How Buyer's Habits are Changing

What are you experiencing in the field?  From incoming leads, I would agree than half or more are asking for a specific brand an model number.  Thus, it's obvious that they have done their homework or someone else did it for them.

How are buyers different than they were 5 years ago?  I'm lucky if I can remember what I ate for dinner last week!  Case in point, I had a multiple system lead a few months ago.  The buyer outlined all of the features that he needed in an RFQ (commercial account), he had already picked three brands.  How he picked his potential suppliers, was a series of questions that focused on on-site support, in-side support, and advanced knowledge of the system software and how it would operate on the network.  The three supplies were then asked to provide proposals.  Point is, that's the first time in 30 plus years I've seen something like that from a commercial account.

Let's keep this thread going

When I first saw the forum heading "Changing Buyers Habits" I read the word "changing" as a verb...what can we do to change buyers habits. I believe I was wrong to see it that way. Am I correct that the forum is actually to report on how buyers habits have changed or are changing?

more about how buyer habits have changed in recent years

I believe this is a fair estimate but in my experience I believe it is mainly on the call in's. When someone calls me and asks for "X" model with a booklet finisher, 100 sheet doc feeder, fax, USB, Postscript, Tandem Paper Tray and Hole Punch, I pretty much think they have already been talking to sales reps or have been reading the brochure. I do however still go on many appointments and calls where the client has absolutely no clue what they want or anything. I'm with Art, I can barely remember what I ate for dinner last night as well most days so it is hard for me to go back and remember what customers were telling me 5 or 10 years ago

I think understanding how buyer's habits have changed & the amount of research they do online before agreeing to a meeting with prospective vendors is important, because the way dealers market to companies in their target market needs to change.  Traditionally, dealers (regardless of size) have relied solely on salespeople canvassing or cold calling on the telephone to target prospective customers with little focus on company-supported marketing.  Dealers typically do little to no email marketing (via their CRM, Constant Contact or the like), tend to have stale web content that lacks valuable & current information and rely on poorly-educated content providers to market their message through social channels.  As an example, if your dealership is a Ricoh dealer in San Antonio, what benefit is it to the dealership if Structure Web (or another provider) posts information regarding Ricoh's new Customer Innovation Center in Colorado?  It is nothing the dealer or their potential clients have access to, so it is worthless content.  I would argue that it is somewhat harmful to the dealer since it is highly-possible that you are competing with Ricoh Direct in many new business opportunities.  In addition, regardless of how many salespeople a dealer employs, it is virtually impossible for them to reach every potential customer in the market without some sort of company-supported marketing efforts to create awareness of that dealer's brand.  Without informative & valuable web content, potential customers may not even know that dealer exists, much less considers them a potential business partner.  Sorry for the rant.  The outdated/old school/non-existent marketing practices present in the BTA channel is an area of immense frustration for me & an opportunity for improvement that very few dealers seem to seize.  When was the last time you purchased any type of consumer technology (maxing out at a few thousand dollar one-time purchase) without doing in-depth research online?  The fact that dealers ignore the reality that their customers & potential customers research products & services in the tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars range prior to making a 3-5 year commitment is mind-boggling. *Steps off soap box; twists ankle & goes to the ER.*