Published on the 12/08/2015 | Written by Newsdesk
Concentrate and Swaytech open hi-tech sector sales and marketing survey, supported by Deloitte and Hudson Gavin Martin…
New Zealand companies tend to be good at what they do, but not that good at telling the world about it. Setting out to change the status quo, the annual Market Measures study, which benchmarks the effectiveness of the sales and marketing activities of New Zealand’s hi-tech sector, is getting underway for the seventh time.
“Market Measures helps our hi-tech stars compare their sales and marketing strategies against each other, and against specific USA benchmarks,” said Owen Scott, MD of Concentrate, which is co-developer (with Swaytech) of the survey.
Scott said the original Market Measures set out to establish why local technology companies don’t spend on marketing. “We actually found that they spend a heck of a lot, but in a way which is all around the salesperson. They tend to equip the ‘lone wolf’, arm him up with brochures and PowerPoint and send him to the USA.”
What they don’t do is to support those individuals with a more complete marketing programme. “That’s been the big finding; the way the Americans take on the market is very different to the way Kiwis do it. They [Americans] are very efficient at selling.”
Scott said this year’s survey is delving into content marketing. “We’ve sourced good USA benchmarks to compare our local companies with American ones. We’re looking to them to see how Kiwis can do it.”
He said Kiwi companies tend to be tech-led, rather than sales led (something of which one local company recently became aware). “There is enormous opportunity in our local tech sector. There are great products and a lot of the companies can scale further – but they are constrained by their way of reaching the market.”
Bob Pinchin, director of Swaytech, added that Market Measures is focused on uncovering the approaches mostly likely to enable hi-tech companies to efficiently grow sales in offshore markets. “The 2014 Survey was completed by close to 400 companies which gives us incredible insight into what Kiwi tech companies are doing and we look forward to building on that base this year,” he said.
By participating in the survey recipients, gain full access to the study results, including a comprehensive report worth $350, plus additional resources including whitepapers, infographics and the opportunity to directly benefit from specialised tech industry marketing advice and services.
For the first time ever, participants will also get an immediate “lead generation grading report” on completion of the survey. “We wanted to give participants an immediate benefit from participating, and this lead generation report benchmarks some of their answers against previous Market Measures data,” said Scott.
All New Zealand technology-based companies are invited to participate in the survey online at www.marketmeasures.co.nz
