FTMBA2021_I B2B Sales Management

The course content is organized around three themes:

1) Value‐Based Selling and Pricing

• Tactics of professional B2B buyers
• Calculating price‐quantity‐cost compromises
• Demonstrating economic value‐to‐customer (includes case: Atlantic Computer, HBS)
• Fundamental techniques of personal selling (includes case: Scheel & Partners, WHU)

2) Managing the B2B Selling Process

• Selling and negotiating value‐added products (includes role play: Windblades, WHU)
• Assessing opportunities (includes case: Boise Automation, Ivey)
• A structured enterprise selling methodology

3) Managing the B2B Sales Force

• Behavior vs. outcome control (includes case: Cabot Pharmaceuticals, HBS)
• Sales productivity (includes case: Clef Company, HBS)
• Pipeline management and forecasting (includes case: PackMach, WHU)
• Autonomous vs. algorithmic work (includes case Predictive Analytics for Sales Steering, WHU)

1) In regard to factual knowledge, participants are enabled to apply salespeople jargon to discussing the status of a sale (such as the decision making unit, red flags, pipeline, RFQ, gatekeepers, and other idioms), to understand the specifics and terminology of sales management in various industry sectors, and to define sales performance indicators.

2) In regard to conceptual knowledge, participants are enabled to analyze the composition of a buying center, to classify the dimensions of sales performance management, and to evaluate sales KPIs.

3) In regard to selling-specific procedural knowledge, participants are enabled to apply a structured sales process and blueprint, to evaluate approaches for getting access to C-level decision makers, to evaluate the win probability of an opportunity and identify potential roadblocks, and to evaluate the needs of a customer through questions.

4) In regard to procedural knowledge of sales leadership, participants are enabled to conduct pipeline reviews, and to develop sales forecasts.

5) In regard to general business-relevant procedural knowledge, participants are enabled to prepare for business meetings and internal committee sessions, to make the best out of a limited preparation time budget, to make concise contributions to meetings, to constructively build and comment on contributions by other participants in the meeting, and to derive a course of action from a careful analysis of the situation and a structured evaluation of alternatives.

6) In regard to metacognitive knowledge, participants are enabled to evaluate their own selling behavior and skills, to evaluate the ethical dimension of a sales leadership situation, to create a skill profile for sales people, and to develop criteria of sales excellence.

The overall learning method mix across all sessions of this course is:

• 20% role-play sessions between students with joint debriefings,
• 60% case-based discussions with concluding mini-lectures, and
• 20% interactive concept lectures.

One highlight of the course is a three-hour selling & negotiation role play with multiple parties. A video shows the style of case-based sessions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbNNsq1fC0A. This way of learning requires a great amount of energy, both from the student and from the teacher.

• 100% individual performance. No team grades. No peer evaluation.
• No sit‐down, speed‐writing exam under time pressure, no memorizing of PowerPoint slides, no black‐out risk.

The course grade is composed as follows:

• 35% (=7 x 5%): seven class preparation notes (pdf, bullet points are enough, ca. 500‐750 words)
• 10% (=2 x 5%): two online quizzes
• 5%: oral class participation, which means fostering mutual learning in the classroom by displaying a positive learning spirit and connecting to classmates’ arguments with constructive, insightful comments
• 50%: one individual take‐home essay as final exam (pdf, essay, no less than 2500 and no more than 3750 words)