Death of the salesman?

We were not surprised by the findings of a recent market research report that engineers are turning to the Internet as their preferred source for product specifications. According to market research carried out this summer in the GlobalSpec Annual Engineering Trends Survey, 90% of respondents involved with purchasing of technical products or services have used the Internet to obtain product specifications, with 56% rating specifications as ‘the most valuable information when searching for products or services’.

This serves to confirm Technical Marketing's view that the Internet is now a vital part of any integrated marketing campaign and highlights our four main areas of service – ‘marketing consultancy’, ‘internet marketing’, ‘press & public relations’ and ‘technical writing, documentation and publication’. We have used web database techniques to enable our clients to rapidly publish and update product specifications and news online – two of the top items engineers and buyers are looking for – and with full search facilities for visitors to quickly identify products and services they want.

The survey also records that 45% now spend more than 6 hours a week on the Internet for work purposes, meanwhile the use of printed trade magazines and attendance at trade shows continues to decline - 18% reported a decrease in use of printed magazines and 51% did not attend any trade shows. The top four reasons for using the Internet were found to be – ‘to find components and suppliers’, ‘obtain product specifications’, ‘research’ and ‘news’.

When it comes to contacting suppliers 42% opt for the web as their preferred medium, 36% for e-mail and 21% telephone and just 1% preferring a sales rep visit!