2.6 Key Takeaways & Terms

• B2B purchasers may be producers, resellers, or organizations.
• B2B buys are characterized by being methodical, complex, budgeted, high risk, analytical, and coordinated across different parts of the company.
• B2B purchases are larger than B2C purchases, include multiple buyers, involve a smaller number of customers, and are geographically concentrated.
• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs describes how people are motivated based on the level of needs that are being satisfied. Understanding a customer’s motivation based on the hierarchy can provide valuable insights for selling.
• There can be several types of people involved in a B2B purchasing decision, including users, initiators, influencers, and decision makers. An individual such as a buyer, purchasing manager, or materials manager might make buying decisions. Some companies use a buying centre, a cross-functional team that makes buying decisions on behalf of the company.
• The traditional B2B buying process has seven steps: need recognition, defining the need, developing the specifications, searching for appropriate suppliers, evaluating proposals, making the buying decision, and post purchase evaluation.
• Emotions such as comfort, security, convenience, pleasure, and vanity are major motivations for buying decisions. Trust and fear are especially important in B2B buying.

Advantage is what the feature does.

B2B purchaser, also called an organizational or institutional purchaser, buys a product or service to sell to another company or to the ultimate consumer.

Benefit is what the features mean to the customer.

Buying centre is a cross-functional team that makes buying decisions on behalf of the company

Consumer: someone who purchases in a B2C environment is the end user of the product or service.

Deficiency needs, as the name suggests, generally come into force in case of some deficiency of any kind. The basic needs like food, sex, sleep and also some needs for safety like security (of all kinds), freedom etc., would be included here.

Decision makers could be anyone who holds the responsibility or accountability for making buying decisions for the company.

FAB (a.k.a. features, advantages, benefits) is the way to appeal to your customer’s emotions with factual and emotional appeals.

Feature is what a product has.

Growth needs are more concerned with the concepts of realization of one’s potential and “self actualization.”

Initiators are the people who initiate the need.

Modified rebuy: when your customer is already purchasing the product but wants to change the terms, prices, suppliers, or product specifications.

Needs are essentials, those products and services you literally cannot live without. Food, shelter, clothing, transportation, and health care are all examples of needs.

New-task buy: when a company purchases a good or service for the first time.

Organization: A government (federal, local, municipal) agency or nonprofit group that purchases products or services to serve or sell to its constituents.

Power Level: the level in the organization that is making the buying decision.

Producer: A B2B company that purchases parts, products, or ingredients for the production of other goods or services to sell to other companies or consumers.

Reseller: A B2B company that buys finished goods to sell, lease, or rent to other companies or consumers.

Science of consumer behaviour describes and even defines how you shop and, more importantly, why you buy.

Straight rebuy: when the buyer routinely repurchases a product or service.

Strategic alliance: relationships that go to the next level and actually create a partnership that puts both parties at risk and provides opportunities for all parties to gain

Users are the people who are actually using the product or service.

Wants are products, services, and activities that can improve your quality of life; you don’t need them to exist, but rather you desire to have them because you think they will make you happy. Cell phones, vacations, sporting events, restaurants, amusement parks, cable television, and fashion are all examples of wants.