Marketing Strategy for Capital Items, Supplies and Services

a.       Capital Items, for capital items, consisting of heavy machinery and construction of factories and office buildings, direct selling with extensive interactions, involving top executives in both buying and selling organisasions are very common. Negotiations take considerable time on key factors such as price, return on investment, credit facilities, delivery period, installation time, third party certificate for previous jobs done, and so on. Personal selling is the primary promotional method used.

b.      Supplies, for marketing supplies, direct selling is used for large-volume buying firms, and distributors or dealers are used to market to diverse markets consisting of small and medium size companies. The purchase or materials department persons generally make buying decisions based on dependable delivery, price, and locations convenience. Advertising in magazines, trade journals, local newspaper, and yellow pages are used to create awareness of the company and its products to the potential users and distributors/dealers.

c.       Services, marketing strategy for services is more subtle. Buying firms generally contact the selling firms who have their reputation by way of word of mouth. The selling firms efforts are on consultative or advisory nature, and continuation of the service depends upon the quality, price, and timeliness of service to meet the customer’s needs.