It is formed by all employees of the organization who play one of the following roles in the process of making a purchasing decision

Guardian - the one who is authorized to protect the buyer (in organizations - the purchasing center) from the undesirable influence of sellers and certain information.

Organizations often make purchases based on the decision of commissions that do not include the supplier's sales agents. In this case, the task of sales agents is to identify a person from the purchasing center who is positive about the supplier's goods and is ready to speak out in his defense. This person must be provided with all the necessary information that may be required for argumentation in the course of the discussion on the decision of the purchasing center. Even if a supporter of a certain supplier company belongs to technical staff, he must be provided with financial information that may be required, for example, to justify the purchase of the most technologically advanced product.

The value of getting into the essence of the purchasing decision is that in the course of communication with various representatives of the purchasing center, it may be necessary to make significant amendments to the initial ideas about the requirements of the organization. Thus, the technical superiority of the offered products will be central to the discussion with production engineers, and in a conversation with the person responsible for the supply, greater value will be given to cost factors that need to be efficient. Moreover, as certain circumstances change, the criteria used by acquiring entities may change. Price can be a relatively unimportant factor for a company trying to solve an obvious technical problem. Such a company will place its order with a supplier who provides the necessary technical support. After solving this problem and selecting qualified suppliers, price can become decisive.

Three main aspects of how organizations buy (buying center structure), how they buy (decision-making process) and selection criteria (which are used to evaluate products and suppliers) were identified. Each of these aspects is determined by three factors, the purchase category, the type of product, and the importance of the purchase to the organization. This chapter also explained how these impacts affect each of the aspects and what the importance of the considered aspects for sales and marketing management.

List the six roles of buying center members in a buying organization. What is the marketing meaning of the activity of the purchasing center

Given that purchasing decision centers are bulky and complex in many organizations, it is difficult to expect a sales representative to be able to communicate with each of its participants. There are either a lot of these employees (secretaries), or they are completely unavailable (managing directors). On average, according to some estimates, a sales rep only manages to talk to three to four out of every ten participants in the buying center. With the help of advertising, you can reach a much larger circle of people responsible for making purchasing decisions.

Organizations typically involve more people in the buying process than individual consumers. Everyone in the organization who is involved in one way or another with a purchase is called a purchasing center. At the same time, each participant is responsible for the performance of his role. How many people will participate in a purchase depends on the individual organization, but is most often determined by the type of purchase, the risk associated with it, and time constraints. For example, at a university, a single clerk may be responsible for purchasing everyday office supplies, but computer equipment several representatives of a higher level are involved.

In any organization, the composition and size of the purchasing center will vary depending on the class of goods purchased. More participants will be involved in the decision to purchase a computer than in the decision to purchase paper clips. The seller of industrial goods must necessarily find out 1) who the main group of decision makers consists of 2) what decisions are influenced by these persons 3) what is the degree of their relative influence 4) what evaluation criteria are used by each of those involved in the decision. Consider the following example.

When considering purchases made by organizations, it should be noted that the buyer or purchasing officer is usually far from the only one who influences the decision or actually has the final decision. The decision depends on a whole group of people - the so-called decision-making center. This group is also called a purchasing center. Employees of this center are at different levels of the organizational hierarchy. The executive director, development engineers, production managers, purchasing managers, and also the personnel involved in the operation of the equipment can influence the decision to purchase one or another expensive equipment. It doesn't have to be a sustainable entity The composition of a buying center can change during the decision-making process. So, the executive director may be involved in making a decision on the acquisition of new equipment. Buying center members can act in one of the following roles.

First, the organization determines the need for the product, then forms a purchasing center that develops product specifications to meet this need.

If different production departments of the company put forward common procurement requirements and it has opportunities to strengthen its negotiating position due to the large volume of purchases, then it is advisable to use centralized purchasing in this case. Centralization forces procurement specialists to focus on a small group of products, which allows them to gain a good understanding of cost factors and the performance of suppliers. The transition from local to centralized procurement is of great importance for marketing. Local purchasing is often based on cost-benefit considerations in the short term, while centralized purchasing is more focused on establishing a long-term relationship with the supplier. In local procurement, external influences, such as engineers, play a more prominent role in the supplier selection process, as buyers with a broad specialization often lack experience. Therefore, the organization of purchases can be a key for suppliers to understand the distribution of roles among the members of the purchasing center and, accordingly, the strength of their positions.

