Business Buyer Behaviour – Types, Decision Process, Influencing Factors

When mapping out their marketing strategy, B2B takes various elements into account. Without a doubt, business buyer behaviour is one of these elements. Thanks to business buyer behaviour data, B2Bs understand purchasing process of their audience. Understanding such processes is crucial in that it helps B2Bs strengthen their sales strategies with live data. It also helps them achieve their target easier, without missing a beat.

Considering the importance of business buyer behaviour for B2Bs, we wanted to give you an outline of business buyer behaviour in this article. What are some types of business buyer behaviour? How do the decision processes go? What are some of the influencing factors? In this article, we’ll give you an overview of business buyer behaviour, and how you can implement it for your B2B.

Business buyer behaviour

Organizations that purchase goods and services for use in the manufacture of other products and services that are sold, leased, or supplied to others are referred to as business buyers.

Organisational buying is also known as institutional buying or business-to-business (B2B) buying. The process starts when a company or organization determines a need for goods. Then they gather details to compare and contrast products and services from competing brands. Finally, they make a final purchase decision.

Organizations purchase goods and services for internal use as well as for use in the manufacturing process to provide a finished product or service for end-users. When the goods are used in their own manufacturing process, the purchase process is referred to as industrial buying.

In some ways, organizational buying is similar to individual customer buying in that it is not the organization that makes the purchasing decisions, but people from all levels of the organization are involved in the process.

What are some responsibilities of buyers?

It is the duty of the industrial marketer to recognize the people who are a part of the purchasing decision process.

Buying centres are everyone or unit that is involved in such processes. Initiators are individuals who place the request for a purchase or acquisition. Users are the starters of the purchasing process as they use the products. Individuals within an organization that affect decision-making by presenting information on purchasing requirements are known as influencers (for example, R&D personnel).

Deciders are parts of the organisation that have the power of making decisions regarding the purchase, such as engineers. Gatekeepers are parts of the organisation that have the authority to prohibit sellers or details from reaching buying center members. These could be receptionists, secretaries or purchasing agents. Approvers are the individuals who give approval to the purchase. Buyers have the legitimate authority to decide on the supplier and organize the terms of purchase.

What are the motives of B2B buyers?

Some of the motivations that mould the business buyer behaviour for B2B are plenty. The efficiency of performance, how practical the buy is, and the capacity improvement is very important. In addition to this; finance, level of quality, simplicity, profitability, ease of use, compactness, obsolescence, safety, and cleanliness are also other motivators for business buyers. When shaping their strategy, B2B marketers should have a relevant list for their audience to hit their target.

The decision process for business buying

You could treat the “company purchasing” as a decision-making process, with different measures for different businesses and goods.

We outlined below the phases of the company purchasing decision-making process:

1. Recognize the issue
2. A summary of the general need
3. Find a Supplier
4. Information gathering and supplier assessment
5. Purchase Order Negotiation
6. Performance Assessment of Suppliers

Recognizing the issue

Identifying or recognizing a need that can be fulfilled by obtaining a product or service. This is the first step in organizational purchasing.

A summary of the general need

This is the step where a buyer decides product requirements such as general characteristics and quantity of a required item.

Finding a supplier

The business purchasing process in which the customer seeks to find the best suppliers/vendors.

Information gathering and supplier assessment

Before choosing suppliers, a purchasing center can need to analyze multiple product types for a specific purpose.

Purchase order negotiation

An organization’s buyer may negotiate a contractual arrangement with a supplier. An arrangement of this nature may cover a single purchase of a commodity. Or a series of purchases over time.

Performance Assessment of Suppliers

Organizational buyers usually analyze the supplier’s efficiency and how well they stick to the purchasing agreement. As a result, evaluating vendors after a purchase is an integral aspect of organizational purchasing.

Business buying situations

In order to better assess the business buyer behaviour, understanding business buying situations is also very important. There are three types of business buying situations that need to be considered. They are straight rebuy, modified rebuy, and new buy. Straight rebuy refers to a repetition or routine in order processing. We use this term is for long-term suppliers.

Modified rebuy refers to a buying situation where the buyer goes for a modification in the purchase. It could be regarding product specification improvement, reduction in prices or a change in sales terms. Finally, a new buy is the purchase of a product (or a service) for the first time.

Business buyer behaviour and sales

As discussed above, business buyer behaviour shapes the ultimate strategy for B2Bs. Business buyer behaviour is the organic plan your buyers create for you. By making use of such data, you can further improve your sales, and get yourself some brand advocates too. Keeping track of business buyer behaviour helps your buyers to feel heard as well.

You can use various platforms where you can gather such data for your specific customers, get a relevant interpretation for your brand, and re-consider or enhance your strategy for improved sales. Apex Loyalty also offers professional support for the interpretation and implementation of business buyer behaviour. For a better future in sales for your brand, get your support today!

You can read our previous post on https://www.apexloyalty.com/account-based-marketing-for-b2b/