Some 85% of IT buyers consider too many emails and calls from sales reps a deterrent when looking to re-purchase from a tech brand, according to research conducted by Spiceworks.
The survey discovered IT buyers are contacted by tech sales reps by either phone or email 17 times a week on average. Despite 57% citing email would be their preferred form of contact, the freqeuency with which they were contacted remained the primary issue.
Some 37% of buyers wished to find their own information, and 97% preferred using online forums and communities to learn about new products, suggesting peer review is valued within the sector.
Only 17% of respondents said they would reply to sales and marketing messages from a tech vendor they hadn’t heard of. But more than three-quarters (77%) said they would communicate with a new sales rep or marketer if their products were relevant, followed by detailed pricing specs (61%) and in-depth product details (55%).
Customer experience behind tech brand loyalty
The survey established customer support, fair pricing and reputation for reliability were the primary drivers in IT brand loyalty.
Furthermore the research also revealed brand loyalty among IT buyers is worth winning. Some 70% of IT buyers are loyal to their server, visualisation and networking vendors, and a further 65% stay close to security and computing device vendors. But cloud-based services was rockier ground, with 53% of respondents confessing they were likely to change.
Sanjay Castelino, vice president of marketing at Spiceworks, said: “It’s no surprise that IT buyers react to value – they want reliable products, a fair price, and time customer support which all helps build great customer experience.
“But this brand experience doesn’t start when a buyer becomes a customer. It starts with prospects, and if you’re continuously sending them irrelevant products and information despite low engagement rate, you’re starting in a hole that you’ll have to dig out of to eventually build brand loyalty.”
The research surveyed 535 IT decision influencers across the UK and US.
