1. Do you believe that how Search Engine Optimized a given vendor web site is positively correlates to how good a fit their products/solutions are for your need?
2. Those darned search engines are getting paid by someone. Oh right!... Advertisers!
3. How good are you at using the search engine(s) you use? Yes, two comparably capable people using the same tools for the same duration will get different quality results if they have differing degrees of searching skill.

Okay, so how about… use the search engines

1. To find the buyer’s guides
2. As a buyer’s guide… but consider it no more complete than the others

1. They generally provide access to only a subset of relevant vendors, so you can’t use just one – it’s hard to tell when you’re done. Not every vendor will pay to be listed in every buyer’s guide. Some won’t pay to be in any of them; especially true of the 4-year old company that’s got the latest awesome solution but not much of a marketing department.
2. Advertiser directories, but rarely provide any help in identifying whether the listed vendor has a relevant offering or good fit with your particular need.
3. They may introduce large numbers of low quality leads which, if followed, slow down the research process.
4. Sometimes you can’t directly link to the listed vendors from the guide. You have to go through the directory publisher, which generally means, you use a search engine.
5. Some of the guide contents are very out of date.
6. Buyer’s guides offer no pretext of neutrality. All the vendors listed in a buyer’s guide are amazing and awesome.

FastWrap
So buyer’s guides are a great way to find industry leaders and tired old established vendors with established marketing relationships (budgets and staff) and out-of-date products, but you might not find all the best solutions there.

There’s a better way!

Randall S. Pearson

© Pearrari Solutions, Inc.