influential
and how trustworthy it was. We also asked buyers to describe what they liked about the
most influential and most trustworthy resources, what they didn't like about the least
influential and least trustworthy sources, and how trust impacted influence.
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Information Sources Used by Buyers
Source: TrustRadius Buyer-Vendor Survey, 2018
0
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Vendor blog
Solution consultant / agency
recommendation
Vendor-provided customer
references
Vendor-produced case studies
Communities / forums
Referral from a friend,
colleague, peer
Third-party publications and
independent media
Vendor marketing collateral
Your own prior experience
with the product
Analyst rankings & reports
Vendor representative
Free trial / account
Vendor / product website
User reviews
Product demos
On average, buyers consulted 4.9 information sources, which is consistent with last year's
findings. Of the top five information sources used by buyers this year, two involved hands-
on experience with the product (product demos and free trial/account), one involved
peer feedback about the product (user reviews), and two involved vendors providing
information about the product (vendor/product website and vendor representatives).
Product demos were again the most commonly used resource. The biggest movement
came in user reviews, which jumped from fifth to the second most popular source,
surpassing vendor websites, free trials, and vendor representatives.
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Influence of Information Sources
Trustworthiness of Information Sources
Source: TrustRadius Buyer-Vendor Survey, 2018
Source: TrustRadius Buyer-Vendor Survey, 2018
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"Salespeople, no matter how honest, will always have a strong bias and be the least
objective voice in the process."
"Websites can be helpful for finding objective facts like technical specs, etc, but at the
end of the day they're a marketing tool and therefore not going to give you the full
picture."
"While data sheets and demos from product vendor are helpful to customers in making
an informed decision, it cannot be the sole source of truth. It is critical to have an
unbiased perspective."
The relationship between trust, influence, and usage
The most trustworthy resources were also the most influential. However these did not
always match up with the most widely used resources. For example, fewer buyers had
prior experience with the product, a friend who could make a referral, or access to a
consultant. But for those who did, these sources of information were highly trustworthy
and influential.
Free trials, product demos, and user reviews were the most trustworthy and influential
of the top five most used resources, far surpassing the vendor website and vendor
representatives, which were among the least trustworthy and least influential despite
being widely used. All of the vendor-provided sources of information scored at the bottom
of the barrell for trustworthiness and influence.
It is clear that buyers continue to want a realistic view of how a product will work for them
on a day-to-day basis, and that finding information from sources not controlled by the
vendor is crucial to getting a complete picture. While buyers rely on the vendor's website
and representatives as key sources for some product information, they don't always trust
them to be transparent and comprehensive, which limits their influence over purchase
decisions.
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This fits into the larger trend of buyers being more empowered and doing more
independent research beyond the purview of vendors. But buyers recognize that even
outside sources have their limitations and biases. Many buyers said that using distributed
information from a range of sources is more trustworthy and influential than any one
source in particular, especially when the sources show consensus.
"It was difficult to trust vendor resources completely. Also vendor resources did not
always cover all the perspectives of our business needs."
"It's hard to find independent information on the internet everyone
has an agenda."
"Sometimes a resource is not accurate. So you have to research in almost all
information resources."
"It's easy to chalk up praise from sources that are either potentially biased or not using
the product in the same way we intended to deploy it."
"Product demos are where the rubber meets the road. You can measure and verify
claims made on websites and in case studies."
"A wider set of experiences tends to provide a better picture of the product. Vendor
materials are not necessarily always accurate."
"Seeing a demo of the product itself, being able to try it out and combining
that with actual user feedback was most valuable to us. The vendor's website along
with what their own reps say about it carries the least amount of weight
in our mind."
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Source: TrustRadius Buyer-Vendor Survey, 2018
Differences between vendor tactics and buyer preferences
We gave vendors a list of the same 15 tactics and asked them which ones they use to
educate and enable prospects.
