Buyers routinely submit online forms for high-value purchases, but are you meeting their expectations in terms of response? This study reveals that many companies are likely losing sales because they are failing to meet the expectations buyers have developed for response speed and persistence. To better understand the expectation and experiences of online buyers, Zogby Analytics was commissioned by Velocify and PossibleNOW to conduct an online survey of more than 1,000 adults in the U.S. who had submitted an online form requesting information or expressing interest in a product or service with a value of $1,000 or more. What you will learn: - The length of time a typical buyer spends researching online prior to submitting an online inquiry form - The longest buyers are willing to wait for a response to their inquiry - The best and worst industries when it comes to responses to online customer inquiries - The number of companies a typical buyer submits inquiries to when looking to buy a product or service - The number of call attempts buyers want you to make before you give up trying to reach them Discover how you can better align sales strategies with buyer expectations and download today!

1. ONLINE BUYER
EXPECTATIONS:
A Study of Personal and Business Buying
Experiences and Where Sellers Fall Short
Sponsored by:
Research conducted by:

2. Executive Summary
Understanding changing prospect expectations can be the
difference between winning and losing a sale. While buyers have become accustomed to submitting inquiry forms
(or web forms) online for reasonably high-value purchases, they have developed high-expectations for response
speed and persistence. Yet, when buyers fill out a form
online requesting more information, they often wait to get
a response. In fact, previous research conducted by Velocify has found that one third of interested buyers never get a
response to an online inquiry, and those that do, often wait
48 hours to hear from a sales rep.
As lives have become more and more dependent on the
Internet and the endless possibilities it offers, buyers have
developed certain expectations and practices around the
types of services and products they inquire about online,
the amount of research they do prior to reaching out to
sellers, the devices they use to submit forms and conduct
research online, and the way they prefer to be engaged in
the sales process. The results reveal areas for improvement
across the board to better align sales strategies with buyer
expectations.
This study focuses on buyer experiences and preferences when submitting online inquiries for the purchase of
high-ticket products or services; it does not include experiences and preferences for activities or transactions related
to e-commerce.
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3. Methodology and Sample Characteristics
To better understand the expectations and experiences
of online buyers, Zogby Analytics was commissioned by
Velocify and PossibleNOW to conduct an online survey
of more than 1,000 adults in the U.S. who had submitted an online form requesting information or expressing
interest in a product or service with a value of $1,000 or
more. The survey respondents were equitably located
throughout the country and represented a diverse sample
of ages, ethnicities, income levels, and professions. Nearly
one-third of the participants provided responses based on
their experience submitting online inquiries on behalf of a
business, while the other two-thirds responded based on
their experience submitting online inquiries for personal
products or services.
Participants answered the survey questions regarding their most recent inquiry, which they specified
was for a product or service in the following categories:
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4. Research Prior to Purchase
Today’s buyers are typically well informed prior to engaging in the sales process.
Time spent on research prior to submitting an inquiry
Nearly half of all respondents indicated they had spent
three hours or more doing online research prior to submitting an online inquiry form. Those submitting inquiry
forms on behalf of a business were significantly more likely to spend longer periods of time researching than those
inquiring about products or services for personal reasons.
62% of people submitting forms for personal reasons spent
2 hours or less researching, while 62% of those submitting a
form for business reasons spent 3 hours or more.
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5. Use of Mobile Devices
Percentage of respondents who performed more than 10% of their research on a mobile device
OVERALL
BUSINESS
INQUIRY
PERSONAL
INQUIRY
0
10%
20%
30%
In addition to desktop and laptop computers, much of the
buyers’ research is being conducted on smartphones and
tablets. Business buyers especially are significantly more
likely than consumers to perform a higher percentage of
40%
50%
60%
70%
their research using a mobile device (smartphone or tablet), suggesting that perhaps a considerable amount of research may be done while they’re on the road or traveling
for business.
Device most likely to be used to submit inquiry form
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0
Desktop + Laptop
OVERALL
Smartphone
BUSINESS INQUIRY
Similar results are observed when looking at the type of
device respondents indicated they were more likely to use
to submit an online inquiry form.
Tablet
PERSONAL INQUIRY
29% of business buyers used a mobile device to submit an
inquiry form while only 8% of personal buyers did.
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6. Impact of Slow or No Response
Percentage whose inquiries have been completely ignored
BUSINESS
INQUIRY
PERSONAL
INQUIRY
0
10%
20%
30%
Overall, more than half of all respondents indicated they
have experienced submitting an online inquiry form for
which they expected a response and never receiving one.
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
The likelihood of no response was even greater for business
buyers, with 70% of respondents indicating they’ve experienced this.
