Deck 8: Understanding Customers: Business to Business Markets

Question 1

Intel built a chip fabrication plant in China that serves two purposes.One is to show its commitment to China and the other is to give Intel strategic advantage over competition that does not manufacture there.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Deciders can be come from a variety of roles in the organization.For example, they can be a CEO, a CFO, the head of the buying center, or can be a group coming to a consensus on a particular purchase.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Dealing with complaints, resolving customer problems and making sure the company is meeting customer expectations are critical to ensuring customer satisfaction in the B2B market.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Risk tolerance is an organizational factor that differs among companies trying to decide on a particular vendor.

Question 5

B2B companies often have a few companies that represent a large portion of their sales.This means that losing one larger customer has striking implications for the company.

Question 6

While many companies operate in the business-to-consumer markets, all companies operate in a business-to-business market.

Question 7

The value propositions required to compete and market in B2B versus B2C are often the same.

Question 8

Users in the buying process have enhanced responsibilities in new purchase and modified re-buy situations when product specifications are being set for the purchase decision.

Question 9

Influencers are any individuals, both inside and outside the organization, with relevant expertise in a particular area that is used by the buying center in making the final decision.

Question 10

The goal of business sellers in straight re-buy situations is to become the preferred supplier.Companies not on the approved list of suppliers are called out suppliers.

Question 11

Business markets tend to concentrate in certain locations in the United States as a result of suppliers wanting to be located close to one another.

Question 12

It is often the case that the purchase decision itself in the B2B market involves trade-offs between equally important evaluation criteria and equally qualified vendors.

Question 13

Customers in the B2B market place demand not only a personal relationship with their vendors but also an efficient one.

Question 14

The consumer buying process takes longer and is more complex than the B-to-B buying process.

Question 15

It is best for a company looking for or maintaining a strategic relationship with a client if their sales team is involved with the creation of an RFP with the client.

Question 16

One of the toughest challenges facing salespeople in a new or modified re-buy situation is getting access to the right people.

Question 17

A Buying Center is a permanent group of people at a B2B company that decides on each new purchasing decision.It is most common for only one buying center to exist at any time in a company.

Question 18

There are two types of end user purchases-capital equipment and sundries.

Question 19

The people in a company blocking access to key personnel in the buying process are called Goalies.

Question 20

The NAICS codes list all of a particular companies business sectors.A company can be listed in several different categories.

Question 21

Technology plays ____________ type of role in connecting buyers and sellers together in the B2B market:

A) The same role as B2C markets
B) A critical role in connecting buyers and sellers
C) A lower level role than B2C markets
D) A decreasing role in connecting buyers and sellers
E) No role in connecting buyers and sellers

Question 22

The nature of business-to-business markets requires:

A) A more personal relationship between the buyer and seller.
B) Invest more resources to foster and maintain personal contact
C) May even invest in their suppliers in order to strengthen the relationship
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 23

When General Motors is familiar with a product and supplier, but still seeks additional information in the market place, it is called a ________.

A) Straight rebuy
B) Modified rebuy
C) New purchase
D) Filtered buy
E) None of the above

Question 24

When you re-order products that are used on a consistent basis, it is called a ________.

A) Purchase
B) Order on demand
C) Two-bin inventory system
D) Modified order on demand
E) Straight rebuy

Question 25

The relationship between consumer demand for products and demand for B-to-B products is said to be _______________.

A) Upward sloping demand
B) Downward sloping demand
C) Derived demand
D) Equal demand
E) All of the above

Question 26

Business-to-business markets are:

A) Identical to business-to-consumer markets
B) Similar in most ways to business-to-consumer markets
C) Different in several ways to business-to-consumer markets
D) Different in every way from business-to-consumer markets
E) All of the above

Question 27

The three main types of buying situations can be characterized as ___________.

A) Straight rebuy, mid-level rebuy and new purchase
B) Straight rebuy, modified rebuy and new purchase
C) Slight rebuy, non-evaluative rebuy and new purchase
D) Buy, rebuy and non-buy
E) None of the above

Question 28

Business-to-business demand is said to be relatively inelastic.This means that _________.

