B2B MARKETING: A SOUTH-ASIAN PERSPECTIVE,11TH EDN

Marketing to businesses is fundamentally
different from marketing to individual consumers. Business to business (B2B)
marketing usually involves a much longer and multifaceted sales cycle.
Additionally, decision makers are usually highly involved as the stakes are
high. Understanding the B2B process is vital for the success of businesses as
there is increasing burden on managers to provide concrete results. Thus,
decision making in the B2B context may be understood as individual
psychology, small group psychology, or a large group psychology.
Consequently, it is important to use apposite strategies to engage B2B
customers.
Typically, B2B marketing encompasses marketing to both for-profit and
non-profit businesses. Not-for-profit businesses include both government and
non-government organizations. Thus, the B2B marketing process is longer and
is largely driven by relationship marketing. Buying decisions are made more
rationally as there are multiple influencers involved in decision making.
The demand can be for both B2B products and services. The B2B demand is
both derived and joint, making it less elastic as compared to the demand for
B2C products and services. Thus, B2B transactions are usually larger compared
to B2C transactions, thus justifying a more direct and frequent contact
between buyers and sellers.
The aforementioned existing difference between B2C and B2B marketing has
led to the evolution of a new stream in marketing, i.e., B2B marketing. This
book, B2B Marketing, eleventh edition, offers a comprehensive learning of
various facets of B2B marketing and is meant to meet the requirements of
management and commerce students of various universities across the country.