Understanding the Professional Buyer is a practical guide for sales people, giving them insight into the behaviour and strategies of buyers, so that they are able to deal with them more successfully and regain power in the buyer-seller relationship. In recent years the balance of power between buyer and seller has swung dramatically in favour of the buyer. Sellers are now faced with more professional, more knowledgeable and more powerful buyers - and the sales techniques used in previous years are no longer working. This book shows how to understand this new breed of buyer, in order to interact with them on a more level playing field. Contents include developments in the industry; purchasing organizations; types of buyers; purchasing analysis; and crucially, buyer-seller relations.