Business Market Characteristics

1.1 – Explain the characteristics of different business markets

There are many different types of business markets. Some of them include -

• business to business – where one business sells its products/services to another business.

• Government/public sector – these can also be local authorities, health care or education, as well as Government agencies. A contract gained in this market can be quite profitable due to these being mainly large organisations.

• Industrial market -this is generally companies who conduct business in hard goods such as plant & machinery, vehicles and materials.

1.2 Explain the nature of interactions between businesses within a market.

The interactions between businesses within business markets can include the

1) Product Knowledge – a sales person must know the ins and outs of a product and how a customer will benefit from the products features.

2) Prospecting – this is about searching for new customers. It can be achieved by making a profile of existing customers to enable similar matches to be found.

3) Approaching New Customers – this step is where businesses gather data from step two and approach new customers via the means of email, telephone, face-to-face or internet advertising. This is the start of building a customer relationship.

4) Needs Assessment – this is where the needs of the customer is assessed to establish how a product can benefit a customer. It is important that a good relationship is built to gain confidence and trust with the customer which will help to convince them that choosing this product is to their benefit.

5) Presentation – this is a presentation of a product and all of its features. A presentation needs to be focused on how the product will benefit the customer. Previous assessing of the customer will help at this step.

6) The Close – closing is to advance the sales process to the point of getting an order. There are many other ways to try and close a sale, one example would be to offer to demonstrate the product at a customers

This continues to build the relationship with the customer in hope of more custom in the future, making sure the customer is happy.

5.3 Explain the features and the uses of Market Research

Market research is about identifying and satisfying customer needs. Information needs to be gathered to identify customer needs, competitors and market trends. The data collected and the resulting information is then used to produce competitive products.

Information can be collected by ~

• Field Research – gathering new data by means of surveys, questionnaires or interviews with people.

• Desk Research – gathering of existing data from researching on the internet, company reports and newspapers.

Information collected about views and opinions is known as qualitative? data. Whereas factual information is known as quantitative data.

5.4 Value of Brand

The value of a brand is very important to an organization. Having a well-known brand can enhance and generate more levels? For a business compared to a product with a less-known brand. A strong brand can gain trust and confidence in a product and enables a business to charge a premium price. This makes a well-known brand a valuable asset to a business.

5.5 Explain the relationship between sales and