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The Key 6 Differences between business and consumer marketing
Submitted by Jan Lagast on Wed, 2007-03-14 21:06.
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On b2bmarketingtrends, business copywriter and book author Robert Bly mentions six key differences:
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the business buyer wants to buy
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the business buyer is sophisticated
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the business buyer will read a lot of copy
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multistep buying process
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multiple buying influences
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business products are more complex
I think this oversimplifies business buying behavior. Let me provide some comments here -- without wanting to give the impression they are complete.
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the business buyer wants to buy --> when we consider buying supply chain goods to feed the manufacturing process, I agree with this statement. But this being true at all times would block any potential for need creation by business marketeers.
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the business buyer is sophisticated --> the technical business buyer might be sophisticated, but many non-technical business buyers lack the knowledge to understand the oversophisticated documents from suppliers. Hence the unrational effect of brand and corporate image in buying.
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the business buyer will read a lot of copy --> not true ... depends on the situation ... when buying commodities with low business impact, a business buyer will not read anything else than the price of the offering.
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multistep buying process --> true for many cases, but there are exceptions to the rule ... I have known products with a corporate-wide impact and a high investment that have been ordered with one stroke of a pen
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multiple buying influences --> true for large organizations, not true for small business owners
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business products are more complex --> innovations are, commodities are not ... and what about the consumer ... is investing in a new family house easy?
Any comments? Feel free to add them.
Posted in Business or Consumer Marketing Submitted by Jan Lagast on Wed, 2007-03-14 21:06.
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"business buyer wants to buy" : in your comment, there is a confusion between marketing stage, & sales stage. At the sales stage, yes he is in the process to buy as soon he spends time with a salesman. This can always be true, it yet leaves room for need creation by marketeers, which occurs at a previous marketing stage; it is something else. Because in the field of business marketing, you can create as much new need as you want as long as you bring value. My trick to evaluate a new offer or a sales pitch is always : will the (potential) customer be convinced he will save money ? In business, that's the only thing that matters...
That leads to make some changes in your 6 points. I would replace "multiple buying influences" by "Economic logic" :
- "Multiple buying influence", also apply for mass-distributed goods. The difference in this field, is that you have a sociologic approach on one hand, as on the other hand, the approach consists in understanding the players in a (supposed to be) formal decision process, with their respective weight of power. And as you may suggest it, as corporation size decreases, we gradually switch from an approach to the other.
- The "Economic logic" is to supposed to drive any spending decision in a well managed corporation. In a world where the ultimate goal is the profit, a dollar spent is supposed to create wealth or productivity. This drives the buyer into a rational purchase process, which is the fundamental difference with consumer goods purchase process, highly influenced by the "pleasure".
Now some will say that in real life, professional purchasers also want "pleasure". And I have experienced it so often that I can only fully agree with that. But at the end of the day, having made a purchase for "pleasure" reasons, will not he be in need of justifying his decision to his boss / company ?