Major segmentation variables for business markets

Major segmentation variables for business markets



Demographic

1. industry: which industries should we serve?

2. Company size: what size company should we serve?

3. Location: what geographical area should we serve?



Operating variables

4. Technology: what customer technology should be focused on?

5. User a nonuser status: should we serve heavy users, medium users, light users, or new users?

6. Customer capabilities: should we serve customers needing many or few services?



Purchasing approaches

7. purchasing function organization: should we serve companies with highly centralized or decentralized purchasing organizations?

8. Power structure: should we serve companies that are engineering dominated, financially dominant, and so on?

9. Nature of existing relationships: should we serve companies with which we have strong relationships or simply go after the most desirable companies?

10. General purchase policies: should we serve companies that prefer leasing? Service contracts? Systems purchases? Sealed bidding?

11. Purchasing criteria: should we serve companies that are seeking quality? Service? Price?



Situational factors

12. Urgency: should we serve companies that need quick and sudden delivery or service?

13. Specific application: should we focus on certain applications of our product rather than all applications?

14. Size of order: should we focus on large or small orders?



Personal characteristics

15. Buyer seller similarity: should we serve companies whose people and values are similar to ours?

16. Attitudes toward risk: should we serve risk-taking or risk avoiding customers?

17. Loyalty: should we serve companies that show high loyalty to their suppliers?