B2B Vendor Success

Infographic

B2B buyers’ most important criteria related to vendor consideration is a firm’s experience in buyers’ industries.

• 49% of buyers rated “Experience in Your Industry” as the most important company-related criteria in their evaluation, topping seven other criteria used by Primary Intelligence to judge company-related effectiveness.

Buyers’ second most important attribute is vendors’ ability to deliver what the sales team sold to them.

• 44% of buyers chose “Deliver What Was Sold” as the most important company-related criteria in their evaluation of vendors.

The largest percentage of buyers rated vendors as “excellent” in seven of the eight categoriesdefined by Primary Intelligence.

• The criteria buyers judge vendors most harshly on is “Future Direction,” in which buyers gave a higher percentage of “average” ratings to vendors compared to “excellent” ratings.

Vendors receive “poor” ratings from approximately 1 in 5 buyers.

• Buyers are most unhappy with vendors’ “Customer References.”

Buyers see little differentiation in vendors’ company-related criteria for “wins” versus “losses.”

• This signifies that company-related criteria, while a consideration when evaluating competing vendors, are less important than other selection criteria, such as solution capabilities.

Compared to buyers in other verticals, Healthcare buyers are generally most satisfied with vendors’ company-related criteria.

• Approximately 75% of Healthcare buyers awarded their vendors “excellent” ratings in 7 out of 8 company-related criteria:

1. Company Size Fits Needs
2. Customer References
3. Deliver What Was Sold
4. Experience in Your Industry
5. Reputation
6. Service and Support
7. Vendor Financial Viability

Geographically, vendors in Latin and North America fare best in buyer perceptions of their company-related attributes.

• Buyers in the Americas consistently give vendors a higher percentage of “excellent” ratings and a lower percentage of “poor” ratings compared to buyers in EMEA and Asia Pacific.

Asia Pacific buyers are especially dissatisfied with their vendors when it comes to:

• Customer References (33% “poor” ratings)
• Experience in Your Industry (30% “poor” ratings)
• Future Direction (29% “poor” ratings)

Buyers in EMEA are particularly dissatisfied with vendors’ capabilities in:

• Customer References (28% “poor” ratings)
• Experience in Your Industry (26% “poor” ratings)
• Service and Support (26% “poor” ratings)