Conducting Global Thought Leadership Research for Apttus

An award-winning global B2B software company that automates the sales cycle (from quote to renewal), approached Provoke Insights to conduct breakthrough thought leadership research that examines the changing retail landscape. With five thousand employees wanted to be seen as a leader in the sales cycle space. The research would be used for press, conferences, and content marketing purposes.

The company was looking to publish thought leadership research that investigated the current retail market in regards to trends, technology, and attitudes. The software provider was looking to understand how those involved in the sales funnel thought about business innovation, automation, buying experience, artificial intelligence, and new technologies. The company also wanted to show how results differed by country: United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

Provoke Insights researched potential topics beforehand in order to discover trending topics that have high engagement. Pouring over available research sparked unique ideas or new perspectives on a subject.

Next, the market research firm drafted headlines that would spark interest among potential buyers in the B2B space. And as a result, Provoke Insights planned a series of reports; the buyer report and the seller report.

Thirdly, a questionnaire was developed and programmed. Once the survey was programmed in English, it was translated into German.

The survey was distributed in the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

Provoke Insights then wrote the thought leadership pieces in the form of two comprehensive PowerPoint presentations; one on purchasers, and one on retailers. The software company published the reports to the public, the piece included findings such as experience eclipses price as the number one factor driving B2B buying decisions. The company used the data to gather contact information on users who wanted to view the reports by prompting them with their email to see the results of the studies. The thought leadership was also used as material for conferences. Another round of the research is expected to take place in 2020 and will launch in additional countries.