Participants in the Business Buying Process 113
a “turnkey solution” that allowed the buyer to, in effect, turn one key and get the job
done.
Sellers have increasingly recognized that buyers like to purchase in this way, and
many have adopted systems selling as a marketing tool. Systems selling can take differ-
ent forms. For example, many auto parts manufacturers now sell whole systems, such
as the seating system, the braking system, or the door system. A variant on systems sell-
ing is systems contracting,in which a single supply source provides the buyer with all
requiredMRO supplies(maintenance, repair, and operating supplies). This lowers the
buyer’s costs because the seller maintains the inventory, less time is spent on supplier
selection, and the buyer enjoys price protection during the life of the contract. The
seller benefits from lower operating costs because of steady demand and reduced
paperwork.
Systems selling is a key industrial marketing strategy in bidding to build large-
scale industrial projects such as dams, steel factories, and pipelines. Project engineer-
ing firms must compete on price, quality, reliability, and other attributes to win these
contracts. For example, when 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 cement factory, hiring the construction crews, assembling the mate-
rials and equipment, and turning over the finished factory to the Indonesian govern-
ment. The proposal of a Japanese bidder included all of these services, plus hiring and
training the factory workers, exporting the cement, and using the cement to build
roads and office buildings around Jakarta. Although the Japanese proposal was more
costly, it won. This is true system selling: The firm took the broadest view of its cus-
tomer’s needs and positioned itself as an economic development agency.
PARTICIPANTS IN THE BUSINESS BUYING PROCESS
Who does the buying of 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 carry the most influence in selecting product compo-
nents, and purchasing agents dominate in selecting suppliers.^8 These are just some of the
people who may be part of the buying center.
The Buying Center
Webster and Wind call the decision-making unit of a buying organization the buying
center.The buying center is composed of “all those individuals and groups who partici-
pate in the purchasing decision-making process, who share some common goals and
the risks arising from the decisions.”^9 The buying center includes organizational mem-
bers who play any of seven roles in the purchase decision process:^10
➤ Initiators:People who request that something be purchased, including users or
others.
➤ Users:Those who will use the product or service; often, users initiate the buying
proposal and help define product requirements.
➤ Influencers:People who influence the buying decision, including technical
personnel. They often help define specifications and also provide information for
evaluating alternatives.
➤ Deciders:Those who decide on product requirements or on suppliers.
➤ Approvers:People who authorize the proposed actions of deciders or buyers.