Scholars have attempted to map out the essence of a buying center for a wide range of different buying decisions. In direct repurchase situations, it will likely involve a limited number of employees, probably from relatively low levels of the hierarchy. As a rule, the main role here is played by the purchasing department. In modified repurchase and primary purchase situations, more people are involved in the process and they tend to occupy significantly higher positions in the organization. Design and manufacturing departments are more actively involved in defining the characteristics of the desired product, the purchasing department takes over the search for a supplier, and senior management has the right to finalize the purchase.

The changing view of procurement has also been reflected in the scientific literature. If we go back to the days when purchasing was just a clerical function, then the typical title of a book in this specialty would then probably sound like a Purchasing Handbook. The authors of such books were mainly concerned with questions relating to the procedure for purchasing, how much to buy, how to make inquiries, etc. The main objective of this literature was to increase the productivity of the buying company by developing a certain order of purchases. Around 1970, models of corporate buying behavior were created. The purpose of these models was to present an improved decision-making process in the buying company and the factors that determine the outcome of this process. One important new concept was the concept of a buying center. The purchasing center is informal group or the grouping of people into organizations that participate in the buying decision process (see BUYING BEHAVIOR OF ORGANIZATIONS). Knowledge of the patterns of behavior of participants in the purchasing center, as well as how they react to various situations, is an important source of information for the development of marketing strategies of firms-sellers. Thus, these models are primarily focused on increasing the marketing effectiveness of sellers.

For a better understanding of the various segments and their characteristics, it is important to depict a segment profile, including a description of demographic, psychographic parameters, the nature of the use of the product, perceptions and preferences, attitudes, etc. In the case of industrial market segmentation (target segment - industrial enterprises), these variables should include both the characteristics of the organization and the personal characteristics of each of the participants in the purchasing center. Table 2 contains an exemplary list of variables commonly used to distinguish and describe segments. It is important to note that variables that are not used as the basis of the primary segmentation can become identifiers of segments that are formed on the basis of the base one.

One of the responses of independent merchants and wholesalers to the growth of united retailers has been the creation of voluntary as well as subsidiary groups. Within these contract chain formations, grouped under a single group name, retailers are typically required to purchase a number of items through the group's purchasing center. The organization usually provides marketing services, including special sales promotions, advertising, and often promotion of your own brand. The Group is thus able to achieve a certain level of purchasing and achieve economies of scale inherent in the leading enterprises of the combined retail.  

As the complexity of a product increases, so does the number of different professionals involved in the buying process. A seller in a business market will often have to deal with a buying center when selling goods and services (see BUYING BEHAVIOR OF THE ORGANIZATION). For example, the purchase of a packaging machine may affect the interests of not only production engineers, who will be concerned about service, operation and performance, but also marketers who are concerned about the quality and diversity of packaging, as well as company managers, who may also be concerned about the impact this equipment and the packaging itself will have on workers and the environment.

In a short-term relationship, the goal is to conclude a contract. In addition to the application of competitive marketing techniques, attention is paid to the way of negotiating and closing a deal. In this area, the result mainly depends on the sellers. The organization of marketing and purchasing activities is often based on group interaction. Marketing centers or sales centers, as well as purchasing centers, are multifunctional forms of managing two-way relationships between a buyer and a seller. Building a relationship with a customer requires skills and actions that we define as relationship marketing.

Webster and Wind refer to the administrative unit of a purchasing organization as a purchasing center, defining it as the totality of those involved in

In purchasing, buyers of industrial products make certain decisions, the number of which depends on type of procurement. There are three types of business purchases.

1. Re-purchase without changes is a situation where the buyer makes a re-order based on a previous purchase without making any changes to it (stationery, Construction Materials, electricity). In this case, the buyer is required to use the usual standard marketing solutions, such as ordering, control over price changes. The buyer chooses a supplier from the list he has, if previous purchases met the requirements.

Suppliers strive to maintain the quality of their products and services. Suppliers not included in the list try to offer something new, using the dissatisfaction of the buyer.

