Now, let's focus on the other concept which is something called a Buying Center. In business to business firms decisions are made in groups. Within organizations, major purchases typically require input from various parts of the organization to include; finance, accounting, purchasing, information, technology management, and senior management. Highly technical purchases such as information technology systems or production equipment may require the expertise of technical specialists. In some cases, the buying center acts as an informal Ad Hoc Group with each member influencing the decision to buy a product. In other cases, the buying center is a formally sanctioned group with specific mandates, criteria, and procedures. Large organizations often have permanence departments that consists of the people who in a sense shop for a living. They are professional buyers in other words. So it's important to realize that while an order may be received from a buyer that person frequently isn't the only person who was involved in a purchase decision. The people who provide their firms buyers with input generally fall into one or more of the following groups. Initiators: Initiators are the people within the organization who first see the need for the product, but they don't stop there whether they have the ability to make that final decision of what to buy or not. They get the ball rolling. Sometimes they initiate the purchase by simply notifying purchasing agents of what is needed. Other times they have to lobby executives to consider making a change. Users: Users are the people in groups within the organization that actually use this product. Frequently, one or more users serve as an initiator in an effort to improve what they produce or how they produce it. They certainly had the responsibility for implementing what is purchased. Users often have certain specifications in mind for products, and how they want them to perform. An example of a user might be a professor at your school who wants to adopt an electronic book and integrate it into his or her online course. Influencers: Influencers are people who may or may not use the product but have experience or expertise that can help improve that buying decision. For example; An engineer may prefer a certain vendor's product platform and tried to persuade others that is the best choice. Gatekeepers: if you want to sell a product to a large company like General Motors, you can't just walk into the door of its corporate headquarters and demand to see a purchasing agent. You will first have to get pass a number of gatekeepers or people who will decide if and when you get access to members of the Buying Center. These are people such as buying assistance, personal assistants, and other individuals who have some say about which sellers are able to get a foot in the door. Deciders: The deciders is the person who makes the final purchasing decision. The Decider might or might not be the purchasing manager. Purchasing managers are generally solely responsible for deciding upon routine purchases and small purchases. However, the decision to purchase a large expensive product that will have a major impact on a company is likely to be made by or with the help of other people in the organization, perhaps even the CEO. The decision may be made by a single decider or there may be a few who reach consensus. Further, deciders take into account the input of all the other participants the Users, Influencers, and so forth. Sellers of course pay special attention to what Deciders want. Who makes the buying decision is a key question in B2B sales and marketing personnel and they are trained to quickly ask potential customers this question. The Advent of the buying center has complicated the salesperson's job. The salesperson is faced with a number of challenges. First, it may be necessary to call in individuals who are influencing decision, but may lie outside the normal chain of command. Simply figuring out who all the folks involved in a decision is a time consuming task. Secondly, each person has differing concerns and needs that must be satisfied. What a salesperson might say to an engineer maybe irrelevant to the CEO. There is not one size fits all sales presentation.