Percentage whose purchase decision has been influenced by a slow response
BUSINESS
INQUIRY
PERSONAL
INQUIRY
0
10%
20%
30%
Even when receiving responses, buyers expect a
prompt response. Slow responses have influenced
the purchase decision of the majority of survey respondents (57% overall), with those submitting busi-
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
ness inquiries being slightly more sensitive to slow
responses (64%) than those submitting personal
inquiries (54%).
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7. Impact of Slow or No Response
How slow is too slow?*
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0
15 MINUTES
1 HOUR
24 HOURS
48 HOURS
1 WEEK
Time elapsed since inquiry submission
Respondents also revealed what they considered was an
unacceptable response time by specifying the point at
which they would start to question a company’s attentiveness to their customers. More than 60% of buyers
said they would begin to question a company’s attentiveness to their customers if they did not hear back from the
company within 24 hours after submitting an online form.
Again, business buyers were a bit more demanding than
consumers, with 29% of respondents indicating they would
question a company’s attentiveness if they didn’t hear back
within one hour.
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8. Worst Online Buyer Experiences
Common themes from buyers describing their worst experience with online inquiries*
No Response
Bad Customer Service + Rudeness
Slow Response
Getting Harassing Calls
/ Emails / SPAM
Different Information from People
within the Same Organization
0
5%
10%
No response and slow response were two of the top three
reasons buyers cited when asked to freely describe their
worst experience in response to an online inquiry. Not
receiving a response to an inquiry was by far the most
common theme amongst buyers describing their worst
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
experience, surprisingly beating out bad customer service/rudeness by a significant margin. Bad customer
service/rudeness was followed closely by slow response
and spamming.
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9. Best and Worst Industries
Buyers were also asked to identify the industries with which
they’ve had the best and worst response experiences. The
insurance industry had the highest number of respondents
ranking it as one of the best (33% of all respondents),
while the healthcare industry had the highest number
of respondents ranking it as one of the worst (14% of all
respondents). However, those results are largely determined by the number of people who have submitted an
inquiry to companies in those industries.
Likelihood of being considered best versus worst*
450%
400%
350%
300%
250%
200%
150%
All industries had at least some respondents placing them
in the best category and others placing them in the worst
category. So, a different way to look at the best and worst
industries, in relation to their response to inquiries, is to
calculate how much more likely respondents were to place
them in the best category versus in the worst category.
100%
The leisure/hospitality industry was ranked highest in terms
of quality of response, with 21% of respondents placing it in
the best category, while only 4% placed it in the worst category. On the other end of the spectrum, buyers inquiring
about utility or energy-related products and services (e.g.
solar panels, energy conservation services, car charging
stations, etc.) were more likely to indicate they had a bad
experience with these sellers than a good experience.
50%
0
-50%
Leisure / Hospitality
Energy / Utilities
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10. Impact of Competition
Percentage who believe the first company to call has an advantage over the competition
BUSINESS
INQUIRY
PERSONAL
INQUIRY
0
10%
20%
30%
Buyers not only indicated that a slow response can be detrimental; they also indicated that a fast response can be
advantageous. Overall, 64% of buyers believed that the
first company to call them had an advantage over others,
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
while the rest felt there was little to no advantage. Only 2%
felt it might be detrimental for a company to be the first to
call. Business buyers were somewhat more likely to think it
was an advantage to be the first to call than consumers did.
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11. Impact of Competition
Number of different companies contacted*
60%
Percentage of Respondents
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0
1
2
Being the first to call is especially important when considering the number of companies that buyers typically
contact when inquiring about a product or service. The
majority of all buyers typically submit inquiries to three
3
4
5+
different companies when looking to buy a product or
service. Only 6% submit inquiries to only one company.
There were no significant differences between business
buyers and consumers in response to this question.
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12. Buyer Preferences for Contact Practices
Call attempts in a 30-day period*
As Many Call Attempts as it Takes
Eight Call Attempts
Six Call Attempts
FourCall Attempts
Two Call Attempts
One Call Attempt is Enough
0
5%
10%
15%
Buyers also indicated that they generally preferred to
be contacted and sent information via multiple forms
of communication throughout the sales process. The
majority of respondents prefer to be contacted through
either a combination of phone and email, the most
popular option, or through a combination of phone, email,
and text.
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
When it comes to a company’s persistence in trying to
reach a buyer, most respondents suggested they would
like multiple calls before a company gives up trying to
reach them. Three quarters of all buyers said they would
like two to four calls, but a sizeable percentage (12%) even
suggested they would like as many calls as it takes to get a
hold of them.
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13. Buyer Preferences for Contact Practices
Emails in a 30-day period*
As Many Emails
as it T
akes
7-10 Emails
5-6 Emails
3-4 Emails
1-2 Emails
No Emails
0
10%
20%
Similar results were obtained when respondents were asked
the same question about email communication. 83% of
buyers would like companies to send them 1-4 emails in
a 30-day period in an effort to make contact when they
haven’t been successful via phone. Only 2% would prefer
not to receive any emails.