A) As the price increases demand goes up
B) Changes in demand are not significantly affected by the price
C) As demand goes down price goes down with it
D) Demand and supply are independent of each other
E) None of the above

Question 29

A straight rebuy is:

A) Re-order products that are rarely used
B) Put re-orders into a buying center to reconsider the supplier
C) Re-order products that are used on a consistent basis
D) Develop a list of suppliers to rank them by price
E) None of the above

Question 30

The value propositions required to compete and market in the B2B versus the B2C industries are often:

A) The same
B) Similar but with a business tilt
C) Quite different
D) Pluralistic
E) None of the above

Question 31

B2B is strategically important to companies like Bright House Networks in that it offers _____ average revenue per user than B2C.

A) Lower
B) Higher
C) The same
D) Uneven
E) Symmetrical

Question 32

Boeing has taken steps to build consumer demand for its new 787 Dreamliner although it only sells the plane to B2B customers.This is an example of ________.

A) Inelastic demand
B) Elastic demand
C) Codependent demand
D) Derived demand
E) Fluctuating demand

Question 33

B2C markets can be characterized as being more ________ than B2B markets.

A) Conservative
B) Liberal
C) Impersonal
D) Personable
E) Likeable

Question 34

A supply chain is ________________________.

A) The synchronized movement of goods through the channel
B) The lack of co-ordinate movement of goods from supplier to user
C) The financial chain that leads from consumer to the producer
D) The sequence of movements coordinated through air space
E) The collegial relationship between two groups of suppliers

Question 35

Small changes in consumer demand can lead to considerable shifts in business product demand and it referred to as the ____________.

A) Deceleration effect
B) Transverse effect
C) Modified effect
D) Acceleration effect
E) None of the above

Question 36

Many companies use environmental scanning in order to identify things that may have __________.

A) A long term affect on consumer demand
B) A short term affect on consumer demand
C) A negative affect on consumer demand
D) A positive affect on consumer demand
E) All of the above

Question 37

A characteristic of B2B companies is that they often make products that end up as ___________ in a finished product.

A) components
B) labels
C) minor features
D) major features
E) factoids

Question 38

The buying process for B2B markets ___________ than B2C markets.

A) Is more complex
B) Is more circuitous
C) has fewer people involved
D) is more psychological in nature
E) all of the above

Question 39

It is said that B2B demand is more _____________ in general than B2C demand for products or services.

A) Elastic
B) Bimodal
C) Inelastic
D) Systemic
E) None of the above

Question 40

Many manufacturers, such as Sharp Electronics, focus on the B2C market but have a significant level of sales in:

A) The music market
B) The supply chain market
C) The quick sale market
D) The B2B market
E) None of the above

Question 41

Gatekeepers are important in the B2B buying process because ____________.

A) They limit the number of vendors in a given buying process
B) Engineering and quality control create product specifications that block vendors
C) They control access to key people
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 42

Derek Barber is working on selling some defense equipment to Buccaneer Supply Company.After getting by the secretary, he decides to talk to people inside the firm to identify people that he considers to be important in the buying center process.The people he is targeting are known as __________.

A) Influencers
B) Users
C) Gatekeepers
D) Initiators
E) Product engineers

Question 43

Maryanne has noticed that the production of one of the manufacturing teams has lost productivity over a six month period of time.She puts together a document that describes the productivity loss and does a study to determine the cause.She finds that one of the key machines in the process breaks down often.Maryanne asks several machine manufacturers to come into the company and make proposals.Maryanne is playing the role of ________.

A) Influencer
B) Gatekeeper
C) Initiator
D) User
E) Decider

Question 44

With respect to Buying Centers ____________.

A) It is easy to identify the roles people play in the center
B) The most important people are users and influencers
C) Gatekeepers must be understood by the salesperson
D) Deciders usually identify themselves to vendors
E) None of the above

Question 45

Moore Diversified Services decides to create a group that is made up of people from the purchasing department, senior management with financial knowledge, and engineers with design expertise.It is common for this group to be called _________.

A) Ad hoc group
B) Party planners
C) Selling partners
D) Buying center
E) Post hoc group

Question 46

An Initiator is ____________.

A) Any person who starts the purchase process
B) Senior executive that makes a decision that require new resources
C) A "user" who re-orders when supplies run low
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 47

NAICS codes now include __________.

A) USA
B) USA and Canada
C) USA, Canada, and Mexico
D) All of the Americas, North and South
E) All of the Americas and the Caribbean Basin

Question 48

Sam Celeski is a salesman with an industrial supply house.He discovers that Ingersoll Rand is going to make a large purchase of equipment and has created a Buying Center to get the purchase done.Sam's first job is to _______________.

