Growing sales by mastering organisational buying behaviour

Ideas that trigger the formation of services or products often originate through rigorous interactions with the individuals or organizations that consume them – not with members of management, sales or the production team.

It is in trying to meet the needs of this key segment of the value chain that decisions surrounding the execution of research-based theories targeted at satisfying their desires are implemented.

As a result, a core knowledge of the forces that control the purchasing mannerisms of large-scale end-users are a dire necessity as they serve as the foundation upon which responsive business marketing strategies are employed.

Affirming the inadequate understanding of multi-market segments as a prime reasons why the income generation rates of organizations whose sales team while implementing a singular model for variegated groups of clientele record low profit margins, Onyekachi Anaba, the head of marketing at Nosak Group of Companies, a diversified conglomerate with interests in oil and gas, agriculture, manufacturing and pharmaceuticals, expressed, “The purchasing culture of an individual is very different from that of a major business and this is where many marketers mix things up. Many of them think that it is the same way you sell a bucket of paint to one person that you will sell one thousand buckets of paint to a big company and it is not!”

In industries where stiff competition marks the terrain, insight into factors that influence buying decisions for major conglomerates often help marketers from the manufacturing company’s make informed resolutions about product design, pricing and promotion.

Revealing a few tactical approaches to winning major clients over and making the big sale, Anaba further proffered, “There is no such thing as doing too much research. Before you make your move to any company, study their [purchasing history] and their needs because for a company to engage in a buying transaction, the first thing they consider is the organizational objective (i.e. how will the product they want to buy help them improve the welfare of the company). They also examine external and internal issues such as policies, the interests of the major decision makers in the organization and also pay detailed attention on how to maximize cost for their advantage.

“So when you want to make your pitch arrange it in such a way that will give them the assurance that you have met all their criteria and that you are only selling your product to them because you want to help their business grow. This way they will be more likely to forge a relationship with you or your company based on the fact that you have shown some effort. The people you are selling to are humans and they attach sentimental values to things especially if the quality of the product is up to standard,” he said.

While the race towards making inroads for commerce driven institutions increases the pressure for marketing executives to deliver higher cash flows, an assessment of many blue-chip multinationals shows an evolution in the techniques applied for cracking sales, building relationships and expanding the fiscal bottom-line.

A classic example is found at Johnson Controls Incorporated, a leading unit located in the United States that supplies car interiors ranging from seats to dash board and mirrors. The overwhelming success of the firm rests in its marketing team’s ability to form strong relationships with design engineers and purchasing executives at Ford, General Motors or Chrysler plants.

To further illustrate, Johnson Controls stations sales representatives in the design departments of major auto-companies who regularly sends feedback on new products or changes the organization can make to meet the evolving needs of their target customer.

The firm also injects about $2million each year on research alone as a means to staying in direct contact with the customers of their clients. Technically, they investigate how comfortable the end-buyers of each Ford car feels about the texture of the leather in their cars or size of the mirrors so that they can create better  specific product for those cars which will in turn increase sales for Ford and ensure Ford keeps buying from them.

The case with Johnson Control is evidence that when proper inquiries on product movement through supply bases are well-orchestrated, institutional buyers can confidently make market projections founded on intrinsic analytical reports generated by the selling company’s business team.

Additional ways via which the study of institutional purchasing mannerisms can be used to an organizations advantage are in increasing industry influence through the possession of trade secrets and the identification and evaluation of potential trends.    

Rita Ohai