Tactics Used by Vendors
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
10%
30%
50%
70%
90%
Re-engage former users
Communities / forums
Analyst rankings & reports
Customer referral program
User reviews
Free trial / account
Partner / agency network
Third-party publications and
independent media
Vendor representative
Customer references
Blog
Case studies
Marketing collateral
Product demos
Company / product website
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Similar to last year, aside from product demos (where there is again good alignment
between what buyers find helpful and what vendors provide) we found that vendors
are focused on providing material that buyers don't use as often, and don't find very
influential or trustworthy. Here are the top five tactics used by vendors, with the
breakdown of buyer usage, influence, and trustworthiness:
Vendor Website
Product Demos
Marketing Collateral
Used by 48% of buyers, but 54% said it was
less influential, and 55% said it was less
trustworthy.
Used by 64% of buyers, 88% of buyers said
they were more influential, and 81% said
they were more trustworthy.
Used by only 28% of buyers. 63% said it
was less influential, and 60% said it was
less trustworthy.
Case Studies
Used by only 23% of buyers. 56% said they
were more influential, but 52% said they
were less trustworthy.
Blog
Used by only 13% of buyers. 69% said it
was less influential, and 52% said it was
less trustworthy.
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It's not that vendors aren't sharing enough content. On average, vendors selected about
eight tactics, 60% more than the number of resources used by buyers. It just may not be
the right content to influence buyers. Vendors would be better served by helping buyers
find all of the resources they need to get a complete picture of the product focusing
exclusively on branded resources that are relatively easy to manage in-house does not
help buyers feel sufficiently informed.
The three most important types of information are hands-on experience with the product,
insights from customers, plus information from the vendor. Analyst rankings and reports,
the sixth most used and trustworthy and seventh most influential, also came up in buyers'
qualitative responses as a popular resource to take into account. Without these external
sources of validation, buyers aren't confident that they can make an informed decision,
since they worry the product information they receive from vendors is too glowing or too
high-level.
"Being able to trial a product is always important to me because it lets me understand
whether or not the solution will truly fit my needs. User reviews are also important
because they give me insights into some challenges that might arise with the solutions
the vendor isn't likely to disclose."
"Typically product demos show what's possible while free trials, user reviews and
analyst rankings validate the capabilities shown in the demo.
The [vendor provided] use case studies typically do not get into the details of what
was involved with implementation and are not tailored for the specific use case we are
looking to tackle."
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It is clear that vendors need to branch out to work with other organizations, including
their customers, as well as share external information sources, even though it may involve
giving up some control of the narrative. It seems some vendors are starting to recognize
this and diversify their priorities within their marketing mix. Vendors' use of case studies
and blogs (two of the least-utilized and least-trustworthy resources for buyers) went down
somewhat from last year, though they still remained in the top five tactics used.
"User reviews are a must - the product needs to have a good reputation. Analyst
rankings - definitely something to look at as it is compiled by independent
professionals. Vendor representative - crucial factor in terms of how the product is
presented, explained, what customer support can we expect based on the encounter,
live source of answers. Free trial - we wanted to see ourselves what we are buying, to
have an opportunity to work with the software in order to believe in it. Vendor blog
[was the least influential] - might contain some interesting stuff but rather marginal in
terms of decision making."
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For some key selection criteria, buyers
don't believe vendors are the right source of
information
We asked buyers to identify their top three most important selection criteria, while
vendors were asked to identify what they see as the top three most important factors for
buyers. We wanted to see how well buyers and vendors align on important factors, and
whether this could shed any light on a few of last year's disconnects. We'd found that
vendors focus on providing material that buyers don't find very useful or trustworthy, and
that buyers don't trust all vendor claims, nor do they expect to.
This year we wanted to know, which vendor claims are most important to investigate?
Why are information sources like hands-on experience with the product and insights from
customers so valuable, while the material vendors focus on providing is less influential
and trustworthy? In other words, where and why do vendors fall short is it because of
the way they provide information, or because of buyer expectations about the kind of
information vendors are able to provide?