2. Re-purchase with changes is carried out if the buyer, when issuing a re-order, wants to make changes to it regarding the technical characteristics of the goods, prices, terms of delivery, or replace some of the suppliers. This type of supply requires a more complete marketing analysis product and market. Existing suppliers do their best to keep the customer. Other suppliers get the opportunity to make a better offer, such as offering new technical means, materials, consulting services. This is how new equipment and components appear on the market.

3. Purchasing to solve new problems is a situation when enterprises buy goods for the first time (office buildings, security systems). In this case, it is necessary to conduct in-depth marketing research. The higher the cost or risk of such a purchase, the more employees take part in it and the more carefully they collect information about suppliers, products, prices, payment terms, delivery times, service conditions. This situation provides a huge opportunity for suppliers to provide buyers with all the necessary information about products and provide them with technical assistance and consulting services.

AT modern conditions in the enterprise market, many buyers prefer to make complete purchases. Sellers, for their part, are beginning to use the practice of package sales. A bundled sale can take two forms. The first is when a supplier sells a group of related products. For example, selling computers and software to them. The second is that the supplier sells the entire production system, inventory management, distribution system and other services necessary for the smooth functioning of production. This form of package sales is used in the development of large-scale industrial projects such as the construction of factories, treatment facilities, pipelines, etc. For example, a company can offer a customer not just the construction of a cement plant, but the selection of a site for construction, the development of a cement plant project, the hiring of construction workers, staff training, selection of materials, installation of equipment, construction of a network of roads and office buildings, export finished products. One of the options for package sales is the conclusion of package contracts, when the supplier assumes the obligation to provide the buyer with all the materials necessary for Maintenance, repair and operation of the proposed equipment. Both sellers and buyers benefit from package contracts. Buyers save time and money as sellers supply all specified materials at the price specified in the contract. Sellers have a guaranteed demand for products and a reduction in paperwork.

Decisions on the purchase of industrial goods are made by a special structural unit of the enterprise, called purchasing center.

The purchasing center is formed by individuals and divisions of the enterprise, which are empowered to make purchasing decisions. In any company, the size and composition of the buying center varies depending on the type of product purchased or the buying situation. Repeat purchases with and without changes can be performed by one person, the purchasing agent. In the process of more complex purchases, employees of many departments of companies take part. The purchasing center in this case may consist of 20-30 employees working at different levels of management and in different departments of the buyer's enterprise.

Purchasing center composition. The employees of the production department, who are part of the purchasing center, determine the technical characteristics of the required product and coordinate decisions with executive director, while purchasing agents specialize in supplier selection. The purchasing center may also include less obvious, informal participants. For example, no longer working professionals who have rich experience and knowledge; scientists who can provide important information about technical specifications goods. Some of them can actually have a strong influence on the purchase decision and even make the final decision.

The task of sellers is to find out who is involved in the decision, what influence each of the participants is subject to, and what evaluation criteria are used by each involved in the decision.

3. Factors influencing buyers
industrial goods

Four main groups of factors influence the behavior of purchasers of manufactured goods in the process of making a purchasing decision (Figure 7.1).

I- Factors environment II -

Level of Demand - Goals of the Organization

Economic Perspective - Organization Policy

Borrowing Costs - Working Methods

Terms of delivery - Organizational structures

The pace of scientific and technological progress - Intraorganizational

Political developments and trends in the system

business regulation

Activities of competitors

P O U P A T E L

III. IV. Personal factors

Interests - Age

Powers - Education

Status - Position

The ability to put oneself in the place of another - Personality type

Ability to persuade - Willingness to take risks

Level of cultural development

Rice. 7.1. Factors affecting buyers
industrial goods

environmental factors. Buyers of industrial goods are strongly influenced by factors of the current and expected economic environment, such as level of primary demand, economic outlook and cost of borrowing. During an economic downturn, businesses reduce new investment and try to reduce inventories, while during a period economic growth purchases of investment goods are growing. Purchases are influenced by the terms of supply: to ensure the continuous supply of raw materials and materials, companies enter into long-term contracts with suppliers for the supply of the necessary products. Buyers of manufactured goods are also influenced by environmental factors such as the pace of scientific and technological progress, political events and the activities of competitors.

Industrial retailers must also keep a close eye on all of these factors and strive to turn emerging challenges into opportunities.

