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2 ■ Theories of buying and selling

Questions
1 Why is it important for B2B salespeople to understand the concepts of organisational buying
behaviour?
2 Which factors in buyer behaviour are likely to be the most important to a consumer purchasing a
home improvement product?
3 In what ways might the sales behaviour of a business development manager pursuing a large
contract differ from that of a salesperson’s repeat calling on retailers?
4 Invited to prepare a training programme for salespeople, how much emphasis would you put on
helping salespeople understand buyer behaviour? Why?
5 Using the SPIN model, prepare a list of questions you would use if selling office furniture to
professional firms (accountants, lawyers, estate agents and so on).

Case study Jan Bronowski is a salesperson for Packard Bell (a computer company www.packardbell.com)
and works exclusively in PC WORLD (www.pcworld.com) a retail company selling personal
computers, printers, software and ancillary computer-related equipment. Working on a one-to-
one basis, the job involves demonstrating the functions of hardware and software packages,
answering any questions the prospect may have and solving problems by matching the
appropriate products to the customer’s needs. At the point of purchase, the prospect is ‘handed
over’ to someone else who deals with payment, credit arrangements and invoicing. After six
months, Jan has been relatively successful. He has worked hard and believes that his confi-
dence, the ability to strike up rapport with prospects and his ability to ‘read a prospect’ have
contributed to his success.
The company have decided to promote him to their direct business division, selling to local
firms. As part of his new job, Jan has contacted by telephone the office manager of a local
company which produces chemicals and employs 60 people, 12 of those in office and admin-
istrative positions. He is excited at the prospect of making his first sale. The office manager
was interested in his products and has asked Jan to call and see him the following week.
Prior to his visit, Jan has been asked to post the relevant details of his products to the office
manager. He has also been requested to bring some of the equipment to demonstrate to the
office staff who would eventually use any such equipment. Thinking about his forthcoming
visit, Jan is apprehensive; his background in retail has been with relatively inexperienced cus-
tomers, and he is unsure of his ability to explain the product in these new surroundings to a
more technical audience. He is also worried about demonstrating the product to the office staff
since one of the advantages which will become apparent at any such demonstration is the
potential staff savings of the equipment.
Meanwhile, back at the chemicals company, the office manager is trying to convince his man-
aging director of the wisdom of his decision because of the capital outlay required. The pur-
chasing manager is upset because he has not been consulted about the proposed purchase
and rings Jan directly to complain of his annoyance at being bypassed, telling Jan that he is
determined to block the purchase on principle.
Jan is dejected: ‘Where did I go wrong?’, he thinks and, more importantly, ‘What do I do now?’

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The philosophy of selling

Discussion questions

1 Compare the similarities and differences between the two jobs.

2 How might a knowledge of buyer behaviour help Jan in this situation?
3 Make a list of information requirements to assist Jan in his pre-call preparation.
4 Advise Jan on how he should now proceed.

Key terms
■ Advantages ■ hierarchy of effects
■ AIDAS ■ interaction model
■ benefits ■ key account management
■ B2B (business-to-business) ■ needs-satisfaction theory
■ buy phases ■ OBB (organisational buying behaviour)
■ buyer–seller similarity ■ problem–solution theory
■ buying centre ■ relationship marketing
■ buying process ■ SPIN approach
■ DMP (decision-making process) ■ stimulus–response theory
■ features

References
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