Who Makes Business Purchases - Explained
Who Makes Purchasing Decisions in a Business?
Written by J. Mance Gordon
Updated at April 17th, 2024
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Who makes Business Purchase Decisions?
The group and individuals in an organization who make purchase decision are as follows:
Buying Center
When it comes to business customers, most decisions are made by what we call buying centers. Buying centers involve a collection of different people or people in different roles throughout the organization.
Gate Keepers
Gatekeepers are people in an organization (within the buying center) that control the flow of information. As a marketer (especially as a salesperson) it's important for us to recognize who these people are so that we can be in good standing with them and make sure that the information we're trying to get across makes its way to the other decision makers.
Users
Users are the people in in the business that actually use our product. We want them to have a good experience with our product. We also need to identify them and understand what information they need to make their decision.
Purchasing Agents or Purchasing Manager
These individuals negotiate purchases. They set the terms of deals and make sure that all the options out there are being considered.
Influencers
Influencers have some sort of impact on the purchase decision. They could be anyone in the buying center.
General Managers
In most businesses, top managers are going to have a lot of influence on the purchases that are made. They often are charged with setting budgets and planning for the necessary product purchases.
Related Topics
- Business to Business (B2B) Definition
- Business to Consumer (B2C) Definition
- Business to Government (B2G) Definition
- Business Customers are Different from Consumers
- What Drives Purchase Decisions?
- Types of Purchase Decisions
- Who Makes Purchase Decisions?
- Role of the Business Buying Center
- Identifying Options for Purchase
- Benefits/Detriments of B2B Relationships
- What is Included in a Business Relationship?
- What are Kickbacks a Bad Thing?