B2B Buyer Roles

B2B Buyer Roles

When selling to some, anyone, there are a few roles that they take on either personally, as a group or as an organisation. These roles can exist in one person, think of the devil and the angel on the shoulder; or in a company, think manager, accounts, employees etc. The roles I am talking about are a theoretical concept called the buying centre:

The Initiator

This is the person or persona that begins the buying process, they have identified a need and while they may not have decision power they are usually an advocate for your product or service. Think of the voice that wants you to buy that chocolate bar.

The User

This is the person who actually needs the product or service. Marketers need to inform the user of the benefits of time saved or effort reduced. They will also help to sway the decision maker.

The Gatekeeper

This is someone that controls the flow of information to the other members. This can be reception, an admin or someone in the core group with strong personal opinions about the product or service. It is important for salespeople to develop strong personal relationships with these people and to try and provide information to at least one other role of the buyer centre to mitigate this. Think of the voice that says no to chocolate bars before you even assess then range available.

The Influencer

These are usually someone with experience or skill in a related area that can weigh in with their thoughts and potentially influence the other buying centre roles favourably or unfavourably.

The Decider

This role makes the final decision, they have the power to allocate funds towards that particular product or service. If it is a frequent purchase, there may be permissions given to a manager or purchasing officer. If its high ticket and infrequent then it may go to the CEO for example.

The Buyer

This is the person who has the responsibility for executing the purchase and may be responsible for evaluating and alternative suppliers. They can be accounts or a purchasing officer for example so providing fantastic service may ensure that you get repeat business in future.

In summary, the key to driving home the sale is to ensure that you communicate X 1000. All of these roles need convincing, whether they exist within one person, two people or a team of 10. All roles exist in all sales and the key is to ensure that you can get more than one engaged in the sales process. Next time you hold a sales meeting, try inviting several people. There is a higher chance of convincing at least one of them to buy from you. Alternatively, you could automate the information flow and educate everyone about your product or service before they even walk in the room.

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