Fifty-six percent of organizations experience a high degree of regret over their largest tech-related purchases, a new Gartner survey says. Buyer’s remorse is causing frustrations and is linked to slow processes affecting performance.
This year continues to be a relentless race for innovation and growth as organizations and businesses turn to technology to drive results, IBM says. In January, Gartner had signaled that 82% of CFOs were accelerating their digital transformation to make their business more competitive.
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Companies that have yet to implement the technology they have purchased express the highest degree of frustration with the buying experience that is taking on average seven to 10 months longer to complete.
Slow purchase decisions are leading to wasted time and resources, and slower growth for the company, according to Gartner.
Hank Barnes, distinguished VP analyst at Gartner, told that the leading cause for tech purchase regret is conflicting objectives among the buying team and an unclear goal of what they want to accomplish with the technology they purchase.
Gartner explains that the issue is becoming increasingly common as tech purchases’ decision-making and funding move from an exclusive IT responsibility to a more democratized process.
To avoid becoming a number in the high regret for tech purchase statistics, Gartner recommends organizations to work with their vendors to truly understand the product.
Companies should demand vendors to share comprehensive case studies that don’t just discuss results, but also cover how the results were achieved.
New technologies, like cloud solutions, require migration and involve a learning curve before becoming fully operational. Therefore, before the tech purchase is made, it is essential to evaluate the effort it will take to implement or migrate the technology.
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“Get the people who will be the users of the system involved, to assess their readiness and comfort with changing the way they work,” Barnes added.
Leading companies that show no tech purchase regret have disciplined and focused strategies that contrast with “High Regret Buyers”.
No-regret buyers do not engage in in-depth activities with other providers, avoiding implementation planning, scoping, trials and other activities. However, they do participate in four or more of these activities with their chosen provider. While they may review content, products and solutions from all vendors, they better manage their time, set targets and build stronger relationships with their vendors.
Gartner also recommends high-tech providers to:
Focus investments and efforts in supporting the “best fit” situations.
“Best fit” situations include the right offering, messaging, content, engagement, and activities.
Vendors should train customer-facing teams to recognize the customer characteristics that indicate a “best fit.”
Trained customer-facing teams should also know how to adjust the approach when prospects fall between “best fit” and “should avoid.”
“The message for executives is that the combination of thorough, disciplined, and focused, speeds things up dramatically,” Barnes said.
Being unsure of end goals during the buying process seems to be the main reason for buyer’s remorse.
Most technology purchases come with high degree of regret, Gartner says
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