Market Measures survey: Is NZ’s tech sector stacking up?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Is New Zealand’s tech sector stacking up?

Getting under the hood to help accelerate the growth of Kiwi tech companies aim of ninth annual study.

Auckland, 23 August 2018 – The ninth annual Market Measures survey of New Zealand hi-tech sales and marketing opened today at www.marketmeasures.co.nz.

Conducted by marketing advisory firms Concentrate and Swaytech, and sponsored by New Zealand Trade & Enterprise, the study draws data from a sample of over 300 New Zealand-based technology companies on their approach to marketing and selling their products.

“Tech is the future of the New Zealand to a significant degree, so we need to be really focussed on how we can grow our tech companies more quickly and efficiently,” says Owen Scott, managing director of Concentrate.

“What we are trying to do with Market Measures is uncover what the high performing tech companies in New Zealand do to grow faster than the average, and then how our tech sector compares overall with their USA counterparts in terms of sales and marketing.

“In the 2017 study of more than 300 tech exporters, we found that Kiwi companies are over-reliant on company founders and high-value sales people to sell their products and services.

‘’More than 46% of companies said a founder was still closely involved in sales, and the average sales person in an export market was paid a base salary almost 50% higher than the typical equivalent US sales person.”

“It’s not a scalable approach to generating export sales – 40% of the surveyed companies reported that productivity was their main problem when it came to managing their sales teams,” says Scott.

This year’s Market Measures study has a sales-strategy focus, recognising the potential for greater efficiency in lead generation and conversion across the New Zealand hi-tech sector, especially when exporting.

“As an industry we are still falling short when it comes to selling and marketing the great tech products and services we produce here in New Zealand and sell in the word market. Marketing is still seen as a variable expense rather than a critical investment. This needs to change if we are to fulfil our true potential on the global stage,” says Bob Pinchin, CEO of Swaytech.

The results will be available as a report in October 2018. Participants of the survey will receive the report for free; members of Market Measures supporters can access the report for $75 (including GST); and it will available for the general public to purchase for $375 (including GST).

Market Measures 2018 is supported by industry groups ATEED, Canterbury Tech Cluster, ChristchurchNZ, FinTechNZ, WREDA, NZ Hi-Tech Trust, NZ Tech Industry Association, New Zealand Software Association, Priority One and NZ Tech Marketer’s Group.

To participate in the survey, visit www.marketmeasures.co.nz

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