October, 2012 | motarme

Buyers are acting like consumers – they are doing more research online before talking with potential suppliers of products and services. Initially, most of that research was being done through the 3 big search engines – Google, Bing and Yahoo – plus some specialist sites for particular industries, such as GlobalSpec in the US for industrial supplies. However, in the past seven years people have also begun asking their contacts on social networks for advice on potential purchases. The Edelman Trust Barometer examines trust in sources of information. Since about 2004 people have indicated their most trusted source of information is from “people like me” – 65% gave this response in the 2012 Barmoeter. This means they are using the input from friends, colleagues and their professional peer group across their social and real world networks when making purchase decisions.
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