The Truth About What Facility Buyers Want from Telecommunications Equipment Vendors

Running a successful telecom equipment company isn't easy. Whether you sell a product, a service or both, you must reach prospective buyers with your marketing messages and convince them to make a purchase. Because telecom equipment buyers consist of other business owners, executives and professionals, however, many are reluctant to make a purchase, especially if they haven't used your company in the past. By understanding what telecommunications equipment buyers really want, however, you can create a more effective promotional strategy that drives sales for your telecom equipment company.

Online Educational Resources

Prior to making a purchase, many telecom equipment buyers will research the product or service online. In fact, a survey conducted by Forrester found that nearly three-quarters (74%) of telecom equipment buyers research products or services online before buying them. Even if a buyer is planning to purchase a product or service offline, he or she may still use the internet for research purposes. To capitalize on this trend, provide your telecom equipment company's target audience with online educational resources to assist with their purchasing process.

Email Communications

You can communicate with your telecomm equipment company's target audience using a variety of channels. However, research shows that more telecommunication buyers prefer email communications than any other channel. According to a Marketing Sherpa study, 72% of telecom equipment buyers prefer to communicate with vendors using email. In comparison, less than half of telecom equipment B2B buyers prefer direct mail. What does this mean for your telecomm company's marketing and sales strategy? It means that you should focus on email. You can still explore other communication channels, but you'll probably get the strongest response with email because it's the preferred channel among telecomm buyers.

How can you get the most out of your email efforts? Quality emails, contact names, titles and companies from SalesLeads’ Sales and Marketing Intelligence. This will provide you with quality content so you can market your telecom product and services. But because there’s a lot of services out there that claim quality content, the best way to know is to try it. Open a complimentary account and experience the content for yourself. Then you can develop a strategy that’s hard hitting, and results oriented.

Social Media as a Research Tool

Don't overlook social media in your telecom equipment company's strategy. Statistics show that 55% of telecomm buyers use social media as a research tool, with 84% of CEOs and upper-level executives using it as well. Keep in mind that Facebook is only one of many social media networks that you can use. With more than 2 billion users, it's the largest social media network. However, other social media networks can also help you reach prospective buyers with your marketing messages. LinkedIn, for example, has become an invaluable platform for telecom equipment companies. Unlike Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other common social media networks, LinkedIn is designed specifically for business owners, executives and professionals, meaning it has the perfect audience of telecommunications buyers.

Product or Service Quality

It shouldn't come as a surprise to learn that telecomm buyers want a high-quality product or service. After all, they typically purchase products or services for use in their own business's operations. If a product or service is low quality and doesn't live up to the buyer's expectations, it may fail to help their business succeed. A study conducted by Bain & Company found that product quality was the single most influential factor affecting customer loyalty in the information technology (IT) industry, even more so that expertise. Although this study focused specifically on the IT industry, it's safe to assume that telecomm buyers share the same sentiment regarding product or service quality.

Personalized Journey

You can no longer using the same generic, cookie-cutter approach when communicating with prospective buyers. Today, telecom equipment buyers want a personalized buying journey that's custom tailored to fit their needs. A report published by Blue Corona found that 73%

of telecom equipment buyers prefer a personalized journey over a generic, non-personalized journey. Unfortunately, many telecom equipment companies neglect to provide their buyers with a personalized journey, believing it's too difficult and requires too much time and resources. But using the right software, such as customer relationship management (CRM) software, you can actually automate personlization by affixing buyers' names and other information in your company's messages.

Responsiveness

How long does it take your telecom equipment company to respond to buyers? Unfortunately, you can't always respond to a buyer immediately after he or she sends your company a message. Depending on the particular channel used for this communication, as well as other factors like the time of day, it may take hours or even days. But the longer the wait, the lower your chance of converting the buyer into a customer. Telecom equipment buyers today want responsiveness from vendors. They don't want to sit idle while awaiting your company's response. Rather, they want your company to respond to their questions or inquiry as soon as possible.

Direct Answers

Finally, telecom equipment buyers want -- or even expect -- direct answers from vendors. When a telecom equipment buyer asks about the price of a product or service, he or she expects a direct answer. They don't want to hear "let me get back to you on that." Rather, they want to know the exact price. Otherwise, they'll reach out to a different equipment vendor. By answering questions directly, your telecom equipment company will close more sales while also promoting a more positive buying experience in the process.

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