This is why customers won't buy IT from your website

A sample of websites in the Australian IT industry found many lack the kinds of engagement that will drive customers to buy, according to Carpe Diem Consulting.

The Sydney-based consultancy measured 20 websites against a 10-point checklist to judge engagement with business-to-business buyers, with 16 of the sites failing to get even a 'pass'.

The irony is that customers are using online resources more than ever to educate their buying decisions – but many IT supplier websites fail to provide relevant information, instead tending to focus on the providers themselves.

Bruce Rasmussen, managing director of Carpe Diem, said: "B2B buyers are hungrily searching online for information to help them run their businesses better, and to solve their problems. What they’re confronted with though are websites that only talk about companies, personnel and products."

Enterprise IT buyers are becoming more educated about products and tending to engage the channel when they are further along in the sales cycle.

According to Carpe Diem, only 3 percent of customers are ready to buy at one time, so websites that only focus on the purchasing stage effectively ignore 97 percent of potential buyers.

At Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference in Orlando last week, distinguished Gartner analyst Tiffani Bova talked about the new buyer's journey during a standing room-only presentation.

"They start with trusted independent sites, they move onto analyst and influencers and independent third parties, they then move on to professional associations and communities, then they get to you," said Bova.

"So they have done three or four things by the time they show up to you, which means they are further down their buyer journey than they used to be, because they used to start with [the IT supplier]. We [the channel] used to be the one that was educating them on all the new technology that was coming up."

Bova suggested many ways that IT suppliers could improve – including using trade press, getting better at social and engaging with industry associations.

In its report, Carpe Diem red-flagged Australian IT websites for:

• Talking about themselves and their products, rather than the outcomes customers are looking for
• Missing the opportunity to engage early in the buying process
• Taking a one-size-fits-all approach that doesn't speak to different buyer segments, such as  industries and job function
• Lacking ways for buyers to engage with website content

Across the 20 sites reviewed, Carpe Diem found the criteria in which the sites were most successful was responsive design and allowing users to engage with content through things like sharing and commenting, and worst in terms of providing "disruptive insights" and convincing content.

The consultancy company said that IT providers can improve their online presence by: putting the customer first; catering for each stage of the buyer’s journey, not just those ready to buy; providing an opportunity to engage with content; challenging and educating buyers.