Keller and Webster (2004) state that the B2B markets are defined by the buyers and not necessarily by the products that are sold. B2B customers are different from regular consumers due to their budget limitation and profit-motivation. The the type of relationship that B2B customers demand from suppliers, their capacity of purchase, the buying power and the buying process all differ from the common household or individual consumer. Furthermore, Keller and Webster (2004) expressed that the B2B buying is influenced by both individual and organizational decision-making processes.
Even though B2B organizations rarely purchase products or services with impulse, the B2B buying process is not yet seen as completely rational …show more content…
Webster and Wind (1972) express the term buying center as the organizational actors that can participate in the buying process. The buying center comprise five roles: users, buyers, decision makers, influencers and gatekeepers. The users are members of the organization that will actually use the product or services purchased. The buyers are those who have the authority and responsibility to enter an agreement with the suppliers.
The influencers are people who can influence the decision-making process. It can be done either directly or indirectly when providing relevant information or criteria for evaluating different options. The decision makers are those who have the authority to choose between alternatives or select a different vendor. The gatekeepers are the ones who are controlling the flow of information in the buying center. Furthermore, Webster and Wind (1972), state that it is possible for one person to occupy different roles as it is possible for different people to occupy the same role. B2B markets are different when compared to consumer markets. Since Hotelchamp's potential customers in the US market are businesses, the researcher has to understand how the B2B market functions and how it differs from the consumer …show more content…
The Technology Adoption Lifecycle Since the commissioning client provides an innovative technological solution and wishes to enter a new market, the aforementioned model is important for the development of its B2B sales plan. The theory of the diffusion of innovation explains how trends occur and why societies adopt certain technologies. A company that is introducing a product should pay special attention to diffusion of innovation. This may warn them of the probability of success or failure of its product in the new market.
4.4. Implementing The Sales Plan
Business Queensland (2017), states that the success of the sales plan rests on the sales team. The sales team cannot achieve the goals of a sales plan unless they thoroughly understand the plan. The sales plan should describe how the company will communicate the plan to employees and how they will train them to implement the plan. The sales team should be aligned with company sales initiatives and strategies. On a different note, Connick (2017) mentions that the following steps can be taken to ensure employees will execute properly a new sales plan:
Explaining: the reason why the new plan is important to the company and why it will work better than the previous plan must be