Factors of the characteristics of the organization. Each procuring organization has its own objectives, policies, practices and internal systems. Resellers of industrial goods must have a full understanding of these factors and their development trends. They need to know how many people are involved in the purchasing decision; who are these persons; what evaluation criteria they are guided by; what are the firm's policies regarding the activities of its purchasing agents and what restrictions does it place on these activities. Currently, the following trends in procurement policy are observed.

1. Increasing the importance of purchasing departments. Some companies assign purchasing departments to perform a complex of functions - purchasing, inventory management, production planning and product sales, which can improve the efficiency of inventory management. Merchants must also increase the role of their sales agents to match the performance of the buyer.

2. Centralized purchases. Some large companies define a list necessary materials for all divisions and carry out purchases centrally. This gives you the opportunity to get a discount to the price and provides significant savings.

3. Long-term contracts. Buyers of industrial products are increasingly entering into long-term contracts with suppliers. The criterion for choosing a supplier is the quality of the products offered, low transportation costs, and the availability of an electronic information transmission system.

4. Just-in-time production system. The application of modern innovative manufacturing concepts, such as just-in-time manufacturing, cost analysis, quality control, flexible manufacturing, has an impact on how businesses sell products and serve customers. For example, a just-in-time production system means that materials and components must be delivered to customers exactly when they are needed for production.

5. Evaluation of the effectiveness of procurement. Many companies use a reward system for purchasing managers for effective performance. This is an incentive for managers. They try to put more pressure on sellers to get a better deal.

Factors in interpersonal relationships. The buying center usually includes several people with different interests, powers, status, the ability to put themselves in the shoes of the client and the ability to persuade. It is difficult for a seller of industrial goods to determine the influence of each participant in the buying center on the decision. However, any information about the existing interpersonal relationships can be useful for sellers in developing a trading strategy.

Personal factors. Each participant in the buying process has certain preferences, motivations, which depend on his age, education, position, personality type, cultural level, willingness to take risks. Some buyers conduct a detailed analysis of all competitive offers; others - give preference to technological innovations; the third - have the ability to achieve better conditions deals.

Sellers of manufactured goods need to know their customers and tailor their trade policy to specific factors of the environment, characteristics of the organization, interpersonal relationships and individual features individuals who influence the purchase.

The process of purchasing industrial goods, as a rule, is of a collective nature. At the same time, the more complex the product or the greater its cost, the more people take part in the purchase of this product.

A study conducted by the publishing firm Macrow Hill (on 106 firms) showed that in 78 cases at least three people are involved in the procurement process.

The collective nature of the purchasing decision is of great importance for a supplier of industrial products. It manifests itself in the fact that the supplier cannot be limited to maintaining business relations only with the unit that officially carries out the purchase. It is desirable to identify in the structure of the buyer the persons on whom the purchase decision actually depends or who have a significant influence on the decision-making process.

Webster and Wind (Wind) called the set of participants in the purchasing decision process of a manufacturing product a "buying center". This designation has established itself in marketing theory.

The purchasing center may coincide with the formal structure of the logistics department, but usually goes beyond it. So, if new equipment is being purchased, but the main role in the procurement process belongs to technical specialists and the management of the production department, the MTS service only controls the negotiations and the progress of the order.

Sometimes in the models of the process of buying and selling in the market for industrial goods in the organization that is the seller, a "selling center" is distinguished, which brings together all the persons involved in the sale process. Depending on the type of product, employees of sales, marketing, financial departments, the R&D department, and the quality control service may participate in the sales center.

The essence of the buying center model is that it involves the identification and study of the roles of those entities that participate in the purchase in order to establish the desired direction of marketing influence.

Webster and Wind et al. marketers identify the following typical roles:

· User- the person who must ensure the operation of the purchased goods; plays a decisive role in decision-making, has extensive professional experience in evaluating the functional characteristics of the product, determines technical requirements to the product (chief technologist, head of production, etc.).

· Purchaser- the person directly carrying out the purchase has formal responsibilities for ensuring the procurement process, choosing a supplier, organizing negotiations, and preparing documentation (MTS department).

· Decision maker– executive who has the formal authority to make or authorize purchasing decisions (the head or a representative of the top management of the organization), makes the final decision on the purchase and the most important private decisions at individual stages of the procurement process.

