Core Concepts of Marketing

94 CHAPTER 4 UNDERSTAi~DINGBUYERBEHAVIOR

FIGURE4.3 Stagesoforganizationalbuying

agents,andothers, thebuyeridentifiesandprioritizesimportantproductcharac-

teristics.Table4.1 listsseveralsourcesofinformatioD.formanyindustrialcus-

tomers.Armedwithexten~iveproductknowledge,thisindividualiscapableof

addressingvirtuallyalltheproduct-relatGdconcernsofa typicalcustomer.Toa

lesserextent,tradeadvertisingprovidesvaluableiaformationtosmalleroriso-

latedcustomers.Noteworthyistheextensiveuseofdirectmarketingtechniques

(forexample,toll-freenumbersandinformationcards)incor.junctionwithmany

tradeads.Finally, publicrelationsplaysa significantrolethroughlleplacement

ofstoriesinvarioustradejournals.

3. Productspecification.Technicalspecificationscomenext.'!'hisisusuallythe
   responsibilityoftheengineeringdepartment.Engineersdesignseveralalternatives,
   dependingontheprioritylistestablishedearher.
   4.Suppliersearch.Thebuyernowtries[0identifythemostappropriatevendor.The
   buyercanexaminetradedirectories,perfonna computersearch,orphoneother
   companiesforrecommendations.Marketerscanpar:.icipateinthisstagebycon-
   tactingpossibleopinionleadersandsolicitingsupportorbycontactingthebuyer
   directly.Personalsellingplaysa majorroleatthiss~age.


4. Proposalsolicitation.Quali fiedsuppliersarenextinvitedtosubmitproposals.
   Somesupplierssendonlya catalogora salesrepresentative. Proposaldevelop-
   men~isacomplextaskthatrequiresextensiveresearchandskilledwtitingand
   presentation.Inextremecases,suchproposalsarecomparabletocompletemar-
   ketingstrategiesfoundintheconsumersector.