What buyer's want - part I

We recently surveyed some of the thousands of businesses who use BuyerZone to connect with sellers for important business purchases - like phone systems and payroll services. We asked them a lot of questions, both to understand how BuyerZone works for them, but also information that would help our clients (lead buyers) close more business.

I want to focus on one particular question as it relates to the type of information and content buyers want to receive. Here is the data (sample size is just under 350):

What can we take away from this?

• Reviews are important: people trust people. Unlike a lot of the items in this graph, marketing can't "create" reviews - they're a product of an experience. However, marketing and sales should make sure every interaction and experience is something to be proud of, because a review from that one person might just close a deal for you down the road. 
  
• Your sales collateral still matters - really. Make it relevant, focused and good-looking.
• Be helpful. Content that helps makes things easy like buyer's guides, comparison charts and/or FAQs are really important (and easy to put together).
  
• Whitepapers don't appear to be that popular - at least with this data set. A bit surprising given the sheer volume of whitepapers that are syndicated and read everyday. This is something to watch.
  
• Traditional marketing endures. Look at the least popular information types from this chart - webcasts, virtual trade shows and podcasts. All three are new ways to inform and educate buyers - and they can work - but buyers don't seem interested. I think the reason is they take time - and buyers are starved for it.