Industry overview
What is shaping information technology
IT services and technology companies sell to CIOs, IT heads and business leaders through long, multi-stakeholder buying cycles where trust and proof matter.
- Buying committees are getting larger
- Thought leadership and proof points shorten sales cycles
- Win/loss evidence improves bids
Client background
A mid-sized IT services and consulting firm, working in India, UAE & Saudi Arabia. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.
- Organisation
- A mid-sized IT services and consulting firm
- Sector
- Information technology
- Team engaged
- Market Research
- Services
- Qualitative research, Business panel, Reporting & insights
Client challenge
The firm bid for dozens of projects each quarter but only learned why it lost from brief emails or rumours. Sales leaders suspected that pricing, solution fit and relationship issues all played a part, but had no structured evidence to act on.
Research objectives
- Deliver on the brief: a win/loss programme for an IT services firm.
- Uncover the motivations and barriers people do not state in a survey.
- Set up a repeatable measure the client can track over time.
Target audience
Scope: 60 interviews a year.
Audiences we typically reach in information technology
CIOs and IT headsBusiness decision-makersProcurement teamsExisting clientsPartners and resellers
Geographic coverage
Coverage: India, UAE & Saudi Arabia. Markets: India, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
- India
- United Arab Emirates
- Saudi Arabia
Research methodology
A qualitative design, built to uncover motivations, decision processes and the language people actually use.
- 1Brief
- 2Post-decision buyer interviews
- 3Quarterly insight reports
- 4Insight
Within a few weeks of each major decision, our researchers interviewed the client’s buyers, independent of the sales team, about how proposals were evaluated, what stood out and what fell short. Interviews were confidential, which encouraged candour, and findings were coded into themes and reported quarterly with recommendations for sales, delivery and marketing teams.
Qualitative researchBusiness panelReporting & insights
Sampling strategy
- Business respondents were screened on role, company size and involvement in the decision before being invited.
- Online respondents were drawn from verified panel members who matched the screening criteria, with quotas on key profile attributes.
- Qualitative participants were recruited purposively to cover the full range of experiences that mattered, rather than for statistical representation.
Data collection
- interviews a year
- 60
- The online survey was mobile-friendly and offered in respondents' languages.
- Interviews and discussions were led by experienced moderators using a guide agreed with the client.
Data quality & validation
- Digital fingerprinting and duplicate checks
- Attention, speed and straight-lining checks
- Review of open-ended answers
- Recordings and transcripts for every session
- Re-screening of qualitative recruits
- Logic and range checks on the final data
- Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures
Data analysis
- Thematic coding of interviews and discussions
- Journey and decision mapping
Key findings
- Losses often followed weak discovery: proposals answered the brief but missed concerns the buyer had raised in meetings.
Independent interviews heard reasons buyers would never tell the sales team directly.
Recommendations
- Build on the core insight: independent interviews heard reasons buyers would never tell the sales team directly.
- Focus effort where the evidence was strongest: losses often followed weak discovery: proposals answered the brief but missed concerns the buyer had raised in meetings.
- Re-measure after the changes to confirm the effect.
Business impact
- The firm introduced a structured discovery checklist and executive sponsor involvement for large bids, and win rates improved over the following quarters.
What changed in the business as a result of the work. Impact is described qualitatively.
Deliverables & next steps
- Insight report and management presentation
- Cleaned data file and data tables
- Interview summaries and key verbatims
- Continue the routine and review results every period.
- A natural follow-on question: how is our brand seen against rivals?
Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.