Page 211 - Marketing Management

188 PART 3 CONNECTING WITH CUSTOMERS

attributes to win contracts. Suppliers, however, are not just at the mercy of customer demands.
Ideally, they’re active with customers early in the process to influence the actual development of the
specifications. Or they can go beyond the specifications to offer additional value in various ways, as
the following example shows.

Selling to the Indonesian Government Selling to the Indonesian Government The
Indonesian government requested bids to build a cement factory near Jakarta. A U.S. firm
made a proposal that included choosing the site, designing the factory, hiring the construc-
tion crews, assembling the materials and equipment, and turning over the finished factory to
the Indonesian government. A Japanese firm, in outlining its proposal, included all these
services, plus hiring and training the workers to run the factory, exporting the cement through its trading
companies, and using the cement to build roads and new office buildings in Jakarta. Although the
Japanese proposal involved more money, it won the contract. Clearly, the Japanese viewed the problem
as not just building a cement factory (the narrow view of systems selling) but as contributing to
Indonesia’s economic development. They took the broadest view of the customer’s needs, which is true
systems selling.

Participants in the Business

Buying Process

Who buys the trillions of dollars’ worth of goods and services needed by business organizations?
Purchasing agents are influential in straight-rebuy and modified-rebuy situations, whereas other
department personnel are more influential in new-buy situations. Engineering personnel usually
have a major influence in selecting product components, and purchasing agents dominate in select-
ing suppliers. 16

The Buying Center
Webster and Wind call the decision-making unit of a buying organization the buying center. It con-
sists of “all those individuals and groups who participate in the purchasing decision-making
process, who share some common goals and the risks arising from the decisions.” 17 The buying
center includes all members of the organization who play any of the following seven roles in the
purchase decision process.
1. Initiators—Users or others in the organization who request that something be purchased.
2. Users—Those who will use the product or service. In many cases, the users initiate the buying
proposal and help define the product requirements.
3. Influencers—People who influence the buying decision, often by helping define specifications
and providing information for evaluating alternatives. Technical personnel are particularly
important influencers.
4. Deciders—People who decide on product requirements or on suppliers.
5. Approvers—People who authorize the proposed actions of deciders or buyers.
6. Buyers—People who have formal authority to select the supplier and arrange the purchase
terms. Buyers may help shape product specifications, but they play their major role in select-
ing vendors and negotiating. In more complex purchases, buyers might include high-level
managers.
7. Gatekeepers—People who have the power to prevent sellers or information from reaching
members of the buying center. For example, purchasing agents, receptionists, and telephone
operators may prevent salespersons from contacting users or deciders.
Several people can occupy a given role such as user or influencer, and one person may play
18
multiple roles. A purchasing manager, for example, often occupies the roles of buyer, influencer,
and gatekeeper simultaneously: She can determine which sales reps can call on other people in the
organization; what budget and other constraints to place on the purchase; and which firm will