Tech brands' sales approach destroying brand loyalty

Some 85% of IT buyers consider too many emails and calls from sales reps a deterrent when looking to re-purchase from a tech brand, according to research conducted by Spiceworks.

The survey discovered IT buyers are contacted by tech sales reps by either phone or email 17 times a week on average. Despite 57% citing email would be their preferred form of contact, the freqeuency with which they were contacted remained the primary issue.​

Some 37% of buyers wished to find their own information, and 97% preferred using online forums and communities to learn about new products, suggesting peer review is valued within the sector. ​

Only 17% of respondents said they would reply to sales and marketing messages from a tech vendor they hadn't heard of. But more than three-quarters (77%) said they would communicate with a new sales rep or marketer if their products were relevant, followed by detailed pricing specs (61%) and in-depth product details (55%).​

Customer experience behind tech brand loyalty

The survey established customer support, fair pricing and reputation for reliability were the primary drivers in IT brand loyalty.​

Furthermore the research also revealed brand loyalty among IT buyers is worth winning. Some 70% of IT buyers are loyal to their server, visualisation and networking vendors, and a further 65% stay close to security and computing device vendors. But cloud-based services was rockier ground, with 53% of respondents confessing they were likely to change.​

Sanjay Castelino, vice president of marketing at Spiceworks, said: “It’s no surprise that IT buyers react to value – they want reliable products, a fair price, and time customer support which all helps build great customer experience.

'But this brand experience doesn’t start when a buyer becomes a customer. It starts with prospects, and if you’re continuously sending them irrelevant products and information despite low engagement rate, you’re starting in a hole that you’ll have to dig out of to eventually build brand loyalty.”​

The research surveyed 535 IT decision influencers across the UK and US.

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