Buying stages

These are the buying stages in a new-task buying situation - in modified re-buy, and straight re-buy, some of the stages would be compressed or bypassed (Figure 4.4) ... 

Most companies typically define their buyer stages as early, mid, and late or top-of-funnel (TOFU), middle-of-funnel (MOFU), and bottom-of-funnel (BOFU). Take a look in Figure 2-2, which shows you how a Scdes funnel can map to buying stages. 

Content Rnally, let s map ymrconiterit into the cells ol the metiv. For each rid box be as specific as you can atxxJt your content and 1st as many resoieceB as you can that would be relevant for each person and buying stage. ... 

The next step in your planning process is mapping your buying stages. What kind of content do you want to send to your persona and when It is crucicd to send the right piece of content at the right time. Someone who is just learning about your company isn t ready for a case study, so don t send him... 

Typically, most companies have buying stages that look similar to the following list ... 

Figure 6-2 shows an example of content that is mapped closely to each buying stage. As the buyer gets closer and closer to purchasing, the content narrows to become more specific. 

After you have mapped both your buying stages and personas, you can create what is called a content grid. In this grid, you list out each persona, each buying stage, and then you insert applicable content in each cell. 

The key is to mcike sure you fill your content grid in for each stc e of your funnel and each of your buying stages. This ensures that... 

You fully understand each persona and what he experiences throughout the buying stages. 

You have mapped out each different buying stage and tu"e close to your sales process. 

As you do with many lead-generation strategies, think about how your PPG ads map to the sales funnel. You want to catch leads in each stc e of the sales funnel therefore, you have to create ads and offers that map to lead buying stage and search queries. 

Buying stage How far along in the buying journey is the lead ... 

Involving nonmanagement employees In the PSM pilot can be very helpful. Involvement at early stages encourages buy-in from people who mil ultimately be important to the success of PSM. If you select a unionized facility, it may be wise to involve the local representative in advance of the test. Consult with the facility manager to avoid misunderstandings. 

These models, however, can be useful if estimates are to be made of operating costs. By assigning fixed and variable costs to each activity, average and marginal unit costs at each stage of the process can be easily calculated, which will assist in decisions regarding pricing policies or whether to buy in components and materials or make them on site. ATPLAN is an example of a network-based model of this type. 

The amount of process plant that can be defined accurately as automatic is relatively small, and manual intervention is often involved at some stage. The relevant design criteria are therefore often IM/12 or IM/18. In practice, fully automatic burner controllers tested and certified by British Gas are available that comply with the requirements of BS 5885. Although these have features which may not be applicable to non-automatic plant, it may be more appropriate to use such a controller, particularly as its safety is well proven. It may also be less expensive than buying and installing separate timers, relays, etc. For some processes (for example, those that do not need and cannot tolerate a long purge) such controllers may not be appropriate. 

Refiners can address the sulfur issue in stages, but decisions should be made that will leave the door open for further reductions. If hydrotreating is selected, the design can include oversized reactors, connections for a spare compressor, or connections for adding amine scrubbing inside the recycle loop. Some process or catalyst changes can buy time, some can solve the problem. 

One very basic factor worth listing perhaps in the very beginning is the necessity of size reduction. It is a costly process not only in terms of money, but also in terms of energy. It may be more advantageous to buy already sized material or to alter some other stage of processing, in order to avoid the size reduction operation altogether. 

When barbiturates first went on the market during the 1930s, people in the United States did not need a prescription to buy them. Lawmakers soon realized that barbiturates were addictive. Some states adopted laws that banned the sale of nonprescription barbiturates. The federal government took similar action after the Food and Dmg Administration gained regulatory power in 1938. That set the stage for a 40-year battle against barbiturate abuse. 

Opium traders buy the raw opium from farmers. In Southeast Asia, the price for raw opium in 1999-2000 ranged from 150 to 350 per kilogram. The price is marked up as the opium goes through each stage of processing and refinement. For example, the DEA reports that cooked opium is usually marked up approximately 20%. The price is then marked up again as the opium is refined into morphine base, morphine, heroin base, and heroin. 

Increasing the lead of customer orientation and flexibility. Although there have been great changes in terms of mindsets and behaviors and customer orientation has over the years become more than just a phrase, service providers still have to make headway. Far too often a one-size-fits-all approach is followed that neglects the different development stages and key factors of success of different customer businesses. Commodity and specialty chemicals businesses face different key factors of success and apply different criteria when defining which services they need and where to get them from, and hence will arrive at different make or buy decisions ... 

It is critical that all media are carefully prepared and have the correct pH and temperature, as well as batch-tested reagents. Where possible we suggest buying reagents readymade. Further, it is helpful to pay attention to details and efficient laboratory setup, e.g., small incubators, heated stages, or other devices that ensure proper temperature and pH stability. 

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