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Alignment in important factors, with one significant outlier
Though buyers and vendors agree that it's most important for a product to be able to
adapt to the organization's processes, scale as they grow, and show measurable results,
there was a bit of a disconnect when it comes to ease of adoption.
For buyers, adoption ranked a close fourth in importance, with 34% of selecting "Will
be adopted quickly" as one of the top three most important factors in their selection
decision, just behind the 35% that selected "Shows measurable results." But among
vendors, adoption ranked seventh, below factors like support, integrations, and price that
were in fact less important to buyers.
Priority
1
3
5
7
2
4
6
Can adapt to fit your processes
Shows measurable results
Has good customer support
Does not exceed budget
Will scale as you grow
Will be adopted quickly
Integrates with your stack
Can adapt to fit their processes
Will scale as they grow -1
Integrates with their stack +1
Will be adopted quickly -3
Shows measurable results +1
Has good customer support +1
Does not exceed their budget +1
Most Important Factors for Buyers
According to Vendors
8
10
9
11
Is the category leader
Has all the bells and whistles
Requires little to no IT involvement
Has a robust user community
Is the category leader
Has all the bells and whistles
Requires little to no IT involvement
Has a robust user community
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Personal experience is ideal
Vendors may underestimate the importance of ease of adoption partly because buyers
don't see vendors as the right authority on the issue, meaning that it may factor into
conversations between vendors and buyers less often. Notably, the criteria vendors
ranked above adoption support, integrations, and price are topics where buyers
consider vendors a more authoritative resource.
Adoption, like scalability, is a forward-looking consideration that can only be proved
through experience, and differs from context to context. It's one of those claims buyers
feel the need to validate through hands-on experience.
"Product demos got us interested. Having a free trial account that had full functionality
allowed us to use the tool in our everyday projects to find issues for adoption."
"Got to try the product in our own business environment. Test reality vs. staged demo.
Ease of adoption and compatibility."
"Seeing the product/platform is essential. You can't know if it will work for your
company (will it be scalable, will it work with your processes, etc). You just don't know
until you see it."
"The trial allowed us to make sure that it was something our teams would use and
ensure it was adaptable for our needs."
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Buyers also seek external validation beyond what vendors
can provide
But not everyone has the time, resources, or access to the product ahead of time to
test it themselves. In their qualitative responses, some buyers said third-party analysts,
consultants, and customers who have already experienced roll-outs or expanded their use
of the product are the best source of feedback in these areas.
The advantage is that these sources are less biased than vendors and can clue you into
issues you might not have thought of, plus they are likely easier and more efficient than
testing it yourself. The limitation is that their use case and priorities may not be quite the
same as yours.
"Understanding the ceiling of the product was very important for us to establish how
much we can scale. We used web searches, discussion forums as well as other user
reviews for our investigations."
"Word of mouth is powerful, and I trust my colleagues they're more experienced
than I, and have been through the proverbial "trenches" before."
"[We took] a short tour of different IT communities to ask for advice, [and] we had
a third party vendor that sells different solution advise us on the best solution for our
use case. We wanted to understand any limitation in order to be sure that the solution
would scale with us and not be a deterrent to our growth."
"[To investigate product limitations] we spoke to other users of the software where
they had scaled up."
"[We] searched for user reviews, industry reports and video content. It was incredibly
important to understand the limitations to know what could prevent the team from
using the product and scaling it as we grew."
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Overall, most buyers are highly satisfied with the products they purchased. Based on
Net Promoter Score Definitions, 42% of buyers are promoters (rated the product they
bought a 9 or 10), and only 11% are detractors (rated the product they bought a 1 through
6). Additionally 90% say they intend to renew. This data shows a similar post-purchase
satisfaction distribution to last year's study, and confirms trends we see in independently
sourced ratings and reviews from end users on TrustRadius as well. Though reviewers
offer balanced criticisms and areas for improvement of the products they use, they still
rate the product highly.
