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Small Business Technology Purchase
Small and medium size businesses (SMBs) in the US spend more than $75 billion per year on technology, but their purchasing behaviour is very different to that of larger concerns, says a survey conducted by IDC for Yahoo! and integrated marketing agency Grey San Francisco.
SMBs consider technology to be critical to their success, but only one-third of businesses with 20-49 employees have a full-time IT professional (50% in companies of 50-99 employees, and 90%+ for those with 100 plus employees). In most smaller companies, the person who ultimately buys technology products has multiple and varied job responsibilities.
Whereas good value is of course important to SMB buyers, there are several key factors that have to be right before most will give a product or service proper consideration. Foremost among these are 'reliability' (considered 'very important' by 90% of SMBs), 'high quality' (83%), and that the product is 'trustworthy' (79%). The research also showed that SMBs need to feel that the company from whom they are buying cares about the SMB business.
Unsurprisingly, the survey notes that the Internet has become a key resource for researching prospective technology purchases and an ideal medium for technology vendors relying on marketing rather than personal contact to reach SMBs. 'To maximize the effectiveness of a brand's campaign, the Internet must be factored in to compliment print, direct and other more traditional vehicles', notes Bill Burkart, co-managing partner of Grey San Francisco.
The corporate web sites for the two sponsors are at www.yahoo-inc.com and www.greyglobalgroup.com
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