· Advisor- a person influencing the procurement process based on his experience, knowledge, qualified assessment of the supplier of the functional interests of a particular service (representative of the financial department, QCD specialist, etc.) This role may be played by persons outside this organization (for example, business partner from a friendly firm).

· Persons who control the flow of information- all persons who manage the flow of information entering the purchasing center, as well as within it. Most often, this is a specialist from the supply service, however, secretaries to managers often also act in this role.

The concept of the purchasing center assumes that one official can play several roles, or vice versa, one role can be played by many people. The most common involvement of purchasing center roles in individual procurement stages is presented in the table:

Due to the complexity of the differentiation of roles in the purchasing center this approach reveals certain limitations for practical application.

Another approach to analyze the roles of the purchasing center is E. Witt's approach. The concept of supporters/opponents.

Supporters- those members of the buying center who actively contribute to and positively influence the process of purchasing goods. Opponents impede or delay the decision-making process, wanting to move it in another direction.

Supporters and opponents differ in their power.

When discussing a solution, there are communication contacts between supporters and opponents. Due to the fact that the purchase process can be of a conflict nature, a number of experts highlight the role purchase promoter. This is a person who provides organizational support for the purchase process and directs the efforts of supporters and opponents in a constructive direction.

In the process of making a purchase decision, sources of conflict arise that affect the overall course of the process.

Conflict between personality and role takes place when the expected behavior of an employee does not correspond to the personal characteristics, values ​​and attitudes of the role holder (dismiss a friend due to incompetence). Similarly, if management's expectations are in conflict with the employee's value system (management hopes for a tough policy, pressure on the supplier), the employee follows the principle of correctness.

Intra-role conflict has many varieties. Intra-guarantor conflict - the guarantor of the role (leader) requires the fulfillment of incompatible requirements (purchase latest equipment at a low price, to complete the transaction without bribes).

Interguarantor the conflict is connected with the fact that various guarantors make incompatible demands on the role bearer, one of the manifestations is a violation of unity of command.

Interrole conflict - one employee must fulfill two conflicting roles, for example, the role of the user (desire to purchase the latest development) and the role of the buyer (cost requirements).

The seller of the goods for industrial purposes must identify conflicts that arise in the process of considering his offer, and make such marketing efforts that would allow them to be eliminated.

5. Models describing the behavior of the purchasing center

Behavior patterns of corporate consumers reflect the factors that influence the buying process.

Consider the most famous the Webster-Wind model.

The Webster-Wind model includes 4 groups of factors:

1. Environmental factors of the macro- and microenvironment in the traditional interpretation.

2. Factors depending on the acquiring entity. These include: the goals and objectives of the organization, organizational structure, procurement procedure, organization resources, etc.

3. Factors related to the activity of the purchasing center: the size of the center, key figures, decision-making procedures, coalitions.

4. Individual characteristics: motivation, professional skills, experience, age, personal characteristics, etc.

| | | 4 | | | | |

The formation of a purchasing center is of great importance for the selection and implementation of an effective purchasing policy in various organizations.

Purchasing center - a set of all persons and groups of persons involved in making decisions on the purchase of goods different kind having some common goals and sharing the risk for their decisions. So, when purchasing products for industrial purposes for an enterprise, the purchasing center of an enterprise includes consumers of purchased products; managers and employees who influence purchasing decisions; employees who, by virtue of their duties, carry out purchases; employees and managers who have formal or informal power in the selection of suppliers; employees who control the flow of information about procurement in the enterprise. The purchasing center is not a fixed organizational unit. Its composition varies depending on the type of procurement. For simple purchases, one member of the procurement department can perform all the roles of the purchasing center. For complex purchases, the purchasing center may include 20-30 people. It is extremely useful for sellers of industrial and technical products to know who is included in the purchasing center in a particular enterprise, how individual members of the purchasing center influence the procurement policy, what considerations they are guided by when choosing it.

Studying the structure of the buying center is also important for consumer goods, since purchasing decisions are very rarely made by individuals in isolation. In most cases, they are accepted by the family, which in this case represents the purchasing center.

Knowing sustainable buying practices involves identifying the appropriate roles of mother, father, and children, separately by type of product and for different stages of the buying process.

