Do CFOs use potential B2B vendor's websites?
Usually, CFOs come in later in the sales cycle for medium to large B2B deals. The business or technical buyers have indicated their choice for a vendor/partner and CFO helps finalize the deal.
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M$4 Answers
The entire paper can be downloaded at http://www.eloqua.com/resources/whitepapers/Digital_Body_Language_whitepaper.html#
I think it is free, but you do have to register.
Some journal articles that may be helpful are:
Martin, Craig & Prezioso, Bob, (2004). "Technological Tools For Moving the Deal Along. Mergers & Acquisitions: The Dealermaker's Journal; Oct 2004, Vol. 39 Issue 10, p26-28, 3p.
This article describes the advantages of using a virtual data room, where information related to B2B deal could be accessed at the same time by all parties involved.
"LinkedIn: It's Not Personal, It's Strictly Business" Min's B2B; 3/23/2009, Vol. 12 Issue 11, p6-6, 3/4p, 1
Article shows B2B use of social networking sites.
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M$
http://www.b2bcfo.com/partners/rperrin/blog/
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M$
I have dug around for the last 3 days and have only been able to find subjective material. This is likely the same research that you've already found through google and the other search engines.
What this tells me is that there currently is not any any formal, public data that specifically addresses your question. This doesn't surprise me because it's a very specific, somewhat specialized question that I suspect revolves around core market research.
So, the only way to really answer your question is going to be to poll a group of CFO's. Here's what I would do:
1)
Figure out exactly what type of "CFO" that you need to talk to. The title CFO applies to a lot of different disciplines including in a lot of different industries. You'll need to think about your product and likely who you'll be marketing it to when your product is launched.
2)
Formulate your questions. This is the tough part for most people. You need to ask short, clear questions that will clearly uncover what you need to know. There is quite a science to asking questions and further research or outsourced / contract labor may be the best way to go.
3)
Find your sample group. You need to carefully define your group. Not only are people sometimes difficult to poll, but you need to pick people who will accurately define your target market.
4)
Ask your group the questions in a variety of ways. Remember that people don't all respond the same way. Some people like a phone call, others like a personal visit, others will be happy to do it online, others need a letter, some need to be reminded that they can use ANY of these methods to get you your answers.
5)
Tally and analyze. Again, depending on the volume of research you've done, this may be best accomplished by hiring an outsource / contract firm to finish the data entry and tallies needed. Once assembled, the power is in the information; write down all of the questions that you'd like answered and run (if you're tech savvy) run the SQL queries to get your facts and figures.
0)
While this isn't the exact answer that you were looking for, I hope that it helps you. I've verified that this information does not publicly exist but have outlined a way to get it. This is the core of small scale market research and if you create a refined formula can be applied throughout business. Whenever you're entering a new market or simply need to know that you're making the right educated guess, simple, effective market research is key.
I sincerely hope that this helps, John!
RB : http://www.twitter.com/AR_RobBrown
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M$
"One of the biggest differences between B2B and B2C might be that most B2B companies don't seem to see themselves as engaged in e-commerce. Perhaps this is because most B2B sites don't have shopping carts. The typical B2B product can't be purchased through a simple Add to cart button: it might be custom-made, for example, or require other forms of handholding. Also, prices might not be fixed, but rather adjusted to each customer."
One can extrapolate from this that buyers and CFOs are not finding what they want on typical B2B websites.
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