When I am only looking, I want to learn without being pulled into a sales process, so a moment of curiosity does not cost me dozens of calls.

Job context

Who

Someone researching a solution to a problem

When

Early on, before any budget exists

Trigger

Downloading one document and receiving ten calls

Situation

Every useful piece of information sits behind a form

Constraints

Needing to understand the problem before knowing whether to buy

5 Pains

• Useful information sits behind a form

  High

  Fill it in and the calls begin.

  Root cause: Content is produced to collect contact details

• No price without contacting them

  High

  So nothing can be filtered early.

  Root cause: Price is hidden so each buyer can be quoted differently

• Called repeatedly after saying no

  High

  Because the caller has a contact quota.

  Root cause: Sellers are measured on attempts rather than on fit

• Marketing material does not answer the real question

  Medium

  It says what the product does, never when it does not fit.

  Root cause: No seller writes about where they are the wrong choice

• Time lost to calls that lead nowhere

  Medium

  And that time is working time.

  Root cause: The time cost falls on the buyer and the benefit on the seller

5 Desired Outcomes

• Research without leaving contact details

  Functional

• See prices and filter for themselves

  Functional

• Say no once and have it hold

  Social

• Know when a product is not right for them

  Functional

• Not spend working hours on this

  Functional

5 Existing Solutions

A solution is not the same thing as a product, a customer can hire a behaviour or a workaround too.

• Enter false details in the form

  Workaround

  More common than anyone admits, corrupting the data on both sides.

• Ask peers rather than vendors

  Behaviour

  The most honest source, dependent on an existing network.

• Read reviews on comparison sites

  Product

  No contact details required, on sites often funded by the vendors.

• Take calls only once a budget exists

  Behaviour

  The greatest time saving, losing the learning stage.

• Use a self-serve trial where one exists

  Product

  Solves the actual problem, and most enterprise products have none.

2 Opportunity Gaps

• Sellers are measured on contacts captured, so every useful piece of information is placed behind a form, and a buyer in the learning stage is charged in their own time.

  Why existing solutions fail: Freely open content produces no number with which a marketing team can prove its value, so even when it serves buyers better it cannot survive inside the seller.

  Potential opportunity: Publishing prices and limitations openly, trading contact volume for the quality of those who arrive already qualified.

• No seller writes about where they are the wrong choice, though that is the most valuable information to an early-stage buyer.

  Why existing solutions fail: Stating one's limits reduces top-of-funnel opportunities, the number every sales team is measured on, so behaviour that serves both sides over time is punished this quarter.

  Potential opportunity: A page stating plainly when to choose someone else, using that honesty as the filter.