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Ballot Instructions

The purpose of the the ballot is to gather important feedback from industry participants regarding our research design.

If you would like to print and fax back a ballot, click here for a pdf version. Otherwise, please fill out the online form and your response will be emailed to our project team.

A Syndicated Market Research Survey of Commercial Vehicle Operators Providing In-depth Analysis on Internet Usage by Fleet Administrators and What Vendors Can Do To Improve the Effectiveness of Their Internet Marketing Programs

SITUATION

In 2000, Havill research found that less than 20 percent of fleet administrators reported using the Internet for fleet related activities. Just five years later, our 2005 study showed that usage of the Internet had jumped to nearly 60 percent - a three fold increase.

SIGNIFICANCE

The Internet offers marketers the opportunity to reach fleet administrators with their product and service communication at a fraction of the cost of print advertising and trade shows.
Businesses that fail to keep up with best Internet marketing practices risk losing brand position to competitors who adapt their communication strategy toward fleet operators who rely on the Internet for research and for making purchase decisions.

ISSUES BALLOT

The purpose of the issues ballot is to determine if there is sufficient interest among industry suppliers to sponsor a telephone survey of fleet administrators that will provide an in-depth analysis on their Internet usage and what vendors can do to improve the effectiveness of their Internet marketing programs.
Completing the issues ballot DOES NOT commit your company to subscribe to the proposed research.
Completing the issues ballot DOES ensure that issues important to your company are included in the survey questionnaire, should you later decide to subscribe.

