Investment in Smart Building Software Rebounds: Understanding Procurement Strategies

 Uncertainty brought on by low occupancy rates, high energy costs, and impending recessions made people less inclined to spend money on smart building software. The landscape is changing, though, and by 2024, corporate strategies will be more stable as hybrid policies become more firmly established, the need for ESG monitoring grows, and the outlook for the economy becomes more definite.

Changes in Purchasing Methods

• Adopting a “Best of Breed” Perspective

The ‘best of breed’ approach to software procurement has become increasingly popular over the last four years. Concurrently, there has been an increase in interdepartmental consultation concerning software acquisition tactics.

Industry-Specific Trends

• Differences Between Industries

The strategies used by respondents to procure software vary significantly; all-in-one solutions, multiple point solutions, and a few solutions with broad functionality are divided almost evenly among them. Interestingly, sectors like manufacturing favor single-integrated solutions, while the media, telecom, education, and technology sectors tend to favor point solutions. Further research is necessary to understand the underlying causes of these changing tactics.

Influence of Key Stakeholders

• CEO and C-Suite Influence

CEOs have a big say in decisions about smart building technologies that are made outside of the facilities division. Obtaining investment sign-offs and budgets frequently requires consulting with C-Suite executives. Furthermore, the expanding sustainability agenda encourages cooperation on technology investments between facilities teams and sustainability departments. Notably, IT departments are crucial, as nearly 50% of respondents stated that they have significant control over software investments, which are primarily influenced by security-related technology procurement policies.

Final Words

It is important to comprehend the subtleties of procurement strategies as the field of smart building software investment develops. In the era of smart buildings, driving successful investments requires navigating these complexities, with key stakeholders exerting varying levels of influence and industries embracing diverse approaches.

Learn the Importance of Customer Feedback!

 When a consumer tells you how satisfied they were with your service or product, this is known as “customer feedback.” Customer reviews, social media comments, star ratings, chat exchanges, spontaneous email messages, or face-to-face dialogues between consumers and employees are just some of the ways in which they can be expressed. You may learn a lot about a business by listening to what customers have to say about their experiences. 

They may point out specific problems and offer suggestions on how to fix them. You might have to put in a bit more effort to get to the bottom of what your customers are telling you through approaches like data processing and key driver analysis.

What’s the big deal about getting feedback from your customers?

Collecting consumer feedback has a plethora of advantages. Here are a few examples.

• Customer feedback can serve as an early warning system for potential problems in your processes and systems. Early detection of problems can save you a great deal of time and effort if you pay attention to and act on the feedback you receive. In fact, you’ll be able to remedy problems before they arise, ensuring that your consumers are happy.

 

• As a result of gathering customer feedback at a big scale, this data source can be used to identify regions or departments that are performing better or worse than others. What works and what doesn’t can be improved upon.

 

• Customer feedback is a powerful relationship-builder since it allows your customers to know that you care about their opinions and are doing your best to address their concerns. People can tell a lot about your company’s culture and principles if you’re open and responsive to customer comments in public. Your customers will be able to tell that you truly care about their experience.

 

• This is a fantastic opportunity to transform a failed connection by completing the loop when your customers aren’t happy with your product or service.

 

• Boost your brand’s reputation by paying attention to and acting on client feedback. It’s not just about providing amazing customer service and producing high-quality products that contribute to a positive customer experience; it’s also about how you respond to complaints and suggestions.

 

• Customer input can serve as a springboard for new product and service development ideas and directions, regardless of whether it comes from individual customers or from a pattern that develops from your data at scale. 

Feedback is a powerful market research instrument that helps you learn more about your clients. This includes not only their desires and dislikes but also their innermost thoughts and values. 

From customer communities to email outreach to on-site surveys and market research, there are a variety of ways in which this feedback can be obtained. The IBI team can help you navigate through this effortlessly!

Smart Surveys Capturing Targeted Insight- Know all that there is to!

Market research firms are increasingly turning to smart surveys as part of the worldwide drive toward digital transformation. 

Because the old-fashioned way of gathering data is so slow and inefficient, it makes sense. Even more importantly, a well-executed digital survey is more effective and faster than traditional techniques at capturing responses.

In today’s market research, speed to insight is everything, thus having this data gathering tool in your toolbox is essential if you want to capture relevant insights. Despite the fact that surveys were the first form of market research, they still have a place in today’s approach for extracting customer journey insights. 

Goals remain the same, but strategies have evolved.

For example, a standard mail-in survey is a risk. When a consumer receives a survey, whether they’re in the mood to fill it out, and if the response choices coincide with their opinions, they’re more likely to respond. In the event that any of these items are missing, you will not receive any compensation, and you will be wasting your money.

• Consumers are becoming more aware of scams and unscrupulous intentions on the internet. 
• Consumers will feel exploited if surveys are poorly planned or incentivized in a way that gives the impression of a bait and switch. 
• Brands need to keep this in mind when designing their smart surveys for consumers because it’s a sad truth.

However, the returns will be well worth the work once you create and deploy smart surveys that capture honest feedback at an appropriate time in the client experience. 

