Page 215 - Foundations of Marketing

182 Part 3 | Customer Behavior and E-Marketing

Methods of Business Buying

Although no two business buyers do their jobs the same way, most use one or more of the
following purchase methods: description, inspection, sampling, and negotiation. The most
straightforward is description. When products are standardized and graded according to char-
new-task purchase
An organization’s initial acteristics such as size, shape, weight, and color, a business buyer may be able to purchase
purchase of an item to be used simply by specifying quantity, grade, and other attributes. Commodities and raw materials
to perform a new job or solve a may be purchased this way. Sometimes buyers specify a particular brand or its equivalent
new problem when describing the desired product. Purchases on the basis of description are especially com-
mon between a buyer and seller with an ongoing relationship built on trust.
straight rebuy purchase
A routine purchase of the same Certain products, such as industrial equipment, used vehicles, and buildings, have unique
products under approximately characteristics and may vary with regard to condition. Depending on how they were used and for
the same terms of sale by a how long, two products may be in very different condition, even if they look identical on paper.
business buyer Consequently, business buyers of such products must base purchase decisions on inspection.
Sampling entails evaluating a portion of the product on
the assumption that its characteristics represent the entire
lot. This method is appropriate when the product is homoge-
neous—for instance, grain—and examining the entire lot is
not physically or economically feasible.
Some business purchases are based on negotiated contracts.
In these instances, buyers describe exactly what they need and
ask sellers to submit bids. They then negotiate with the suppli-
ers that submit the most attractive bids. This approach is gen-
erally used for very large or expensive purchases, such as with
commercial vehicles. This is frequently how the federal gov-
ernment conducts business. In other cases, the buyer may be
unable to identify specifically what is to be purchased and can
provide only a general description, as might be the case for a
piece of custom-made equipment. A buyer and seller might
negotiate a contract that specifies a base price and provides for
the payment of additional costs and fees. These contracts are
most commonly used for one-time projects such as buildings,
capital equipment, and special projects.

Types of Business Purchases

Most business purchases are one of three types: new-task,
straight rebuy, or modified rebuy. Each type is subject to
different influences and thus requires business marketers
to modify their selling approaches accordingly. For a new-
task purchase , an organization makes an initial purchase
of an item to be used to perform a new job or solve a new
problem. A new-task purchase may require development of
product and vendor specifications and procedures for future
product purchases. To make the initial purchase, the busi-
ness buyer usually needs to acquire a lot of information.
Courtesy of Hewlett-Packard can result in a long-term buying relationship if customers
New-task purchases are important to suppliers because they

are satisfied.
A straight rebuy purchase occurs when buyers pur-
chase the same products routinely under approximately the

tine purchase decisions and tend to use familiar suppliers
Types of Business Purchases same terms of sale. Buyers require little information for rou-
When purchasing this type of equipment, business customers are that have provided satisfactory service and products in the
prone to use a modified rebuy. past. These marketers may set up automatic systems to make

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