DRAPER, Utah, March 10, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Primary Intelligence (www.primary-intel.com), New research from Primary Intelligence points to the willingness of B2B buyers to not only recommend non-selected vendors to other colleagues and friends but to also consider losing vendors for future business opportunities with their firms.
The new report, entitled, "B2B Buyer Loyalty: How a Sales Engagement Can Influence Product Perceptions, Referrals, and Future Business," pulls insights from over 10,000 interviews conducted with buyers after they made a purchase decision.
"This research underscores the importance of staying in close contact with decision makers, even if your firm wasn't selected," states Carolyn Galvin, Director of Industry Insights at Primary Intelligence and the report author. "This is especially true in specific markets, such as North and Latin America and in the Computer Hardware and Healthcare industries. Buyers are more likely to recommend non-selected vendors to industry colleagues and to consider non-selected vendors for future business."
Other significant findings include:
- In 44% of deals in which vendors were not chosen, decision makers were willing to consider at least one losing vendor for future opportunities. This means the door is often left open, which signals high opportunity for marketers to continue the relationship through continued drip campaigns, educational material, and new product outreach.
- Software vendors struggle the most with buyer loyalty. Software buyers are 12% less likely to recommend and 11% less likely to consider vendors for a future purchase even when vendors won. Compare this to the computer hardware industry, which boasts very loyal customers.
- Buyers in EMEA are not as brand loyal as North America buyers even after selecting a winning vendor. North American buyers are 48% more likely to recommend alternate brands to others compared with EMEA buyers and 39% more likely to keep the door open to future business with losing vendors compared to buyers in EMEA.
"Even after winning the deal, vendors need to stay alert because the research is clear," said Carolyn Galvin, Director or Industry Insights at Primary Intelligence and the report author. "Earning business is not the same as earning buyer loyalty. Buyers will remember the other vendors they considered and often will not hesitate to jump ship if things go wrong."
This report is part of the Industry Insights series from Primary Intelligence.
About Primary Intelligence
Primary Intelligence delivers outcomes for B2B marketing, sales, and product leaders. We teach you how to win and retain more revenue by speaking directly to buyers and sales teams to uncover root causes through our Win Loss Analysis and Customer Experience Analysis programs. Our expert consultants initiate change in Fortune 500 companies.
Primary Intelligence began in CEO Ken Allred's basement in 2000. The company is privately held and headquartered in Draper, Utah.