Business-to-business markets involve a relatively small number of buyers and sellers. There are four main types. Producers purchase goods to make them into other products. Resellers sell goods and services of other businesses. Governments purchase goods to provide services to the people. Finally, institutions use the goods in the same way as governments but independently (Antoncic, Auer Antoncic & Aaltonen, 2016).
There are six steps to the business-to-business buying process. The first is the recognition of the need in the market. After the need is recognized, the product specifications begin to be defined. Then, the suppliers involved in the product complete requests for proposal. Subsequently, the proposal is analyzed, and suppliers are selected. This leads to the specification of the order and eventual performance assessment with the help of various metrics (Antoncic et al., 2016).
Personal selling has a lot of value due to its advantages. It is very flexible and can fit the need of many businesses. It minimizes waste effort, it is more easily measurable and can use a variety of communication techniques (Antoncic et al., 2016).
There are five steps in the personal selling process. During the first step, the leads are generated and qualified by gaining information from various sources such as networking events. The second step is called preaproach, and it continues the qualification process while setting the goals for the future. The next step is sales presentation and overcoming reservations. The presentation is aimed at getting the customers attention, and reservations about the product need to be overcome. The next step is to close the sale by gaining the commitment of the buyer. The last step of the process is a follow-up, which allows the seller to measure the quality of the service (Antoncic et al., 2016).
Ethical and legal issues in personal selling include deception, bribery, special treatment, exposure to confidential information, backdoor selling, and other types of inappropriate conduct (Antoncic et al., 2016).
Reference
Antoncic, B., Auer Antoncic, J., & Aaltonen, H. (2016). Marketing self-efficacy and firm creation. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 23(1), 90-104.