Chapter Seven

 

BUSINESS AND ORGANIZATIONAL CUSTOMERS AND THEIR BUYING BEHAVIOR

 

Business and organizational customers are buyers who buy for resale or to produce other goods and services

See exhibit 7-1, page 179

 

MANY PEOPLE MAY INFLUENCE A DECISION

bullet Users
bullet Influencers
bullet Buyers
bullet Deciders
bullet Gatekeepers

See Exhibit 7-2, page 183 to view a model of the buying center.

 

ORGANIZATIONAL BUYERS ARE PROBLEM SOLVERS

Three kinds of buying processes:

bullet New task: Organization has a new need -- buyer wants a lot of information
bullet Straight rebuy: routine repurchase
bullet Modified rebuy: some review is done
bullet Note: See Exhibit 7-4, page 186

Organization uses purchasing agents which are buying specialists for their employees.

They like: information on new goods, price changes, supply shortages, etc.

Most firms have centralized buying

Buyers consider: total cost of owning and operating, productivity, quality, maintenance, repair, delivery time, etc.

Behavioral needs are relevant: exhibit 7-3, page 189
 

BUYER-SELLER RELATIONSHIPS IN BUSINESS MARKETS

 

bullet See Exhibit 7-6, page 189
bullet Powerful customer can control relationship
bullet Buyers like to spread risk by using several sources of suppliers
bullet Computer buying is also becoming common and JIT delivery more important
bullet Reciprocity may be utilized

 

INTERNET E-COMMERCE IS RESHAPING MANY BUSINESS MARKETS

See Exhibit 7-7, page 195

Search "Bots" help purchasing managers locate products on the Internet

E-Commerce computer systems can handle a large portion of routine order placing

   

MANUFACTURERS ARE IMPORTANT CUSTOMERS

bullet Only 355,000 factories (See Exhibit 7-8, page 199)
bullet Detailed information is available from NAICS information (See Exhibit 7-9, page 201)

 

PRODUCERS OF SERVICES -- SMALL AND SPREAD OUT

bullet US has 2,500,000 service firms
bullet Purchasing is handled by whoever is in charge

   

RETAILERS AND WHOLESALERS BUY FOR THEIR CUSTOMERS

bullet Retailers and wholesalers use reorders as straight rebuys and use computerized inventory control
bullet Buyers are in close contact with sales people
bullet Some retailers use committees

 

THE GOVERNMENT MARKET

bullet 35% of GNP is spent by government units
bullet Use mandatory bidding bidding lists, negotiated contracts, etc., are also used
bullet Some foreign governments may require “grease money”
 

Next Steps:  Please review the PowerPoint Overview slides (1-9) for this chapter.  Then proceed to the lecture notes for chapter seven.

 

 

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