When studying the process of making a purchase decision, it must be borne in mind that this process includes several stages:

Obtaining initial information about the product (comprehension);

The emergence of interest;

Deciding whether to try the product;

Possible product testing;

Acceptance of a product when a consumer decides to regularly buy the product.

Learning how quickly and based on what information and arguments the consumer makes a purchase decision helps the marketer develop measures that help the consumer move through these stages in a favorable direction for the marketer.

These questions are important to marketing people as they must tailor their products, pricing and communications policies to their real customer.

The results of such studies can be used to:

Proper selection of respondents in the study of consumers;

Development of a rational policy for the promotion of goods, in particular when planning advertising campaign(content definitions advertising messages and their carriers)

Product adaptation (its concept, design, packaging, etc.) to the needs of the most influential person;

Choosing the most suitable distribution network.

Studying consumer behavior during and after purchase

Behavior Information various categories of consumers when purchasing goods, as well as consumer behavior after purchase is useful for the correct interpretation of sales data and evaluation of product positioning results. It is also much harder to attract new customers than it is to retain existing ones.

Information is typically collected on three types of behavior: acquisition, use, stockpiling and storage. This information varies depending on the product category and must be adapted to each specific situation.

Describing habitual shopping habits is facilitated by using the following basic questions: what, how much, how, where, when, and who.

- "What" makes it possible to determine the purchased (familiar or special) brands of goods, the last purchased brand of goods and identify possible substitutes.

- "How" provides quantitative information about the volume of purchases, consumption and stockpiling.

- "How" illuminates various ways and conditions of purchase (rent, payment in installments) and various directions and methods of application (consumption) and storage of goods.

- « Where» important for identifying key distribution networks, places of consumption and storage of goods. Regular and random places of purchases, places of use (consumption) and storage are identified.

- "When" helps to gain knowledge about situational factors and opportunities in consumption. The frequency of purchases and re-purchases of a product of a certain brand is revealed, as well as the date of the last purchase and the intervals between purchases, the time and duration of use, the duration of the storage period when creating stocks.

- "Who" aims to identify the composition of the purchasing center and the role of its members. It reveals who usually makes the decision to purchase a product, who buys it, who uses it (consumes) and stores it.

These questions are useful for purposefully conducting information searches and helping to build a marketing information system.

Major companies in the consumer goods manufacturing and packaging industry do a great job of gathering information in order to better understand their customers. So, thanks to deep and painstaking research, their experts know, for example, that the average American puts 3.2 ice cubes in a glass of soft drink, blows his nose 256 times a year, writes 24 checks a month, consumes 95 hot dogs, 283 eggs and etc. They even know that 47% of Americans wet their toothbrush before and 15% after they squeeze it. toothpaste.

Below in table. 6.4 results of studying of behavior of buyers in shop of cosmetics are provided.

Table 6.4

Studying customer behavior in a cosmetics store (USA)

(Surveyed 450 store visitors and repeated 150 home buyers)

* 45% visited the store for the first time; 68% of shoppers and 34% of visitors planned to visit this store; 45% of shoppers wanted to walk around the store before talking to the store staff.

**Motives were determined by buyers only.

Consumer Behavior Questionnaire

- What is the socio-demographic profile of consumers in this segment?

What is the structure of the purchasing decision center?

Who is the buyer, user, decision maker,

adviser?

What is the buying decision process?

What are the main uses of the product by consumers?

Exploring a new product

Generally, the category of new includes fundamentally new, improved or modified goods. The latter category also includes products with improved design, more attractive packaging and a new brand. In addition, new products include existing products offered for sale in new markets.

Methods for studying a new product include both conducting surveys (consumers and experts) and setting up special experiments.

Predictive information about the possible market fate of a new product can also be obtained on the basis of an analysis of sales volume (say, by studying the curves life cycle), from the analysis of the situation in the field of competition.

Marketing research new product are considered below in two aspects: the study of the success factors of a new product and the definition of directions for the development of manufactured product models. The latter was considered on the example of new models of cars and the choice of options for providing medical services population.

Purchasing center - a group of persons empowered to make decisions, consisting of company employees who interact for a specific purpose, and their interaction is based on the special role they play in the procurement process.