Most buyers were also open to receiving text messages in
response to a submitted inquiry, with business buyers being even more receptive to text messages than consumers.
30%
40%
50%
71% of business buyers were open to receiving text messages. Some of the reasons and instances that respondents
indicated would constitute good reasons for texts included:
• After initial conversation, if continued interest is expressed
• When calls haven’t been successful
• As reminders of deadlines or appointments
• To quickly confirm something
• Special promotions or offers
• Anytime
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14. Buyer Preferences for Contact Practices
Callback preference
BUSINESS
INQUIRY
62%
PERSONAL
INQUIRY
38%
49%
0
20%
51%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Being called back as quickly as possible, even if it’s by a different salesperson
Always communicatjng with the same person, even if it means having to wait
a little longer to be contacted
After initial contact has been made, response speed for
subsequent interactions is still important, but for some, it
may not be as important as being able to communicate
with the same salesperson.
Slightly more than half of all respondents valued response
speed over being able to talk to the same salesperson
when expecting a callback. Consistent with their previous
replies regarding response speed, business buyers valued
response speed at a slightly higher rate (62%) than personal buyers did.
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15. Buyer Preferences for Contact Practices
Willingness to wait to talk to the same salesperson*
Willing to Wait as
Long as it T
akes
1 Week
3 Days
1 Day
4 Hours
1 Hour
15 Minutes
0
5%
10%
15%
However, even those that preferred to wait to talk to
the same sales rep had their limits. 80% of all respondents were not willing to wait more than a day to talk
to the same salesperson they may have spoken with
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
before. If the callback would take more than a day,
they were willing to speak to someone else, as long as
the other person had access to the same information
about them.
*Charts with asterisks include aggregate results for responses from both business and personal buyers.
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16. Summary and Conclusions
Today’s buyers are increasingly using the Internet to
research, inquire about, and purchase a variety of high-value products and services for both business and personal
use. Most buyers are well-informed prior to engaging with
vendors due the amount of research they perform prior to
contact. They are also increasingly adopting mobile technologies to conduct much of their research and even to
submit online inquiries.
In this new, highly competitive, high-velocity sales environment, buyers have expressed that they value quick responses to their inquiries and that they expect companies to be
persistent within reason in their approach to contacting
them via multiple modes of communication. Nevertheless,
buyers’ voiced experiences suggest that many companies
are failing in these areas because a large number of buyers’
inquiries are going unanswered. Business buyers especially
seem to have higher expectations regarding responses to
their inquiries, but they are also more receptive to adopting and using different technology options to engage with
vendors both before and during the sales process.
Certain industries seem to be better than others in meeting buyers’ expectations, but improvements can be made
across the board to provide buyers with the type of inquiry
response experiences that they desire. This study should
provide a great starting point for companies responding to
online inquiries to develop a response strategy that aligns
with the expectations of their prospective customers. That
initial strategy should later be supplemented with information on what truly drives increased sales, since it’s possible
that what customers say they want and what actually works
could vary slightly.
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17. About Us
About Zogby Analytics
Zogby Analytics provides custom research and insight to
leaders of businesses and communities, as well as to individuals. They have successfully surveyed a wide variety
of industries, including banking, medical devices, government agencies, colleges and universities, non-profits, automotive, insurance and many more. They have extensively
About Velocify
Velocify is a market leading provider of cloud-based
intelligent sales automation solutions that drive more
effective and efficient sales processes and improved
conversion rates. With unmatched expertise, drawn
from a dedication to helping more than 1,500 clients
automate and improve their lead response and selling
processes, Velocify has become the platform of choice
About PossibleNOW
PossibleNOW provides enterprise preference management solutions that let marketers personalize multi-channel communications to their customers and prospects. By
enabling consumers to manage their preferences — includ-
polled four Presidential election cycles and many off-year
state and local elections. As former employees of Zogby
International, they are known worldwide for their ability
to empower clients with information and research data
critical for making informed strategic decisions. Please
visit www.zogbyanalytics.com for more information.
for organizations focused on improving customer
acquisition practices and business performance. Velocify
is a privately held company, recently recognized as one
of the fastest growing companies in North America on
Deloitte’s 2012 Technology Fast 500. Please visit
www.velocify.com for more information.
Call: 888-843-1777
Email: sales@velocify.com
Web: www.velocify.com
Blog: velocify.com/blog
ing the preferred means of contact, the optimal frequency,
the specific products or services of interest, and account
servicing preferences — organizations send more targeted
messages and eliminate marketing waste.
Call: 800-585-4888
Email: info@possiblenow.com
Web: www.possiblenow.com
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