MARKET REPORT Purchasing
“Yes, organisations are now buying their IT and Comms online - but it’s far from the Amazon effect of placing
your products in a basket and clicking to buy. They still need and want to talk to people, have a face to a name.”
Richard Betts, Chief Revenue Officer at Charterhouse Voice & Data
Purchasing behaviour
The market’s purchasing behaviour has been visibly transitioning for some time as customers look for simple
methods to deploy software and solutions across their businesses. In this feature we look to examine how the
pandemic has impacted the way customers purchase their comms and IT
As consumers, I think we
have all experienced the
‘Amazon e ect’ over the
last six months. Although
my personal shopping habits
have been heading towards
the online realm for some
time, they are now o cially
there. For businesses we have
been witnessing a similar,
but much slower, change in
buying behaviour. We have seen
vendors and service providers
create marketplaces for their
partners to cater for digital
services, but how has the
pandemic impacted this trend?
Richard Betts, Chief Revenue
O cer at Charterhouse
Voice & Data, commented
“Within the SME market
for Charterhouse (500-1000
employees), the impact of Covid
on purchasing has essentially
accelerated a shift in the sales
process that had already begun:
sending a salesperson to visit a
customer in person is no longer
necessary.
Larger software organisations
had already been doing this for
some time. e sales process
for the likes of Salesforce or
SAS would involve running an
initial appointment via video
call, followed by an online
demo of their software and
closing with sending over an
order form by email. No face
to face site visits - and this was
years before Covid hit. Covid
has brought this trend to the
fore for the rest of the market.
Yes, organisations are now
buying their IT and Comms
online - but it’s far from the
Amazon e ect of placing
your products in a basket and
clicking to buy. ey still need
and want to talk to people,
have a face to a name. ey
aren’t just looking for Comms.
ey’re looking for expert
advice from professionals
who can lead them through a
journey to get the best solutions
that work for their business.
What Covid has changed
is the way the sales process
is delivered, using virtual
meetings and demos to engage
and interact with customers.”
Paul Taylor, Sales and
Marketing Director at Voice ex
said “ ere have been slight
changes happening over a
number of years with more
applications and remote support
available just online. e need
for hands on site or the use of
remote hands is on the decline
and has been for a number
of years. e quality of the
equipment and software is
far more reliable, most of the
working population under 30
have grown up with computers
and connectivity, thus have a
better understanding of IT in
general.”
The rise of self-serve
We have seen self-serve products
hit the market in force. For
small businesses in particular
(sub 5 employees) the reasons
for engaging a partner would
appear to be dwindling.
Richard Betts commented,
“Regardless of moving more
towards an online sales and
ordering process, the market is
still looking for a consultative
approach, and this is where
partners can compete and add
the most value.
Customers simply aren’t
experts in the technologies
they’re looking for. ey need
a supplier they can trust to lead
them through the mine eld
of technology to arrive at the
Richard Betts, Chief Revenue O cer at
Charterhouse Voice & Data
36 | Comms Business Magazine | September 2020 www.commsbusiness.co.uk
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