A) Discover the budget for the purchase
B) Develop criteria for the purchase
C) Discover the most important influencer
D) Discover who is part of the buying center
E) Develop a presentation for the buying center

Question 49

The single largest buyer of goods and services in the world is ____________.

A) General Electric
B) Wal-Mart
C) United States Government
D) Russian Government
E) None of the above

Question 50

In the buying process the "user" is characterized as __________________.

A) The actual consumer of the product
B) The actual leader of the buying group
C) The actual evaluator of the product
D) The consultant to the buying group
E) None of the above

Question 51

Resellers are important to marketers because ______________.

A) They have their own buying centers that service customers
B) They buy equipment and supplies to run their own business
C) They serve as an early warning system to OEM's
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 52

Gatekeepers are important to the buying process because they _________.

A) Control the contract in the buying center
B) Have position power in the organization
C) Control access to key participants in the buying center
D) Control access to the building site of the buying center
E) All of the above

Question 53

In the buying process there is one group that can play a critical role.This group is often the first to recognize the problem based on a need and they help define the product specifications.This group is called ___________.

A) Deciders
B) Gatekeepers
C) Users
D) Influencers
E) Buyers

Question 54

Hoffman Dirkbond is senior executive in manufacturing.He has been concerned about the age of the equipment and decides to do a study to evaluate the time and money lost due to equipment failure.He decides to bring his research to the monthly board meeting.In this way Dirkbond is playing the role of ___________ in the buying process.

A) Gatekeeper
B) Initiator
C) User
D) Decider
E) None of the above

Question 55

NAICS codes are a classification of businesses that ___________.

A) List the primary output of the business
B) Each company gets only one code
C) Are used across the US, Mexico and Canada
D) Defines 20 major business sectors
E) All of the above

Question 56

Jefferson Wainright is happy over the growth of the company.As manager of production floor he wants to expand with another workstation to increase the capacity of the floor.Jefferson creates a buying center to evaluate various combinations of machines for the new station.The buying center gives him a list of the machine preferences ordered from 1 to 3.After reviewing the list, he orders machine 2 due to the past experience with the manufacturer.Jefferson is playing the role of a _________.

A) Gatekeeper
B) Manager of purchasing
C) Influencer
D) Manager of the floor
E) Decider

Question 57

Deciders are an important group for the salesperson to be able to identify because ________.

A) They make the ultimate purchase decision
B) They decide what characteristics the product should possess
C) They decide what price the company should pay
D) They have sole control over who is allowed to be a vendor
E) None of the above

Question 58

Jose is the machine press operator in a small manufacturing facility.He has been on the job for 7 years and taken extensive training courses with respect to his machine.Jose plays the role of __________ in the buying process.

A) Influencer
B) User
C) Decider
D) Operator
E) Key holder

Question 59

Companies like Home Depot do business in the B2B market and B2C market out of the same store.This puts them in the category of businesses called _________.

A) Mixed use enterprise
B) Resellers
C) Value added enterprise
D) Retail merchandiser
E) End sellers

Question 60

MRO supplies, materials, repairs and operational supplies and services, are generally purchased through a ______________.

A) Buying center
B) Buying committee
C) Bid at time of need
D) Straight re-buys
E) Contractual liturgy

Question 61

A request for proposals (RFP)____________________.

A) Is the end point for vendors in the B2B market
B) Is the starting point from which vendors put together their product solution
C) Companies should not bother to bid if they can not meet all of the RFP guidelines.
D) Is not a very time consuming part of the sales process
E) None of the above

Question 62

Southwest Airlines is a good example of the concept of service criteria because ______.

A) It flies a variety of planes made by only Boeing
B) It minimize service costs by having untrained employees performing routine maintenance
C) Its service terminals are in low cost parts of the country
D) It flies only Boeing 737's so maintenance crews need to know only one plane.
E) None of the above

Question 63

The primary difference between selling to the profit-oriented market and the nonprofit market is ______________________.

A) Non-profits use a buying triad instead of a buying center
B) The profit sector pools their money for purchases
C) The vendor list is shorter in the non-profit sector
D) Non-profits have a limited number of resources compared to their profit counterparts
E) All of the above

Question 64

When a marketing company responds to an RFP, _____________.

