May 8, 2024
Like the famous parable of the blind men appraising an elephant, where each one drew up a view based on the body part they touched, stakeholders have different perspectives that could be in conflict and removed from the complete picture. And there-in lies the opportunity for manufacturers to enable their clients to see the entire metaphorical elephant, empower them to make the right choices and embed themselves as trustworthy partners for the long run.How do you think manufacturers can influence and gain the confidence of each of these key stakeholders? Would love to hear your thoughts
Buying decisions are not easy. The complexity increases, among other things, with the price-value equation, emotional involvement and number of stakeholders and their motives. This is true as much in life as it is in business. Take, for example, a student’s selection of college for higher education. While they may know what they want to study and where, the final decision hinges on several people and their opinions – friends and classmates, teachers and counselors, parents being among the dominant ones. And each one of them may be driven by very different motives for their preferences all of which ultimately play a role in the final choice.
The buying experience in the B2B context is predicated on a similar canvas. It may not be so obvious but even objective financial decisions are influenced by non-rational factors like emotion, relationship and bias. These factors manifest very differently in each of the key influencers.
The User
The person who comes into most contact with the product or service, often daily. His disgruntlement is an alarm bell while his delight need not mean guaranteed business. His vote may not matter but his voice will. Anything that affects his productivity or quality will be a deal breaker.
The Payer
Purse strings are always tight, particularly when it comes to vendors. Procurement teams’ mandates are generally to seek the most cost-effective solutions. They are driven by numbers and reliability of supply. They are neither users nor the decision makers but their vote is important.
The Decision maker
Eventually decisions land up at the senior leaders’ desk. They juggle the needs of the shop floor and the priorities of the money managers, while maximizing profitability. They have other considerations to weave in such as strategic fit with organizational values, trust and comfort that develops through years of partnership.
While we have discussed three critical players in the buying process, we have seen that the underlying needs of these people are actually key attributes in the product or service being offered. Manufacturers would do well to ensure that the product meets those needs while gaining the organisation’s confidence at various levels.
Like the famous parable of the blind men appraising an elephant, where each one drew up a view based on the body part they touched, stakeholders have different perspectives that could be in conflict and removed from the complete picture. And there-in lies the opportunity for manufacturers to enable their clients to see the entire metaphorical elephant, empower them to make the right choices and embed themselves as trustworthy partners for the long run.
How do you think manufacturers can influence and gain the confidence of each of these key stakeholders? Would love to hear your thoughts
