Archives for posts with tag: Buying
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The Seventh Buying Stage

January 5, 2015 //
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Following the investment stage in the B2B buying process, dear reader, which follows the awareness of a problem or opportunity, defining that problem or opportunity, briefing the requirements to fix the problem or capitalise on the opportunity, evaluating the alternatives and selecting the best alternative, we come to the seventh and final buying stage.

In fact, as is true in the cycle of business, the seventh buying stage is also the first buying stage. In the ongoing operation of the business, the buying company is reviewing its operations, assessing the results of the investment against the target results it has set for the investment, and making changes where necessary to improve performance.

It’s also the stage where the company makes a call on whether it will supplement, renew or reorder – in the sense of order again rather than re-organise – the product or service that formed the original investment. This will depend on the resulting behaviours and achievements of the company against the plan for the investment. It will also depend on what other problems or opportunities arise that compete for attention and investment in the general running of the business.

In future posts I’ll examine the sales stages that align with these buying stages for successful selling.

 

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Categories Customers, Marketing, Sales

The Sixth Buying Stage

January 2, 2015 //
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I see seven stages in the typical B2B buying process, and so far we’ve covered the awareness of a problem or opportunity, defining that problem or opportunity, briefing the requirements to fix the problem or capitalise on the opportunity, evaluating the alternatives and selecting the best alternative.

The sixth and penultimate stage is investing in the best alternative and implementing that investment. This can often be the shortest stage, as long as the hard work has already been done.

As I’ve mentioned, the risk has been increasing for the buying company and is at its highest the moment it signs on the dotted line and submits the order. At that point it is committed and is now usually interested in the quickest and most effective implementation possible, so that it can start to reap the benefits of its carefully calculated and judiciously selected investment.

The buying company is also running a business at the same time, so it needs to make sure the implementation happens in a way that allows it to keep running that business at the same time as transitioning to the new ways of doing things with the new product or service it has bought. This is not usually easy!

 

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Categories Customers, Marketing, Sales

The Fifth Buying Stage

December 31, 2014 //
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The first four stages of the B2B buying process – at least as far as I’m concerned – are awareness of a problem or opportunity, defining that problem or opportunity, briefing the requirements to fix the problem or capitalise on the opportunity and evaluating the alternatives.

The fifth stage is selecting the best of the available alternatives. This is the narrowing down of the candidates to one preferred candidate and negotiating with them on the terms of the deal. This is where the risks start to further increase for the buying company, since they are moving towards investment and tying themselves in with a supplier for some defined period of time.  There is also the opportunity cost of not going with any of the other alternatives to consider.

As with the fourth stage, the selection phase can take a frustratingly long time for both buying and selling organisation, but it’s important that the terms are correct and fair for both parties for the long term welfare of the partnership.

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Categories Customers, Marketing, Sales

The Fourth Buying Stage

December 29, 2014 //
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In our series of posts, dear reader, on the buying process for B2B companies, we covered awareness of a problem or opportunity, defining that problem or opportunity, and briefing the requirements.

The next stage, the fourth as far as I’m concerned, is where the company evaluates its alternatives. Among these alternatives might be answers to the following questions:

– do we have to do anything?

– can we do it ourselves or internally?

– if we can’t do it ourselves, who shall we evaluate?

– how shall we evaluate them?

If the answer to the first question is yes, and the answer to the second is ‘no’, then you have a buying situation, and not before.

Evaluation of the buying alternatives can take many forms, mini stages and time before the buying company can move to the next buying stage. The bottom line, though, is that the company should select the alternative that best fits their unique set of requirements.

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Categories Customers, Marketing, Sales

The Third Buying Stage

December 26, 2014 //
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In previous posts on the buying process for B2B companies, I shared my view that the first buying stage is awareness of a problem or opportunity, followed by the second stage, namely defining that problem or opportunity.

The third stage is the brief, where the company sets out its requirements for removing the barrier to achieving its objectives. The brief can come in many forms, from the ultra-short verbal brief, to the more formal requests for information, quote, or proposal, through to the ultra-formal Invitation to Tender.

At this stage companies may still decide they can meet these requirements internally, that they don’t need to go for outside help. Don’t forget that for you the selling organisation your two biggest competitors are ‘internal solution’ or ‘do nothing’.

Most importantly, the requirements stage is where the customer outlines what they think they need. They might not need what they think they need. Crucially too, they’re pre-occupied with the ‘what’.

They’re not as focused on the ‘why‘, which is the key question, nor the ‘how’, which is down to you.

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Categories Customers, Marketing, Planning, Sales, Strategy

The First Buying Stage

December 22, 2014 //
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I’m beginning, dear reader, a series of posts on the various buying stages for business-to-business customers. These buying stages correspond – as you’re probably sick of reading on this blog by now – to the sales stages of the selling organisation.

There will inevitably be generalisations, and of course you should adapt – through experimentation – what I say to your own customer groupings, but in the main the vast majority of this holds true. The terms, jargon and definitions may vary, but the essence is the same.

The challenge for the selling organisation is that nowadays it’s possible for the buying organisation to complete quite a few of the buying stages without the selling organisation ever knowing. So, unless you’re on top of your game and the available technologies, sales may simply pass you by.

So, back to the first stage. This stage is what I call ‘ongoing’. It’s the ongoing operation of the business. It’s in the day-to-day running of the customer’s business that problems, issues or opportunities arise. It’s the stage where the customer first becomes aware – awareness is the key behaviour here – that a situation exists that they need to address or capitalise on. This is the inflexion point where the company starts to contemplate spending money in order to make more money than they’re spending.

This is also the stage where companies are also evaluating the investments they’ve already made, reviewing their performance and making decisions about whether they will reinvest. As such, this stage both starts and completes the buying cycle.

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Categories Customers, Marketing, Sales
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