A) It presents clearly how the marketing company's products will meet the product specifications detailed in the RFP.
B) It makes a case for selecting the marketing company by presenting any additional information such as unique product features it possesses.
C) It succinctly presents the superior service of the marketing company.
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 65

A fundamental criterion in vendor selection is the vendor's ability to meet contractual obligations including delivery times and service schedules.This concept is called ______

A) Supplier choice
B) Dependability
C) Reliability
D) Sustainability
E) None of the above

Question 66

There are at least two methods to build a list of potential suppliers once product specifications have been outlined.One of the methods is to use the cumulative experience of the company over time.The second method is _______.

A) Buying a list from a list broker
B) Use supplier search websites like Thomas Global Register
C) Ask all sales people to respond to the RFP
D) Create a list from the Yellow Pages
E) Go to several trade shows and find suitable suppliers

Question 67

Request for proposal (RFP)is the process of ___________.

A) Getting people to lower the price
B) Achieving strategic advantage over competition
C) Excite suppliers to join our supply chain
D) Putting product specifications into a document for distribution
E) None of the above

Question 68

Intel demonstrated their commitment to China by ____________.

A) Making China a key supplier of chips
B) Opening a new plant in China
C) Giving China the product specifications for the most advanced chips
D) Giving China the best price on the latest chips
E) All of the above

Question 69

Sellers are well aware that industrial buyers of products __________________.

A) Need only the highest quality products
B) Need a high and a low level of quality products
C) Need a selection of products with different qualities and price levels
D) Need only low priced products
E) None of the above

Question 70

A big industrial firm is interested in evaluating the potential purchase of a machine.In order to do this, managers should look at ___________.

A) True cost
B) Total purchase price
C) Total costs over the life of the machine
D) Cost plus insurance on the machine
E) Cost plus the service contract on the machine

Question 71

The business market purchase decision process is triggered by someone inside the company who _____________.

A) Runs out of office supplies
B) Needs a copy and no machine is available
C) Identifies a need
D) Attends a meeting to brainstorm
E) None of the above

Question 72

When responding to a RFP the B2B marketer may __________.

A) Use CRM or custom software to make all proposals look uniform
B) Assign it to one person in the organization
C) Give the same proposal to all prospective clients
D) Let only the sales team read the proposal
E) None of the above

Question 73

Problem recognition for the business market consumer is triggered by ________.

A) Running out of stock
B) Seeing a new product on television
C) Someone inside or outside the company identifies a need
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 74

The most fundamental criterion in vendor selection is ____________.

A) Serviceability
B) Price
C) Reliability
D) Location
E) Intangibility

Question 75

Industrial sellers often include with the RFP a ________.

A) Strong financial analysis of the purchase
B) Strong request to be the sole source for the contract
C) Financial incentives to make the purchase in the form of discounts
D) Financial incentives to make the purchase in the form of free service
E) None of the above

Question 76

Accountants, purchasing agents, engineers, and other players in a buying center perceive the evaluation of products in different ways which makes a buying center:

A) Less effective than a center handled only by purchasing
B) More effective since individuals with different perspectives gives a well-rounded view of the purchase decision.
C) Chaotic since there are so many different view points for a product evaluation
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 77

Financial criteria in the purchase of a complex product for the business market include __________________.

A) All costs evaluated against the stated life of the product
B) All costs evaluated for one year
C) All costs evaluated for 5 years
D) The time it takes to pay off the loan
E) None of the above

Question 78

When a company solicits RFP's from suppliers with an open vendor search, the goal is to __________________.

A) Get several proposals in order to help with negotiations
B) Get one good response from our preferred vendor
C) Get as many responses so the firm can focus only on price
D) Get proposals in order to get competitive intelligence
E) All of the above

Question 79

Not all problems identified by a company necessarily lead to a purchase.The solution may include ___________________.

A) Improvement in systems
B) Working with employees to get better efficiency
C) Shortage of employees
D) Improved training for new hires
E) All of the above

Question 80

Complex product choice (Did we make the best selection?)in the B2B market depends upon __________________.

A) Price, product, and distribution criteria
B) Financial, subjective and objective criteria
C) Objective, subliminal and price criteria
D) Financial, value and service criteria
E) None of the above