Users are an important resource for many
buyers, yet vendors aren't sufficiently
leveraging their advocates
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Source: TrustRadius Buyer-Vendor Survey, 2018
Distribution of Buyer Satisfaction Ratings
The majority of customers are potential advocates
There's a clear opportunity for vendors to connect more of their buyers with customer
perspectives, beyond their star advocates. Your advocates shouldn't be limited to the
handful of customers with perfect use cases, nor do you need to airbrush/polish their
results into branded content. No product is perfect, but if customers are satisfied with
the results they've achieved, they are more likely to be willing to share their success and
lessons learned along the way. It's actually more helpful for buyers to get a sense of the
range of use cases for the product, with results alongside challenges. By widening the
pool of advocates, vendors can be more authentic and more influential with more of their
buyers.
Buyers obviously value customer insights as a critical part of their research, evaluation,
and decision-making process. So once they themselves become customers, it's not
surprising that they're willing to pay it forward.
0%
10%
20%
30%
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
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The most common way for buyers to do this today is casual and happenstance, without
vendor involvement. 42% of buyers recommended the product they purchased to a
peer directly, a figure that's been consistent year over year. While word of mouth is
great, it's not scalable a referral from a friend, colleague, or peer was among the most
trustworthy and influential resources for buyers, but wasn't used by most buyers, likely
due to lack of availability.
84% are willing to do more, but vendors need to ask
A much smaller group of buyers had been involved in vendors' advocacy programs.
Only 21% had served as a customer reference, provided a testimonial, or participated
in a case study, though 42% are by definition promoters. This does not show significant
growth from 2017, when 20% of buyers said they had been involved in vendors' advocacy
programs.
We decided to probe further to see where vendors had the most viable opportunities to
increase customer advocacy. This year we asked buyers not only what actions they've
taken since their purchase, but also what more they'd be willing to do.
Source: TrustRadius Buyer-Vendor Survey, 2018
Customer Advocacy Actions
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Have done
Willing to do
Recommend on social media
Participate in a case study for vendor
Provide a testimonial for vendor
Serve as a customer reference for vendor
Write an online review
Recommend to peer / acquaintance
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The big takeaway is that 84% would be willing to do more than they have already.
According to buyers, there is the potential for double the participation in formal advocacy
programs. An additional 27% would be willing to serve as a customer reference for the
vendor, which is about twice as many as today. An additional 24% would be willing to
provide a testimonial for the vendor, more than twice as many as today. And finally
another 24% would be willing to participate in a case study, almost three times as many
as today.
Though reviews are not always a facet of vendor advocacy programs, a review strategy
is worth considering. An additional 37% of buyers said they would be willing to write an
online review, almost twice the number who have done so already. The added benefit to
vendors is that unlike recommending a product to a peer or acquaintance, reviews get
customers on the record in a format that is sharable and thus scalable.
Since a far greater total percentage of buyers are willing to write an online review than
serve as a reference, provide a testimonial, participate in a case study, or even discuss
the product on social media, it can be very fruitful to encourage customers to share their
experience by writing reviews. Reviews are also more commonly used by buyers than
customer references and case studies, and are considered to be more influential and
trustworthy than vendor-provided customer evidence.
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Buyers are more influenced by vendors who
are transparent and trustworthy
Vendor influence over purchase decisions remains on par with last year's findings: 42%
of buyers ranked the vendor somewhat influential in helping them choose their product,
with only 23% considering the vendor they bought from very influential. So what can
vendors do to level up their influence on buyers? To answer this question, we turned
to the "Very influential" slice to see how those 23% of vendors interact with their
buyers differently.
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Source: TrustRadius Buyer-Vendor Survey, 2018
More influential vendors were more transparent during the
sales process
According to buyers, highly influential vendors were more trustworthy, more open, and
more likely to play a strategic role during the sales process. Here are some tips for vendors
striving to be more influential, based on trends in our data.