The purchasing center includes all members of the organization that play a role in the purchasing decision-making process. Among them are the actual users of the product, all those who influence the decision to purchase it, suppliers, decision makers, and those who control information about the purchase.

In any organization, the composition and size of the purchasing center will vary depending on the class of goods purchased. Typical roles of purchasing center participants:

Main roles:

The decision maker has the formal authority and responsibility for final choice product

Secondary roles:

Buyer - has the formal power and responsibility to select alternatives trademarks and suppliers, as well as for determining the terms of purchases and negotiating contracts.

User - directly applies the product in their activities.

Guardians (controllers, gatekeepers) are members of groups that filter the flow of information coming from sellers or other members of the center, and are able to have an indirect impact on the procurement process. Their main purpose is to protect the buying center from the unwanted influence of sellers and certain information.

37. Features of segmentation of B2B markets. Models of consumer behavior in the business market. TULCHEVSKAYA

A retrospective look at the B2B arena in Russia reveals at least four of the most obvious observations:

We have a huge gap in segmentation between Western companies plus individual representatives of Russian medium-sized businesses and most other companies. The first ones have developed segment management policies that track the dynamics of client changes, while the others only approach the understanding of segmentation and what to do with it.

Managers of many firms are still debating whether the so-called intermediaries should be segmented or are they just a distribution channel(s)? And the main thing that needs to be solved is the segmentation of end customers. These definitions have a direct impact on marketing and commercial policy. Accordingly, in reality we have different - up to the opposite - views and biases in these matters.

It is clear that channel management is one of the key elements of the business model of companies that are positioned as "specialists" (as opposed to global solution providers). However, this management is implemented in different companies in different ways.

In matters of segmentation, the B2C market is moving much faster than the B2B market - (however, as in other marketing and sales management programs).

Incorrect or insufficient segmentation is at the root of the #1 sin of marketing, "not focusing enough on markets and customers," which marketing guru Philip Kotler identified in 2004. So, if this is so important, then how to do it and why is it so hard in reality ?

For many companies that are just starting to formulate their strategy, these questions immediately become complex. There is still no well-established and conscious (at least for some segment) policy-mix, segmentation criteria are not clear, it is not clear how to determine needs - although it is already clear that they change over time.

Important for effective segmentation and selection of target markets are the following: key factors successful segmentation:

Choosing your business model: Is the company a solution provider or a component provider (individual products that make up solutions)?

For a solution provider, end-customer segmentation is typically the most important issue. For a component supplier, you should also seriously consider all possible segments of intermediaries, which in the future can be distribution channels - segments that are no less or even more important than the end users of their products.

If you are in the first model - a solution provider, then the most common will be 3-4 segmentation criteria - industry + technology, size (investment volumes) of the enterprise and focus on the complexity of the solution. The first pair gives a quick answer on what kind of clients and where you need to look, "size" and/or "volumes" are needed to filter clients according to their financial ability and initially understand the behavior of the entire Decision Center. And the focus on complex solutions is becoming one of the main criteria, which can change over time.

If you are in the second model - the supplier of components, you need to analyze which distribution channels already exist. That is, or whether they are significant and influential for the market. This is easy to do by studying the experience of other firms - many of them conduct sales channels simply on their websites.

important question The one that comes after segmentation is the choice of target segments. In reality, the choice of target segments for solution providers is much narrower than for component providers. Confusion and mixture are not allowed here. A serious solution provider from a medium business cannot claim more than 3-5 target segments, each of which has its own class of solutions. The Russian engineering company Rakurs has clients in the fields of Energy, Pulp and Paper Mills, Metallurgy, Vodokanals and others. However, the lion's share of the company's income is determined by the automation solution in only one area and its two subspecies- These are Power plants, thermal and hydra. Solutions for these segments are brought to the standard, which in the field of similar products is an indicator of the highest class. And vice versa, we can name many firms in B2B, which, as they grew, tried to penetrate into the adjacent segment - that is, claim 6-10 classes of solutions. In reality, nothing good came of this.

Business buying behavior has a number of features:

1.Business (including industry) demand is derived from consumer demand, follows from it. Accordingly, marketers of goods and services for business consumption should see the situation and trends in the development of the final demand market.

2. The number of potential buyers in many business markets is small and their purchase orders are large. The loss of one large organizational consumer is more significant for the seller of industrial goods than the loss of one individual consumer for the seller of consumer goods.

