ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the process of selling and buying in the organizational marketplace. An organizational buying center often consists of individuals who play different roles in making the purchase decision. Participants in that buying process include the following: Estimates of the number of people in the buying center for a typical purchase range from 3 to 12. Different members of the buying center may participate, and exert different amounts of influence, at different stages in the decision process. The nature of selling has changed. Sales organizations are being reinvented to better address the needs of the changing marketplace. Promoting top salespeople into management can sometimes cause problems. Successful selling often requires different personal skills and abilities than does successful management. A key difference between transactional and relationship selling approaches is the effort devoted by the salesperson to the ongoing maintenance and management of the relationship, especially between actual face-to-face encounters with the customer.