Vendor Influence on Buying Decision
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
4 - Very influential
3
2
1- Not influential
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Source: TrustRadius Buyer-Vendor Survey, 2018
Be brutally honest about product limitations
Influential vendors were more forthcoming about where the product works well and
where it is not a good fit. 56% of buyers who said their vendors were very influential also
said they were very forthcoming about product limitations, versus 31% of buyers with
less influential vendors, and fewer felt their vendors avoided discussing the product's
limitations or left them with an incomplete picture.
Was the vendor up-front about the product's limitations?
There may be a disconnect here between what buyers and vendors consider
"forthcoming," or between what vendors would like to be doing versus what they actually
do. A whopping 85% of vendors said they "aim to be clear about where the product works
well and where something else might be a better fit," which is far more than the 37%
benchmark of all buyers who felt they succeeded.
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Source: TrustRadius Buyer-Vendor Survey, 2018
This could mean that vendors are developing new attitudes towards transparency about
product limitations but haven't necessarily had the opportunity to execute them yet,
or it could mean that buyers' expectations for transparency are more radical than what
vendors are prepared (or able) to deliver.
Vendors who aim to be forthcoming
about product limitations
Buyers who found their vendor
forthcoming about product limitations
Provide more strategic and authentic resources
Unsurprisingly, buyers with very influential vendors described their vendor playing a
more active role overall. When asked to select among various actions describing the role
of their vendor, buyers with very influential vendors selected an average of 5 tactics, while
other buyers selected an average of 3.3.
85%
37%
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Source: TrustRadius Buyer-Vendor Survey, 2018
How would you describe the vendor's role in helping you choose their product?
But not all tactics were strong differentiators for influential vendors. For example, 56% of
very influential vendors provided an overview of features or a standard demo compared
to 52% of other vendors. A standard demo or product overview is certainly necessary,
but has become more of a table stakes tactic, rather than a significant differentiator for
influencing buyers.
On the other hand, influential vendors did do a few things differently when it came to
their marketing and sales tactics. Very influential vendors were about twice as likely to
provide buyers with additional learning opportunities, connect them with customer
references, help them understand ROI or make a case internally, help them strategize the
best approach, and provide them with customer evidence.
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They also shared more trustworthy vendor-produced resources with buyers, therefore
buyers were more likely to rely on and be influenced by those resources. Finally, their
buyers had a better perception of vendor representatives, ranking them as significantly
more trustworthy and influential. This is especially important considering reps have a
significant impact on how buyers view the vendor, both in terms of what their product can
do and what it would be like to work with them on a daily basis.
"Vendor representative - crucial factor in terms of how the product is presented,
explained, what customer support can we expect based on the encounter, live source of
answers."
"Seeing something in action and having someone knowledgeable to answer questions
is key for me. I am an interactive learner."
"With the demos we were able to ask detailed questions and if the vendor gave
answers that may not always be positive it gives a sense they are providing
an honest demo."
"The most important thing a salesperson can do for me is be honest about
what isn't in the product so there are no surprise and I can strategize how
to work around it."
Proactively bring trusted voices into the conversation
Peers and other users are among the most trustworthy sources for buyers, and influential
vendors connected buyers with customer perspectives more frequently. 50% of buyers
with very influential vendors said the vendor provided them with customer evidence like
reviews and case studies, versus 27% of other buyers. 42% of buyers with very influential
vendors also said the vendor connected them with customer references, versus 20%
of other buyers. Access to relevant information, especially when it can be verified by
customers and other sources, is a huge part of what makes vendors seem authentic and
makes buyers feel confident moving forward with a purchase.
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"For an established product like [the product we purchased] and established
category like marketing automation, I wanted to validate what I had heard about
the product and how it compared to its primary competitors. So user reviews and
customer testimonials were important, and I relied on the analyst reviews to validate
functionality. The vendor reps were critical for me because one of the main reasons
I was switching such a core platform was that [our previous platform's] rep and
customer support was so terrible."
