4.2. Buyer types and their influence
Miller and Heiman labelled three different buyer types in their book Strategic Selling back in 1987. The term ‘economic buyer’ is now part of the standard vocabulary of sales and is widely recognised as the person who ‘signs the cheque’ or, at least, is able to authorise the finance function to sign the cheque.
Two other buyer types were also introduced: ‘user buyers’ and ‘technical buyers’.
The reason it is important to understand the different types of buyer is because each type can have an influence on the buying decision, and each is interested in different aspects of the sales proposition. To be confident of having ‘covered all the bases’ it is sensible to try to identify each type and their degree of ...
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