This trust issue is so strong that many organizations literally will make one manufacturer their sole source for products and services for such critical links as the steel used in their products or the cable used for building bridges. For the hypothetical travel service introduced at the beginning of this paper, the success or failure of the business hinges entirely on the ability to become a trusted advisor to potential and existing clients. In addition to trust, organizational buyers and consumers both evaluate products and services on their congruence or alignment with their own needs and wants. This congruence or alignment with specific needs is critical for any manufacturer to be successful in marketing and selling their products. There are many other factors influencing organizational buyers and consumers, yet trust and congruence or trust specific to product features relative to an organization or consumer's needs are the most critical. Product attributes also have a significant influence on purchasing decisions by both organizational buyers and consumers. In terms of the travel service that combines both business and personal travel internationally, the key product or service attributes need to be expertise in planning multiple hotel or lodging locations, in-country transportation between various locations and inter-country transfers and knowledge of visa and passport requirements, including which currencies the traveler needs to have when they arrive in the foreign country, and an entire series of contacts for assistance with potential family...

The focus on total customer service and all-encompassing trust is critical from this product attribute perspective.
Finally in defining a distribution channel, any company first needs to consider how many tiers or levels their channel requires, as is defined by Columbus (2005). The impact of distribution channels on any manufacturer or service is significant, and needs to be seen as a series of strategies that will change as the customers change (Moore, 1999). Further, distribution channel strategies for many companies their highest producing revenue source today, and in the case of services organizations, protecting and promoting a high level of service is critical throughout a channel environment. Creating a framework that is strong enough to support the core functional areas of a company is critical, yet it has to be agile enough to support multiple segmentation strategies and most importantly, quick enough to react to market requirements as they arise, Columbus (2005).

References

Columbus (2005) - Avoiding the pitfalls of Channel Management. Louis Columbus. IEE Manufacturing Engineer. December/January 2006. Accessed from the Internet on June 1, 2006 at http://www.lwcresearch.com/filesfordownloads/AvodiingThePitfallsofChannelMgmt.pdf

Kotler (2003) - Marketing Management 11th Ed., Kotler, Prentice Hall, 2003.

ISBN: 0130336297

Moore (1999) - Crossing The Chasm. Harper Business; Rev edition (July 1999) ISBN 0066620023