Research conducted by Adaptive Lab revealed 60% of SMEs feel neglected by businesses such as telecoms, banking and insurance mainly due to the corporations’ misunderstanding of the diversity of the market and their own lack of segmentation.
The SMEs: Smallish Misunderstood Enterprises study interviewed 500 SMEs in the UK, aiming to uncover how corporations could appeal to small and medium-sized businesses better.
SMEs find corporations untrustworthy
It discovered 56% of SMEs didn’t feel they could trust corporations and this was mainly due to 59% of respondents stating corporate service providers only offer a one-size-fits-all service that is unsuited to their business.
Chris Moisan, principal at Adaptive Lab, said: “Most service providers approach the SME segment as a homogeneous community, ignoring their diversity and unique needs. Is the definition of an SME still fit for purpose? The small and medium business sector is a mighty force in our economy.”
SMEs tempted to switch to smaller competitors
Some 58% of respondents said they saw smaller businesses as more agile and more innovative. This led to a lack of loyalty towards corporations, with half of SMEs stating they would trust a challenger brand or small business as a service provider.
Moisan adds: “Given the prevalent attitudes, mislabelling and lack of empathy shown by existing providers, it’s no surprise high levels of disloyalty exist among small business owners.”