Issues Ballot

Internet Practices of Commercial Fleets

Comments From:
Name:
Company:
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Item	Question
1.	Rate: High Medium Low General Fleet Industry Research Habits - Internet technology and its use has been rapidly expanding throughout the business sector. The purpose of this section is to benchmark how fleet administrators use the Internet and how important it is relative to their other sources for gathering industry information. How do fleet administrators receive news on industry trends Ranked importance of the different information sources as perceived by Fleet administrators Internet sites Email Mail Fax Retailer/distributor showrooms Trade Magazines Trade shows/industry conferences Personal sales visits To what extent do fleet administrators use the Internet to research and purchase new product and services What is their opinion as to whether or not their use of the Internet will grow as a fleet administration tool Additional Comments:
2.	Rate: High Medium Low Current Internet Access and Use - This section will collect demographic information on how fleet administrators access and use the Internet: Do fleet administrators have access to the Internet at work What type of Internet access do fleet administrators have - T1, cable, DSL, dial-up How much time do fleet administrators spend on the Internet for job related duties Do fleet administrators have mobile access to the Internet Which fleet related websites are accessed by fleet administrators Which fleet administration tools do they use on the Internet Planning and budgeting for purchasing and maintaining vehicles Hiring, training, and managing fleet personnel including driver background checks Registering and insuring vehicles Fueling vehicles, accessing fuel reports and locating facilities Disposing of used vehicles and equipment Which search engines are used by fleet administrators How does usage breakout by age and interest segmentation among Internet users and non-users Additional Comments:
3.	Rate: High Medium Low Current Internet Use and Purchasing Habits - The purpose of this section is to benchmark the current purchases being made by fleet administrators over the Internet and also determine if Internet purchases will grow over the foreseeable future. Are purchases currently being made over the Internet Which fleet products are currently being purchased over the Internet What is the volume of purchases made over the Internet In the future, will fleet products or services be purchased over the Internet Which products and services will be purchased Will Internet purchase volume increase Why is the Internet not used for purchasing by fleet administrators (by product category) If a better price were offered on Internet purchases, would fleets be more inclined to use the web What other fleet management activities is the Internet used for Additional Comments:
4.	Rate: High Medium Low Offline Purchase Influencers - Traditional marketing and sales channels include a variety of options for researching, evaluating, and purchasing products. It is important to understand which offline sources have the most influence on customer purchases. The purpose of this section is to benchmark the interest and use of offline influences in the research, evaluation and purchasing of fleet products. Rating of offline influences that are important to fleet administrators in researching new products Trade shows Seminars Direct mail Newspapers Radio Colleague or peer word-of-mouth Additional Comments:
5.	Rate: High Medium Low Online Purchase Influencers - The Internet itself offers many different information channels for researching, evaluating, and purchasing products. It is important to understand which online sources have the most influence on customer purchases. The purpose of this section is to benchmark the interest and use of online influences in the research, evaluation, and purchasing of fleet products. Rating of online influences that are important to fleet administrators in researching new products Standard search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing Vendor websites Distributor websites Buyer's guide with side-by-side product comparisons of competing vendors Online word-of-mouth through forums and newsgroups Online videos Opt in emails Webinars Social net sites Additional Comments:
6.	Rate: High Medium Low Top Vendor Website Features - Vendor websites are likely one of the top online influencers. Therefore it is important to understand what sort of information buyers are looking for on their vendors' websites. This section will rank the importance of the different site features when research, evaluating, and purchasing fleet products. Rating of vendor website features that are important to fleet administrators in researching new products General product information Downloadable white papers Downloadable product information Side-by-side product comparisons Access to reviews and product ratings from other fleet administrators Ability to view vendor video presentations Product pricing Live chat for immediate answers to product inquiries Ability to request a sales call A library of RFQ templates specific to the products or services being purchased Additional Comments:
7.	Rate: High Medium Low Requesting and Evaluating Bids, Making Purchases for the Fleet - The Internet has become a popular source for pre-sales research. As the technology develops and fleet administrators become more comfortable using the Internet for many of their activities, more and more of the research, RFQ, evaluation, and final purchase process will be facilitated through the web. The purpose of this section is to benchmark the interest and use of the Internet for proposal request and evaluation along with making the final purchase. Are fleet purchases made on a contract basis, as needed, or both (by product category) How is the decision made to buy on contract or as needed (by product category) Which products are bought on contract and which are bought as needed What are the most time-consuming tasks for purchases made on a contract basis How often do fleet administrators go with the same vendor vs. shopping for the best deal How do fleet administrators initiate contact with selected vendors Telephone Visit retailer/distributor Request personal sales visit Website/online chat/email Additional Comments:
8.	Rate: High Medium Low Client Website Evaluation - Based on the results of the research and fleet administrator survey, subscriber websites will be evaluated to determine how well they deliver the information needs of fleet administrators. A specific list of enhancements will be provided to improve the marketing effectiveness of client Internet marketing initiatives. Topics to be covered include: Making it easy for fleets to find you - web page rankings by search engine The website's visual appeal Navigation - how easy is it go from page to page to find product and service information Can fleet operators find the information they are looking for - specs, instructions, pricing, delivery... Are product brochure, white papers, testimonials, video demos provided Contact options - live chat, email, sales call Wholesaler/Dealer/Store locator Call to action - request for quotation, online ordering, promotions Sales support - warrantees, returns, repairs, after sale service Overall website appeal and usability Additional Comments:
9.	Rate: High Medium Low Supplier Profiles Posted on the Internet as a Study Deliverable - Over the past decade, our company has compiled a marketing file of about one million businesses that operate fleet vehicles. As a study deliverable, your company profile would be posted on a website along with other study subscribers. This website would be searchable by the fleet community at large. In addition, emails would be sent to businesses in our FleetLeads database to raise awareness of your web presence. Additional Comments:
10.	Rate: High Medium Low U.S. Commercial Fleet Market Segmentation - The commercial fleet market is large and diverse. To enhance the value of this research, results will be broken out by demographic fleet characteristics, as shown below. This will enable subscribers to analyze segments they target and develop appropriate Internet marketing initiatives for each. Fleet Size - Small Fleets. Mid Fleets, Large Fleets (RANGE) Vehicle type - automobiles, LD, MD, and HD/trucks, tractors, buses, trailers Travel characteristics - local vs. regional vs. national Leased vs. Owned Home based vs. Dispersed Commercial market segmentation - government, construction, service, manufacturing, agriculture, wholesale, retail, utility, over the road long haul, for-hire short haul Fueling methods - On-site vs. Off-site Maintenance methods - On-site vs. Off-site Purchase decision makers - what are the titles of those who participate and make the final decision on fleet related purchases Additional Comments:
11.	Please submit any other issues or topics that you would suggest we cover in this research. Other Issues or Topics for Inclusion:

Thank you for your time and thoroughness in filling out this issue ballot. If you have any questions regarding the study please feel free to give us a call at 419-841-2244.