When it comes to software adoption, this disconnect may be because there’s only recently been a proliferation of SaaS spend management tools in the B2B technology landscape. If buyers won’t take the extra step to gather empirical evidence of product usage, sellers must provide tools to show proof of adoption and ROI in the early stages of implementation and use. 45% of buyers renew what they already use without considering new options, an increase of about 3 percentage points year over year (YoY), while 53% conduct research and consider alternatives when a product is up for renewal. Each side highlights a different area of required focus for sellers. For those who renew without researching alternatives, a streamlined implementation process and proof of value early on is key to ensuring that they don’t have a reason to search for other solutions. Switching costs may be lower than ever for software buyers, but some buyers have a strong aversion to change that makes getting in the door so important. It is vital to be present with transparent pieces of digestible information wherever buyers conduct research and purchase. Buyers are looking for value early on Delivering value is important, but delivery is not enough. Sellers must prove and communicate that value to secure initial contracts and subsequent renewals. Sellers are under scrutiny from the moment the ink dries on the contract, and the majority of them have less than six months to either stand up to that scrutiny and secure a renewal, or not. The lack of multi-year deals (only 11% of contracts are over two years), combined with lower-than-ever switching costs for buyers in a cloud-based world, means that vendors are constantly selling, especially during product implementation and early-stage use. There is less formal training happening internally this year compared to last year, which shifts the burden of product training to sellers. 16% of respondents said that their organization doesn’t conduct any formal training and relied on employees to learn the software tool themselves compared to 5% who reported this in 2021. The lack of training infrastructure is an opportunity for sellers to create comprehensive product training programs that are sandwiched in with the implementation process. of buyers use tools to track software adoption. 13% of software contracts are six months or less.² 57% 2022 G2 Software Buyer Behavior Report 5