3.Purpose of purchase. Purchased products and services should help the organization achieve its goals. Motivation for a business purchase is pragmatic, and its promotion should be constructive and more pragmatic than emotional.

4. Criteria for business purchases are objective and explicit attributes of products. Purchases are made according to exact technical specifications and based on good knowledge of the product category.

5.Business purchases are made by professionals, or people who are reasonably knowledgeable. Decisions are based on past experience and a careful weighing of alternatives. impulsive shopping rare.

6.Business purchasing decisions are more complex and longer, require more information sharing, and carry more financial risk and uncertainty. Organizational purchasing decisions are also risky for the organizational buying representative - his career may depend on the professionalism demonstrated in the decision process.

7.Business shopping involves the participation of several people in decision making.

8. Organizational purchases involve close interaction between the buyer and the seller. The need and ability to tailor a product to the individual requirements of the business buyer makes organizational market segmentation a less important marketing component than for the market of numerous individual consumers.

9. An organizational buying decision can involve intense negotiation, especially when organizations agree to buy from each other.

10.Business and organizational procurement often rely on several suppliers at the same time. This is done to minimize the risk of interrupted deliveries due to a shortage of materials from one of the suppliers, the collapse of his business or his personnel problems. Business purchasing often encourages competition among suppliers.

11. The organizational buyer usually relies on more extensive post-purchase contacts than the individual consumer. Therefore, the factors of installation, service support and organizational purchasing guarantees often play a significant role in purchasing negotiations.

Buyer Organization is a group of people united by formal business purposes and rules of conduct. The Organizational Buying Behavior Model has the same elements as the Consumer Behavior Model. However, the content of these elements is specific.

Organizational style is the way an organization lives, reflecting and shaping its needs and attitudes that influence purchasing decisions.

Based on significant organizational demographics, marketers conduct organizational or macro segmentation. Macrosegments are groups of organizations that respond in a similar way to similar marketing stimuli (product features, pricing decisions, distribution and promotion methods). Macro segmentation criteria:

Demographic characteristics of the buying organization: size, location, industry.

Purchasing attribute priorities (purchasing criteria): price, quality, warranty, availability of spare parts, ease of installation and support, appearance.

Loyalty of the consumer organization: high loyalty: reluctance to switch to another supplier; competitive: we are the preferred supplier, but #2 is very close; switching capability: competitor is the preferred supplier, but we are a very close second; Competitor Loyalty: Very competitive competitor.

Each macro-segment has its own marketing strategy.

Successful work in organizational markets involves knowing the answers to the questions:

Who is in the buying center of the organization;

What is the relative influence of each member of the group;

What are the purchasing criteria for each member of the group;

What is the perception of each member of the buying center of the supplier organization and its product.

In the buying center, five main roles are realized that determine the nature of the participation of individuals in the process of making a purchasing decision: users, "influencers", buyers, a decision maker, and "goalkeepers".

Users in an organization are the people who actually use the product or service. For example, an account manager uses a computerized customer database.

"Influencers" influence the purchasing decision, usually helping to determine the conditions, the characteristics of what is being bought. So, for example, the director of the organization's telecommunications center is the main "influencer" in the organization's purchase of a new server to provide Internet access.

Decision makers have formal and informal authority to select or approve the supplier receiving the contract. In routine orders, this is the purchasing manager. In more complex purchases, this could be someone from R&D, Information Resources, or another department more knowledgeable in the technical aspects of the purchase.

Goalkeepers control the flow of information in the buying center. Purchasing staff, technical experts, and secretaries can all interfere sales staff or information to reach people in other roles in the buying center.

The process of perception of marketing incentives by an organization consists of the same stages as the perception of an individual consumer - exposure, attention, interpretation. The organizational consumer forms his ideas about the supplier, his product and employees. Organizations have their own memory, just like people, and build their actions based on the information stored in memory. Organizational memory is a system for storing and circulating information in a group of people employed in an organization. Once formed, the image of a supplier for a consumer organization is very difficult to change, since it is supported by many people in the process of intra-organizational communications, including word of mouth. Therefore, the supplier organization must pay serious attention to the proper communication strategy to create and maintain the desired brand image or position.