Using humor in the industrial selling process

Humor is an oft used promotional tool in advertising, and the question naturally arises as to whether humor can also be designed to accomplish specific goals in the industrial selling process. In this article, principles of humor are applied to the buyer/seller process, with particular reference to the steps of the sale. The judicious use of humor by the industrial salesperson can enhance the sales presentation and favorably influence the overall buyer/seller relationship, provided the salesperson has adequate knowledge of the capabilities and limitations of humor.     

Industrial sales emphasis across the life cycle

Life-cycle stages require changes in both operations and management styles. Different personnel sales skills, qualities, and motivation are optimum for the various phases of industrial product life cycles. Early phases require creativity and informality. Growth phases require emphasis on operational planning, staging, training, optimism, problem solving, and stamina. Mature phases demand emphasis on efficiency, administration, judgement, and conservatism. Cutback phases place a premium on “hard-nosed” decisiveness, objectivity, judgement, and courage.     

Some factors in industrial market segmentation

Buyer-seller relationships are complex, especially in industrial marketing. A model for segmenting industrial markets is proposed and implications for organization buying behavior are summarized.     

Social auditing for marketing managers

A general framework is suggested for use by the marketing manager in maximizing efforts to safeguard consumer rights by thoughtfully preparing for his part in the corporate social audit. He can adapt a suggested audit preparation sequence to the needs and resources of his individual company.     

Purchasing agent's influence in the buying process

As in previous studies the role of the purchasing agent can here been seen to vary throughout the buying process. The results both support and reject previous findings. This study finds that while purchasing agents are heavily involved in some buying stages, such as the selection of an order routine as suggested by previous studies, they may not be heavily involved in such other buying stages as post-sale performance feedback. This is contrary to previous findings. This study was conducted in the commercial construction industry.     

Marketing to the industrial lease buyer

This article reports on a survey of financial executives concerning their attitudes towards the leasing of industrial equipment. Specifically, the study seeks to explore the reasons why lessees lease. The research findings are viewed in terms of their implications for the marketing of industrial equipment.     

Impact of organizational and buyer characteristics on the buying center

A mail survey of 200 organizational buyers was conducted to determine if the number of individuals in the buying center or the amount of perceived self-influence varied by organizational and buyer characteristics or by the type of purchase decision. The results of the study indicate that the type and size of the firm, as well as the buyer's educational level, affect both the number of individuals in the buying center and the amount of perceived self-influence of the organizational buyer. The results further indicate that the size of the buying center increases and the amount of perceived self-influence decreases as the purchase decision becomes more complex.     

MRO parts service in the machine tool industry

This article examines the post purchase Parts servicing of Machine Tools. Survey results outline the policies and criteria that influence the degree to which replacement parts will be provided for old machines. The survey indicates that the policies of some American manufacturers leave service gaps that can be exploited by foreign as well as domestic competitors.     

Technology transfer from government laboratories to industrial markets

The first purpose of this article is to explore the interface between Marketing and R&D. The intent is to illustrate the nature of the relationship that must be developed and maintained to assure the successful transfer of technology from Federal laboratories to the civilian and commercial sectors of the nation. The second purpose of this article is to explore how government participation affects the R&D—Marketing interface and other dimensions of the innovation process.     

Industrial salesforce satisfaction and performance with Herzberg's theory

Sales managers are seeking answers to facilitate the salesforce motivational process. This study empirically tested one of the most prominant motivational theories, which, some authorities consider the leading work formulated on the idea that satisfaction leads to performance. This study found no support for Herzberg's dichotomy or the correlation between satisfaction and performance.     

Measures used to evaluate industrial marketing activities

Given the importance of controlling marketing efforts, a study was conducted of industrial manufacturers to determine the extent of their use of various measures to evaluate different marketing activities. The predominate measures used for evaluation were sales volume with much less utilization of profitability, productivity, and expense measures.     

A sales mix model for effective industrial selling

The purpose of this article is to focus on one aspect of the marketing mix for industrial firms. Specifically, the control of promotion centers on the promotional mix, which includes personal selling, advertising, and sales promotion. The personal sales mix model (Figure 1) highlights those factors that are controllable by the industrial sales representative. Also, the uncontrollables involved in industrial selling are discussed. An understanding of the personal sales mix model should aid industrial marketers in satisfying buyer's needs through effective selling.     

Industrial sales management in the 1980s

This article offers suggestions for sales management in the 1980s. Experts believe that energy and other resources will decline, government regulation will increase, and increased attention will be given to social responsibility. Several recommendations for dealing with these anticipated pressures are presented.     

Support service is key for technology transfer to China

China, under the direction of its new political leadership, is extremely interested in purchasing the most up-to-date technology. However, still being a less-developed nation, there is some doubt about her ability to absorb this high-level technology. If the U.S. industrial marketers hesitate to sell this technology, China will buy it from other industrialized countries. The authors maintain that the U.S. industrial marketers must sell the high-level technology to China. However, they also must make sure that this technology will be transferred successfully. In order to assure the success, the authors suggest that special attention be paid to the development of marketing support service systems as highly technical industrial products are sold to China. These systems will at least temporarily overcome existing barriers to technology transfer and hence will facilitate smooth and enduring technology transfers in the long run.     

Applying financial portfolio and multiple criteria approaches to product line decisions

This article describes the application of decision rules from financial portfolio theory to the evaluation of product lines. The focus is on the risk/return implications of an “add” decision to the total portfolio versus the individual product. Multiple criteria approaches that aid product line evaluations are also presented.     

Managerial guidelines for trade show effectiveness

This article examines some managerial aspects of successful trade show promotions. In particular, trade show objectives, advantages, preshow and postshow campaigns, and exhibit evaluation are stressed.     

Abandon bad R&D projects with earlier marketing appraisals

The marketing concept in technology based firms is often applied too late in the product development cycle to prevent costly marketplace failure. This article stresses the need for the involvement of marketing much earlier in the development cycle and a framework for accomplishing this purpose is presented.     

Industrial buyer complaining behavior

Many areas of household consumer behavior research were extended to study organizational buyer behavior in the recent years. However, one exception is the buyer dissatisfaction and complaining behavior area. This article discusses the various conceptual aspects of organizational buyer complaining behavior. A model of buyer complaining behavior is proposed and some theoretical portulates are formulated for additional research.