"The ability to see proven results through case studies and talk through use cases
with staff/product demo were invaluable. The Product demo was the under the hood
look we needed. We knew what questions we needed to ask and details we needed to
confirm being familiar with marketing automation already. User reviews were valuable
in gauging overall opinion, but it was hard to find other companies like ours to compare
reviews with to hear how it worked for them."
"Vendor websites show you what they want to show you. The things you want to
know are often hidden and only disclosed during on-boarding. When users give real
feedback, it helps make decisions. We're at a point that we need something that's
going to get us to the next step as a company. Everyone is going to advertise that
they will get the job done for you. Hearing from those who are having success is game
changing in the decision making process."
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Reviews are an effective and efficient way
for vendors to embrace authenticity
With so many competing needs and limited resources, it can be difficult for vendors
to prioritize their efforts. We asked vendors to rate the tactics they use to educate and
engage prospects in terms of effectiveness at helping move buyers towards a decision and
how challenging/difficult it is to create or manage, on a scale of 1 to 4, with 4 being most
effective and most challenging.
Unfortunately, some of the least effective approaches are the easiest to create and
manage, and some of the most effective are the most challenging to create and manage.
For example, vendors ranked having a blog as the least effective tactic, and buyers
agree wholeheartedly, but nevertheless it is the easiest tactic and among the top five
implemented.
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Effectiveness of Vendor Tactics
Source: TrustRadius Buyer-Vendor Survey, 2018
Difficulty of Vendor Tactics
Source: TrustRadius Buyer-Vendor Survey, 2018
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While the product-based tactics like demos and trials are highly effective and relatively
easy to provide which helps to explain why there's such good alignment between what
buyers want and what vendors provide in that area the balancer is trickier when it
comes to customer insights. Customer references are the second most effective tactic, but
are understandably among the most difficult to manage. Case studies are even trickier,
since both buyers and vendors find them less effective than customer references, and
according to vendors they are the most difficult to create and manage. User reviews,
however, are among the top five most effective tactics for vendors, and are easier to
manage than case studies or customer references.
Reviews present a unique opportunity to share customer
insights
Vendors need to invest their time wisely, and find a mix of tactics that address their
buyers' diverse needs, are influential, but collectively are not too difficult to manage.
Reviews sit at this nexus. When it comes to sources for customer insights, they are the
least difficult to manage according to vendors, as well as the most influential and most
trustworthy according to buyers.
Writing a review is also the advocacy step respondents were most willing to do,
beyond recommending the product to a peer or acquaintance. Reviews therefore
present a significant opportunity for ROI with their unique combination of scalability,
manageability, and buyer influence. Indeed, vendors increasingly recognize the
effectiveness of reviews. This year, the number of vendors who considered user reviews to
be more effective doubled, from 21% to 42%.
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Source: TrustRadius Buyer-Vendor Survey, 2018
Effectiveness of Reviews as a Tactic for Vendors
0
20%
40%
60%
3
2
In 2017
In 2018
Vendors and buyers have mixed views on the effectiveness of user reviews, customer
references and case studies. But these customer voice tactics aren't mutually exclusive
in fact, they can and should be complementary. Reviews can validate marketing claims
and supplement vendor-provided material by providing social proof from a broader range
of use cases, personas, and industries. They are also a scalable way to identify possible
reference and case study participants, helping to streamline those two programs.
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How buyers use reviews
At the end of our survey, we revisited the question of reviews again, asking buyers if they
consulted reviews while researching products. 74% said that they did, a notably higher
percentage than those who selected them from a list of information sources used during
the selection process.
On average, buyers used reviews at three points in the research process, with the most
common being to compare products and to understand options. These review use cases
align with the most common roles in the purchasing process. Identifying or researching
products (67%) was followed closely by trialing or evaluating options (58%) and engaging
directly with a vendor representative (55%). Arming buyers with third-party evidence they
can bring to their peers is another key use case, as 56% said two to five individuals were
involved in the purchasing decision, while 25% said six to 10 were involved.
Source: TrustRadius Buyer-Vendor Survey, 2018
Why did you use review sites?
