If you subscribe to current research, buyers are contacting vendors at somewhere between 60-70% of the way through their buying process. What this research fails to mention is this only applies to mainstream technology that is in established markets and where there is an identified and known set of competitors.
Buyers enter the buying process depending on technology maturity and buyer risk tolerance. I like to use the IMPACT mnemonic to describe buying cycles because I think it more accurately reflects what is actually going on in the buying organization
IMPACT The six phases of the buying process are easy to remember as they will have an enormous IMPACT on your company’s performance:
There are the Early Adopters (EA) who are happy buying innovative solutions. There are the Early Majority (EM) who want to buy the market leader. And there are the Late Majority (LM) who want to buy a commodity at the cheapest price. Here is where the buyer starts to engage in terms of the IMPACT process.
Early adopters will enter the buying process at 10-20% of the way through a buying process and laggards will wait till they are 90% of the way - and all they care about is price or the service discount.
Successful entrepreneurs, marketers and salespeople selling disruptive technology must learn to recognize early adopters, understand how early adopters engage with innovative technology vendors and how they manage a buying process.
This is the subject of a new eBook from authors of “Why Killer Products Don’t Sell”, Ian Gotts and Dominic Rowsell, and Adrian King, entitled “IMPACT - the technology executive’s guide for selling B2B disruptive and innovative solutions”.
In the past 2-3 years, entrepreneurs worldwide have experiencing an investment tsunami as a rising tide of venture capital has floated scores of thousands of startups.
But how may of those start-ups will survive to build and scale innovative technology companies?
While the “pivot” is the popular notion for avoiding failure, no matter how many pivots you make and how understanding your investors - eventually you need to find a market that works.
For entrepreneurs to find a market that works, gain traction, scale a business and cross-the-chasm (B2B), they will need to become expert at identifying and influencing early adopters.
The good news is that early adopters are looking for you… or at least they are looking for disruptive ideas like yours that create opportunity to gain competitive advantage. Your job is to have them find your content and for your influence network find them.
Early adopters can see a different future that is not necessarily a simple evolution of the current technology. They are risk takers who are prepared to exploit new technology and spend real money. They are the lifelines for entrepreneurs who are looking to grow and succeed.
An Early Adopter is prepared to take a personal risk with innovative technology as they can see the huge potential. In contrast, the Early Majority buyer is a far more risk-averse buyer of technology. They buy products and services in established markets to solve known, documented and measured needs.
IMPACT: The technology executive’s guide for selling B2B disruptive and innovative solutions is an essential 20 page book summary from Ian Gotts, Dominic Rowsell and Adrian King and a must read for entrepreneurs. Particularly entrepreneurs building and selling disruptive technology.
This is not your typical technology ebook.
The authors are using lean startup methods to create a new way of publishing. “We are taking a different approach to the book, stated co-author, Ian Gotts. “We have written a 25-page book summary.
It is a free download and is really an abridged version rather than the normal “teaser”. It gives you the whole story, but doesn’t go into a massive level of detail or have any examples or case studies. If there is enough interest from the book summary we will go ahead and edit and publish the full book.”
You can instantly download the book here (no sign-up)
You can message Ian Gotts here.