And they won’t feel like they’re being bullied. Incentives can help you get people to participate in your survey since they feel like they’re getting something in return for their time.

With the use of smart surveys, you may gain a deeper understanding of your brand’s customers and the market. Personal surveys in-app or pre/post-checkout can help humanize the customer experience when they are most emotionally invested in your business thanks to the widespread adoption of AI, chatbots, and personalization.

Emotion-based surveys employing facial recognition cues in focus groups or unintrusive input obtained from curated communities related to your CX strategy are examples of forward-thinking smart surveys. 

Smart surveys are currently riding a wave of goodwill, so it makes sense to outmaneuver your competitors in this area.

Regardless of how you plan to conduct a smart survey, market research will help you identify the most effective methods for reaching your target population and maximizing response rates.

Holistic Consumer and Market Intelligence Understanding- How important is it?

To strategize effectively and avoid risk, your company requires a 360-degree picture that incorporates customer and market intelligence. This entails obtaining data from every possible source.

Simply put, the more data sets you have access to, the more educated you will be. However, like with everything else in life, balance is critical. 

If you invest excessively in social interactions about your brand without first grasping the underlying market drivers, your understanding of your brand’s positioning will be imbalanced.

On the other hand, a firm grasp of market circumstances without a firm grasp of social media trend lines may cause you to undersell your messaging to large swathes of your target audience.

If your competitors repeatedly outmanoeuvre you in a given area, the likelihood is that they are more informed than you. Business agility is not based on bravado; it is based on a holistic view of consumer and market intelligence. 

Following the pandemic’s devastation of numerous industries, companies are engaged in an arms race for intelligence. It’s a race to the top, and the one who can pivot first wins. Without proper intelligence, brands make costly errors that have a negative impact on their bottom line.

For many industries, last year was a case of sink or swim, which highlighted the critical nature of pivoting on a dime. Brands have become more tenacious in their efforts to mitigate unforeseeable risk, which has resulted in a profound need for accessible and actionable intelligence built on a powerful data network.

Siloed data, while expedient, is a squandered resource and a hindrance to agile decision-making. Your brand’s position should be understood across all data silos, including internal data, consumer and social intelligence, and strategic market information.

Consumer intelligence should be based on social media analytics, staff and product evaluations, and polls, in addition to logistical purchase data, to provide a comprehensive and robust understanding of your customer voice (VoC). Similarly, your competitive intelligence should incorporate the same insights and be as well-informed as possible. 

Consider the information that may be gleaned from Glassdoor evaluations alone. And this is precisely the type of data that can be imported into your market research platform to develop a more full picture of your firm.

To begin, your market intelligence strategy should be top-down, with a unified understanding of global positioning, trends, and competitive movement. As you drill down into your category, you may require access to information about the mergers and acquisitions and patent landscape in your area. 

Any unstructured data that you can obtain, such as earnings call transcripts, that provides insight into the competition is critical for gaining an edge.

Access to a wealth of valuable data across the consumer and market spectrum will be the deciding factor between first movers and those who fall behind this year. To win, your market research tools must be capable of handling anything you throw at them – and that should be a lot.

Aligning Mission Statement with Consumer Values

Consumers are conducting brand research at an unprecedented level, and this trend shows no indications of abating. 

Throughout the pandemic, we discovered that individuals began to seek out brands that shared their beliefs in an effort to spend their money with companies that shared their concerns. Consumers are conducting due diligence on you on a variety of topics, including the environment, sustainability, black-owned businesses, whale conservation, and ethical fashion. 

 Brands that ignore this stance risk losing customers to competitors who do.

Neither silence nor an antiquated purpose statement is a feasible option in this case. Forward-thinking brands who are aware of consumer trends have already made modifications and followed through on their commitments. 

If a customer visits your website and your mission statement reads like it was written in 1998, those funds will not make their way into your war chest. Consumers that are savvy today view brands as extensions of themselves. They’ve worked diligently to ascertain where their money is spent, and it’s critical to them. 

To them, it’s tremendously off-putting if your goal statement has aged like milk. They want products and services from a business that understands and addresses their social and environmental concerns.

That needs a new mission statement that is backed up by action. To truly go above and above, have your work independently certified by a third-party agency to establish confidence. Consumers are inherently distrustful of companies, and anything that can be done to alleviate that tension is a win. In any case, re-examining your goal statement is not a wishful thinking exercise. 

It remains true to your brand’s identity. However, demonstrating your interest goes a long way. In the eyes of the consumer, putting actions behind your words is the frosting on the cake.

Utilize market research to guide your efforts here, as making an educated guess is silly – and potentially detrimental. With a firm grasp of global trends, Patagonia’s mission statement could almost write itself based on the topic clusters alone. The social media conversations surrounding your brand will reveal which trends are most popular among your target demographic. In your mission statement, make a point of highlighting them. 

Demonstrate to the consumer that you’ve taken notice of and embraced their beliefs, and you’ll boost both your brand story and customer experience.

 

Market Research in the Post-pandemic World!

Don’t you think, we’ve not fixated enough on the fact that this world will change drastically when we are out of the pandemic and nothing will ever be the same! Also, one more ambiguous thought running in and out of our minds is – is the pandemic over? Are we out of it? Or is there anything more still coming our way?