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
To determine what to ask a vendor
To find evidence to support my recommendation
to my colleagues or my client
To validate vendor claims
To confirm my decision
To understand my options
(i.e. build my short list or long list)
To compare products
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Source: TrustRadius Buyer-Vendor Survey, 2018
Buyer Involvement in the Purchase Process
In addition to roles, demographics are impacting these trends. The majority of B2B buyers
are now millennials. Over 45% of buyers were 25-34-years-old, followed by 30% in the
35-44 age range. Numerous studies have shown that millennials are less trusting of brands
and advertising, and more likely to turn to their peers for buying recommendations.
Customer insights that are not controlled by the vendor are particularly relevant to this
influential age group.
Why buyers use reviews
We also asked buyers what they remembered about the review sites they visited, as well
as what stood out as the strengths or weaknesses of those sites. Their responses provided
a nuanced perspective on why buyers use reviews, as well as which review elements are
most helpful.
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Depth and detail make reviews more useful
"Candid and balanced in the array of feedback. Looked for specifics,
not generalizations."
"Some platforms seem to have a good mix of reviews. I will read dozens of reviews both
good and bad and take them all into consideration."
"Segmented pros and cons easily, so we could put together a high-level
summary before the RFP."
"There were good reviews and bad, but I found it comforting to find that
the bad reviews didn't say anything that would negatively impact my need
for the product."
"Some sites go into granular detail on the specific aspects and functionality
of each product, while others take a more holistic 'out of 5 stars' approach.
I much prefer the former."
"Reviews that are comprehensive are valued because it talks about how it fits in their
business and what limitations they are seeing."
Reviews provide a unique opportunity to get balanced feedback
"The reviews that outlined detailed positive and negative outcomes when dealing with
this particular product and company were taken into account."
"Sites that ask 'What did you NOT like' are always a big plus for me, allows me to see
the hidden bits that you may not even think to ask."
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"I think that a website that can get users that have a lot of experience with the
products is very valuable. This helps get in-depth information."
"The description of the features, use cases and covering the nitty-gritty of the platform
leaving no detail for assumption."
"The depth of the explanations given varied slightly. I liked the more
detailed ones better."
"We only used one site. This site was not moderated by the vendor and reviews where
very honest."
"The site was very open about their reviews, honest, and extremely helpful."
"Verified reviews were key."
"There were instances where the users reviews were very short, and therefore useless
for anyone needing real, concrete reviews based on facts and not
just a quick overview."
Trust is a important benefit of, and factor in, reviews
"I wanted to see if the people were real about their responses. You can tell
if it's something they wrote by themselves or if it's something the vendor
wrote for them."
"As long as they were not connected to the products, I felt they were useful.
Independent sites with users who were not anonymous were helpful."
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"The review sites were helpful in getting real life experiences and reviews
from current customers."
"Reviews were clear to read and from reliable sources. There were many users in my
same situation (buyer/user)."
"I remember finding one which corroborated my experience perfectly and told the truth
all round. Any which had significant adverts really put me off. The significance of a
good review site is a guarantee of no commercial bias."
Reviews provide relevant perspectives from similar users
"Users in similar business situations as ours. Others were not relevant."
"In general, the sites that let me search for solutions by both industry and company size
were the most useful."
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CONCLUSION
Being an influential vendor no longer means dominating the conversation with your own
voice. Instead, vendors who leverage a wide variety of sources are better poised to impact
their buyers. The new imperative is to widen the aperture, both in terms of viewpoints and
tactics, so that buyers can easily find and connect with the sources they prefer.
Vendors who proactively bring a diverse mix of resources to the table particularly
resources that aren't completely within their control build trust with their buyers and
can create a competitive edge. Putting all your energy into slick messaging and overly-
produced assets is a surefire way to build an inauthentic relationship with your buyers. It
also forces them to look elsewhere to find trusted sources of information.
