If there is a golden moment for B2B marketers, it is the very outset of the buying process. When the blue touchpaper is first lit, and buyers finally decide that they have to buy.
At this point the buyer is hungry for information. Open to ideas. Susceptible, even vulnerable.
So we thought that part of Base One’s annual Buyersphere Research into the attitudes of B2B buyers should cover this fascinating stage in proceedings.
We asked 500 B2B buyers to tell us the reasons behind a recent purchase (of at least £20,000), and the results were remarkable.
Did they make the purchase to reduce their overall costs? No.
Did they do it to leverage new technology? No.
Did they do it to help them cope with an expanding business? No.
Or was it just because it seemed like “the kind of thing we should be doing”? No. (Although, incredibly, this was quoted as the 5th most popular reason, and deemed more important than many apparently more rational reasons, such as “keeping up with competitors”.)
To find out the main reason B2B buyers buy (as well as lots of other fascinating details about B2B buyer attitudes) download our free mini-report, The Touchpaper Question: How (and Why) B2B Buyers Start The Buying Process.