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Focus Research Insight: 43% of buyers haven’t purchased yet due to Internal Requirement gathering…
In a recent study, we found that nearly half of buyers said they were stalled in their buying processes simply because they have to gather more requirements internally in order to move forward. Often research leads to more questions than answers, so it follows that many buyers have to 'go back to the drawing board.' But as buying inhibitors go, how should vendors supplement or assist in this? As a buyer, what's the most timely and effective way to gather requirements internally?
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2 Answers
Jessica;
James began to hit the nail on the head by advocating a requirements gathering service because what he was shooting for was a reduction in the barriers to purchase. The real barrier to purchase are the systems themselves the vendors are selling. The fact that requirement gathering has to occur for an entire portion of business just because the scope of the solution available is so large is the flaw. It is by far the single greatest risk to budget, schedule and expectation and the customer is asked to take the entire burden themselves. Bringing in systems integrators or consultants might improve the results but in no way reduces the risk or burden from the customer.
The next generation of Enterprise Systems do not require this risk laden approach. The areas of your business that require improvement do not mean you have to rip out your existing business systems. Instead, the next generation of systems called Enterprise Add-On (EAO), enhance the existing systems without a single line of code changing. The existing system isn't even aware the EAO has been installed.
In a recent project at Toyota, their ERP system was not able to improve their operational accuracy to the corporate standard of 6 Sigman. Without a costly rip/replace or integration project, the operation was stuck. EAO was installed and operational in the first week (Innovate in a Week). 16 workers were trained and running the application in the first two days and at the end of the week the results were in: EAO improved accuracy to 6 Sigma and coincidentally improved productivity by 290%.
So the need to gather a mountain of requirements, uncertain which need might have accidentally been overlooked, goes away. Companies are able to address each requirement/need/opportunity in small, measured steps. Once the solution has been proven to work it, and the results documented, then it can be rolled-out to the workers affected. Shifts in regulation, compliance, competition, geographies, product lines, m&a all can now be accommodated instantly. On-going improvements in productivity, accuracy and visibility are encouraged with the proper technology, data and process the business needs.
This is a perfect opportunity for vendors to offer discount requirement gathering solutions independent of product purchase.
By the time a company is willing to gather internal requirements, they have probably already looked at a few products. Instead of waiting for the buyer to call, vendors could be more aggressive and offer 4 hour requirements meeting where the results are delivered within 24 hours. Incentives could be added if they decide to sign up within two days of receiving the requirements.
If the vendor knows their product well they should be able to craft requirements quickly. This will also allow the vendor to have a catalog of requirements which will probably go a long way for future engagements and product upgrades. There are many more things a vendor could do, but once in the door they are more likely to purchase while promoting the vertical space. This is also a great opportunity for VARs to make a little extra when people are hesitant to spend large amounts of cash.
I would argue that it is the vendor’s responsibility to help the buyer make the purchase. Businesses will typically only put resources into what they believe is most important and with so many fires, they may be consistently playing catch-up.
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