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Instead, challenge your team to build a transparent buyer's journey. Create branded
content that is authentic, clear, and useful. Make it easy for your buyers to experience your
product directly, and help them determine whether or not it is the right fit for their use
case. Finally, connect buyers with those who are better equipped to provide them with
the balanced feedback they need: your customers. Doing these three things will help you
bridge the trust gap and foster an authentic connection with your buyers.
Ready to take the next step?
Download The Definitive Guide to B2B Reviews for everything
you need to know to launch a 5-star review program.
Request a Demo to learn how TrustRadius helps vendors scale
in-depth reviews and put that customer content to work.
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APPENDIX
Buyer Survey Demographics
A total of 438 individuals completed our buyer survey. They must have played a key role in
a significant business technology purchase during the last year.
Type of Technology Purchased
Percent
22%
10%
3%
5%
15%
5%
21%
5%
7%
2%
5%
IT
Business Intelligence
Finance and Accounting
HR
Other
Professional Services
Marketing
Hardware
Sales
Vertical Industry
Customer Support
Technology Purchased
Percent
29%
6%
13%
4%
31%
6%
11%
$10k or less
$251k-$500k
$51k-$100k
Not Sure
$11k-50k
More than $500k
$101k-$250k
Cost
Annual Cost of Product
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Size of Buying Group
Percent
5%
4%
25%
56%
8%
2%
1
More than 20
6-10
2-5
11-20
Not Sure
People Involved
Buyer Involvement in the Purchase Process
Percent
67%
55%
29%
12%
58%
4%
30%
14%
Identified or researched options
Engaged directly with one of the
vendor's representatives
Lead buyer
Funding approver
Trialed or evaluated options
Other
Solutions consultant
Procurement
Buyer Roles
Percent
28%
26%
46%
1-50 employees
1,001+ employees
51-1,000 employees
Company Size
Company Size of Buyer
Age of Buyer
Percent
4%
5%
30%
45%
16%
0%
24 or younger
55-64
35-44
25-34
45-54
65 or older
Age
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Department of Buyer
Percent
31%
3%
4%
8%
10%
2%
24%
3%
8%
2%
4%
Information Technology
Engineering
Human Resources
Other
Operations
Customer Service
Marketing
Research & Development
Sales
Consultant
Accounting / Finance
Department
Job Title of Buyer
Percent
21%
4%
9%
16%
18%
2%
13%
1%
5%
5%
Manager
Vice President / SVP
Consultant
Director
Analyst / Associate
C-level executive
(including CEO)
Senior Manager
Founder / Co-Founder
Other
Owner / Principal
Job Title
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Vendor Survey Demographics
A total of 240 individuals completed our vendor survey. They must work for a business
technology vendor in a marketing or sales capacity.
Primary Target Market of Vendor
Percent
13%
31%
2%
38%
16%
Small businesses (1-50 employees)
Enterprises (1,001+ employees)
Not Sure
Mid-sized companies (51-1,000 employees)
Evenly split across multiple segments
Target Market
Annual Cost of Product
Percent
24%
17%
4%
16%
23%
11%
5%
$10k or less
Not sure
$251k-$500k
$51k-$100k
$11k-50k
$101k-$250k
More than $500k
Average Cost
Company Size of Vendor
Percent
32%
20%
48%
1-50 employees
1,001+ employees
51-1,000 employees
Company Size
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Type of Technology Sold
Percent
18%
5%
5%
10%
26%
3%
13%
3%
6%
9%
2%
IT
Business Intelligence
Finance and Accounting
HR
Other
Professional Services
Marketing
Hardware
Sales
Vertical Industry
Customer Support
Technology Purchased
Role in Marketing or Sales
Percent
33%
23%
15%
2%
17%
8%
32%
17%
6%
18%
14%
2%
Marketing Leadership
Product Marketing
C-level executive (including CEO)
Consultant
Sales Leadership
Account Executive
Demand Generation / Digital Mar-
keting
Customer Marketing / Customer
Advocacy
Customer References
Sales Enablement
Public Relations / Communications /
Analyst Relations
MDR / BDR / SDR
Role