Well, whatever this transition phase is, we think we should all be prepared for what’s coming next! Our globe is gradually entering a post-pandemic reality that presents many hurdles for market researchers and businesses alike.

Customers’ changing behavior in connection to market research initiatives is a common theme in many of these studies. Technology, techniques, and procedures that were used during the epidemic have continued to be used in the post-COVID environment, as well.

The market research business was not exempt from the adjustments that will need to be accommodated as the epidemic eases down, as may be seen in this fashion. In the wake of the pandemic, there have been numerous observable and quantitative changes in the market research field. Market research is shifting to mobile devices as a result of changes in consumer behavior and obstacles in data collection.

Let’s dwell on them in a little more detail:

1- Consumer Behaviour

1. Customers are shifting brands faster than ever. 45 percent of customers think COVID-19 has shifted their brand preferences, and 62 percent expect these changes to be long-term.
2. Whether through digital services or contactless delivery, consumers have discovered the convenience of having all of their needs addressed at home.
3. As more and more people shop online, they have a higher desire for ease.
4. Even though just 16 percent of US internet adults say they will return to their pre-virus state of normalcy after the pandemic is over, 75 percent believe that the pandemic will cause long-term changes in their habits and preferences.

2- Collecting Data

1. Many innovations have been taking place since 2020 that will require a rethinking of the digital ecosystem’s privacy policies.
2. An unprecedented digital revolution is about to hit many different businesses, but online market research will be particularly hard hit by these developments.
3. Market researchers will have to come up with new ways to collect first-party data in the wake of these changes, as they will no longer be able to use tracking cookies.
4. This is done through establishing personal and direct relationships with customers over the internet.
5. As the changing digital ecosystem shifts, market researchers must be more attentive in their selection of appropriate digital tools and services.

3- Higher acceptance to mobile research

1. Market researchers need to take advantage of the surge in mobile traffic around the world since it gives an additional medium for obtaining consumer data.
2. This entails the creation and distribution of surveys online as well as the only use of mobile devices to conduct research.
3. The cost of conducting mobile market research is lower than that of conducting research via a panel of experts.
4. It is possible for researchers to observe their subjects in their natural context while they use their mobile devices voluntarily, thanks to the shift toward ethnographic research.
5. Observational study apps for mobile devices have made it possible for scientists to examine human behavior in the wild.

4- Massive Digitization

1. Since the outbreak of the COVID epidemic, the digital economy has grown significantly.
2. It is expected that digitalization would continue to rise during COVID-19’s recovery phase.
3. All industries are undergoing a digital transition, with many developing new methods to serve customers online.
4. Some countries saw an increase in internet traffic of up to 60%, as customers instead of shopping in stores and using in-person services turned to the internet instead.
5. Companies must adapt, reorganize, and incorporate new digital technologies in order to thrive in the digital age.

A market research effort may appear unclear if not impossible in light of all the ongoing changes the pandemic and the post-pandemic era have brought about.

In the post-pandemic era of market research, however, market researchers who pay attention to developments, build a sound agile research plan and use the market research correct instruments will be able to succeed.

Customers’ shifting preferences and behavior have led to corresponding shifts and breakthroughs in technology, strategy, and methodology. For this reason, market researchers must always be on the lookout for the latest trends and market research techniques, as well as their intended audience in order to plan their next big move effectively. The post-pandemic adjustments necessitate a powerful market research tool for enterprises and researchers.

Market Research’s role in lowering business risks- An in-depth guide

For companies, large or small, managing risk is of key importance. Even if risk can’t be eliminated, it can be significantly reduced or avoided. One such tool to keep risks in check is market research.

Market research helps in understanding the market in a way that helps businesses avoid taking unnecessary risks when the time isn’t right. As a result, it saves time and avoids additional expenditure.

What’s most important in market research to avoid the risk potential?

The Right Approach
While market research does significantly reduce risk, how it is conducted determines its accuracy and its effectiveness. If data isn’t sourced from trusted sources, then it runs the risk of inaccuracy and an eventual failure in decision making. Thus, data must be gathered from reliable sources and only research firms that have expertise in this area should be engaged.

Take data from multiple sources
Using data from multiple sources will give you a 360-degree view of the situation rather than a myopic one. When data is viewed from various angles, then comes a greater understanding of the subject matter which helps fill gaps and avoid misinterpretations.

Needs and wants of the target market
Market research plays a pivotal role in marketing. It assesses the needs and wants of the target group. Organizations obtain information about their consumers that allow them to target better and more effectively. Learning about the market before making a move helps prevent future obstacles.

Counter unpredictability
With in-depth knowledge of the market scenario, market research helps counter unpredictability by bringing a certain degree of certainty to the plate. It may not be a hundred percent accurate all the time, but it can come quite close.

Be prepared
Like certainty, market research also helps companies stay prepared for what’s to come next. By keeping track of changing market moods and trends, market research knows when the iron is hot to strike and when it is time to sit and watch.

Market research assists companies in making better marketing decisions.
Risks are significantly less when market research is involved. Market research is worth the money invested since it helps reduce losses