As a general rule of thumb the more complex the technology and the more expensive the investment, the more players that are involved in the decision making process.  Not many companies empower one person (or even department) with exclusive decision and purchasing authority.

What does this mean for marketers who are trying to influence this long and complex decision?  First, you need to understand the people involved in the decision and each of their roles’ in the process.  Talk to your sales team, talk to your customers, utilize syndicated research (Marketing Sherpa’s Business Technology Marketing Benchmark is a great resource), sponsor a brief survey…find out what your up against, find out what makes them tick. 

For example:

• Senior staff may be charged with the brunt of the groundwork – researching the solutions available to solve their problem.  How do the solutions interact with legacy systems?  These folks may be more impressed with the technology than others.  They want to understand how your solution will improve their life (and I don’t mean personal life)…

• The CIO on the other hand, will be more concerned with how the solution advances the business goals of the organization.  Marketing Sherpa notes that in many cases they’ve seen the CIO come in at the last minute and often overrules a senior staffers recommendation.

Once you understand who they are, then you can develop targeted communications that address each of their individual needs.  This can mean slight tweaks in messaging as well as the offer.  Test and refine, test and refine.

Increasing awareness across all individuals involved in the decision making process (combined with a solid solution) will increase your sales. Try encouraging dialogue between the involved parties – incorporate refer a colleague functionality in to your communications.  Give the decision makers and influencers something to talk about.

And test and refine, test and refine.