Gartner : Change Readiness Profiles-Another Way to Refine B2B Marketing Strategies

A fundamental truth that is held throughout Gartner is that behaviors-both organizational and individual-shape decision making practices and effectiveness. It is easy to focus on firmographics, demographics, or traditional intent signals. But those don't capture the real drivers behind decisions; particularly organizational decisions. To really ramp up effectiveness, you have to dig deeper.

Any one who has read more than a couple of my blogs is familiar with Enterprise Technology Adoption (ETA) profiles (which will be featured in the opening keynote at the Gartner Tech Growth and Innovation Virtual Conference in July). Other groups at Gartner have seen the insights from the approach and have adapted the model for the context of their markets and coverage. The folks at Capterra have used a derivative model to profile small business buyers that often don't have any internal IT resources and produced some interesting insights.

And now, our marketing practice has looked at a broader context of B2B purchase decisions, not just technology, and created a set of profiles built around Change Readiness. Their work started from an understanding of ETAs, then building a statistically valid model that explored a wide variety of dimensions, before uncovering the things that matter most. Fundamentally, it is all about change willingness and change effectiveness. Collectively, we call these the Gartner Enterprise Change Readiness Profiles.

The initial research report on this (for clients, you can access it here), "Boost B2B Demand Generation Performance Using Gartner's Enterprise Change Readiness Profiles" explores the profiles in depth and highlights the differences in buying approach for folks in these profile groups. The research and/or inquiries with the GML team can help you tailor your marketing strategies to appeal to their unique approach and preferences. These optimized marketing efforts will help you accelerate opportunities-and success.

Enterprise Change Readiness or ETAS?

We do want to clarify one question that may come up. If I'm a tech company, which of these profile approaches should I use? My general recommendation is that ETAs add additional dimensions for large, complex technology purchases that are specific to those efforts. Therefore, ETAs are likely the way to go for most tech companies.

But the whole idea of change is central to the ETA model and, as this new research shows, most any purchase decision. Using the insights from the Change Readiness work will add significant value in qualification and demand generation. For creative thinkers, consider applying the Change Readiness profiles internally, evaluating your own organization and decision making. You may discover insights to improve your change readiness and effectiveness.

More than anything else, it is just another avenue to go beyond firmographic models and traditional intent signals to look at the often unexplored factors that make or break opportunities and projects.