Reference no: EM132205345
Charles "Chuck" Hawk is a salesperson with Arrow Industrial Maintenance Supply Company located in Monroe, Louisiana. Arrow sells many types of cleaning chemicals and equipment in the southeastern part of the United States. Chuck is interested in selling a liquid cleaning chemical used in floor scrubbing machines to clean warehouse floors. Chuck has identified a potential buyer, the Keith Bottling Company, which bottles soft drinks for the Coca-Cola Company. Keith is an independently owned company that has 14 bottling plants in the southeast (including a plant in Monroe, Louisiana). It is very important to Keith (and to Coca-Cola) to have clean warehouse floors.
Chuck is trying to decide how to go about contacting and marketing to Keith Bottling Company. Chuck has done some research and determined that the following employees of Keith may be members of the buying center: the local plant manager, a purchasing manager at the headquarters level, the local maintenance supervisor, the local user of the product (who drives the floor scrubbing machine), the Vice President of Operations at the headquarters level, and a marketing manager at the headquarters level.
Answer the following questions.
1. What member of the buying center would be most influential in the buying decision? Explain.
2. Discuss how the decision criteria of the user might be different from that of the purchasing manager.
3. What person with Keith Bottling Company should Chuck contact first? Why?