chase of industrial products, the same concept has applicability to
the purchase of services and consumer goods.
The complexity of the buying process may vary: for example,
with the value of the purchase and the familiarity of the buyer with
the product. However, within any one customer organization there
is typically a number of individuals who can make an impact on the
buying decision. Selling organizations can fail in their endeavours
to fully develop a customer, unless appropriate relationships are
developed throughout the decision-making unit.
Often an organization’s interest, in terms of the DMU, is in its
most direct customer – the buyer. For example, the manufacturer of
automotive components will be interested in developing a deep
understanding of the DMUs at the major motor car manufacturers
such as Ford and General Motors. They will seek to understand who
are the various members of the DMU and what each of them
requires. However, they may neglect other areas, such as the trade
‘after market’ and retail consumers.
Within certain industry sectors, an enormous amount of empha-
sis is placed on understanding the decision-making unit. Some of
the best examples of this are within the aeroplane manufacturing
sector. Companies such as Boeing are renowned as ‘best-in-class’
exponents of intimately understanding the DMU and developing
sophisticated marketing programmes based on this understanding.
Understanding the DMU is also equally applicable to an organi-
zation with a longer distribution chain. For example, in the case of a
manufacturer of expensive stereo equipment, in addition to under-
standing the DMU for their direct buyers – the large department
stores – they may well also be interested in understanding the DMU
at the individual consumer level. The marketing activities of expen-
sive stereo manufacturers such as Bang & Olufsen suggest they
know a lot about the purchasing behaviour at the consumer level.
Customer acquisition and customer retention
Once the tasks of determining the appropriate emphasis of market-
ing effect at each level within the customer market domain, and
market segmentation and analysis of the DMU have been completed,
The customer market domain: Managing relationships with buyers 43