WHU

Our business engagement –

Practical expertise in sales and marketing

Fostering successful collaborations between academia and business

The Chair of Sales Management and Business-to-Business Marketing cooperates closely with leading firms from a variety of industries to exchange know-how between the scientific and business worlds.

Practical Expertise in Sales and Marketing

Below you will find an overview of the comprehensive sales toolkits we have compiled and developed. I would be delighted to work with your business. There is a range of options:

You could make a valuable contribution to our teaching by:

  • Developing joint case studies for practice-oriented teaching
  • Holding guest-lectures for students and participating in podium discussions
  • Offering international internships (particularly in French and Spanish speaking areas)
  • Providing financial support for the print of lecture materials
For their part in enriching our teaching, we would sincerely like to thank the guest speakers listed below:

Academic Year 2017/2018

Academic Year 2016/2017

Academic Year 2015/2016

Academic Year 2014/2015

Academic Year 2013/2014:

Academic Year 2012/2013:

Academic Year 2011/2012:

  • Thomas Dold, Managing Director, D&B Deutschland GmbH
  • Axel Feldhoff, Divisional Manager, Bechtle AG
  • Jürgen F. Gallmann, Business Angel in ICT
  • Dr. Heiner Herrmann, General Manager Germany and Central Europe, ARTSANA GERMANY GmbH
  • Joachim Lauterbach, Management Board, Vertical Head Financial Services, CSC Deutschland
  • Dr. h.c. Holger Reichardt, Managing Partner, RMDS GmbH, Chairman of Supervisory Board zetVisions AG
  • Dr. Christian Schulmeyer, Managing Director, Attensity Europe GmbH

Academic Year 2010/2011:

Academic Year 2009/2010:

Academic Year 2008/2009:

Akademisches Jahr 2007/2008:

  • Dr. Nikolas Beutin, Managing Director, Prof. Homburg & Partner
  • Birgit Bohle, Head of Corporate Development/Sales Channel Management, DB Vertrieb GmbH
  • Dr. Jürgen Scherer, Group Vice President, Cognis GmbH

The Senior Advisor Circle Sales Management is seeking motivated sales personalities from the business community to promote excellence in sales practice throughout Germany. Membership fees are paid to the WHU Foundation, and members form a partner network around the Sales Management Professorship. The activities of the Senior Advisor Circle Sales Management are organized into 4 categories:

  • Internships and diploma theses (Sales Thesis & Experience Program, STEP)
  • Lectures from guest speakers (Sales Executive Lectures & Feedback, SELF)
  • Management conferences (Campus for Sales, autumn conference, CfS)
  • Working group for sales methods (Sales Practice Optimization Round Table, SPORT)

The Senior Advisor Circle Sales Management has three types of membership/target groups:

  • Business members (primarily Business-to-Business, companies with large sales organizations and/or innovative sales channels). The representative is usually the Chief Executive, Division Manager, Chief Executive (Germany) or Head of Sales (Germany) of the company’s main division.
  • Association members (with each sector represented by no more than one association, society or interest group). It is generally the relevant specialist from each association who assumes the role of representative.
  • Individual members (exceptional, active personalities from the sales community)

Candidates for membership can be nominated by the current members. This accession process avoids competitive conflicts with existing members.

Membership in the Senior Advisor Circle Sales Management promises a variety of benefits. If you are interested in becoming a member, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

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Within the scope of our doctoral theses and the joint research projects with other chairs we currently work on these issues:

I.  Sales and Marketing Strategy

  • Balancing customer orientation and capital market orientation

II. Sales Model (Channels, Organization, Processes)

  • Online sales and revenue models
  • Instruments for increasing the sales efficiency

III. Salesforce Leadership and Salesforce Development

  • How sales executives think about leadership
  • The sales rep entrenched between company and customer
  • Characteristics of successful sales reps
  • Managing expatriation and repatriation

IV. (Key) Account Management

  • Small account management
  • Key Account Management in retailing

V. Price Management

  • Employment of financial value calculations in sales
  • Competitive Bidding: Price-setting for contested contracts
  • Price control and its place in the organization

VI. Customer Relationship and Service Management

  • Interface between sales and logistics activities and actors
  • Interface between sales and technical service activities
  • Capturing a return on services 

These could be options for coorperation:

  • Solving a management problem through an "action research" case study with one of our doctoral students
  • Giving expert interviews
  • Connecting to sales reps in order to conduct surveys
  • Providing data on sales activities and sales performance as well as market research studies for research purposes
  • Supporting print-outs and mailings of questionnaires for our scientific studies

Since 2007, more than 2,000 managers have attended training courses led by Professor Ove Jensen. He is also a popular keynote speaker at in-house workshops, sales conferences, and customer events. If you would like to plan an event with us, please get in touch.

For more information about seminars, please check out the WHU Executive Education website.

Here is a selection of the most popular in-house training courses, lectures, and keynote speeches:

  • Price management seminar (2-3 days)
  • Key Account Management Academy (10 days)
  • Key Account Management seminar (4 days)
  • Business-to-business sales & marketing seminars (3 days)
  • Sales Management seminar (4 days)
Business-to-Business sales and marketing
  • Strategic challenges for industrial marketing and sales
  • Marketing instruments and the economic crisis
  • Focusing on service: Attractive for the customer- also lucrative for us?
  • Business-to business: Where marketing meets Finance
  • Implementation of a system supplier strategy
  • Market launch of new products
Sales management
  • A sales toolbox
  • Challenges in sales management: long runner and new focuses
Price management
  • ​​​​​​Pricing as a profit lever
  • Obtaining the right price
  • The purchaser-the unknown entity
  • Sales challenges of high quality suppliers
  • Value selling
Key account management, selling
  • Excellent key account management
  • Personal selling
  • Decision making structures and contact management - who’s who for the business
  • Account management as a process
Customer satisfaction and service management
  • Excellent Customer Satisfaction Measurement and Management
  • Managing market research projects properly

Guest lectures and real life cases – Staying relevant, keeping current.

We welcome the cooperation of partners from industry whose support is invaluable for enriching our teaching and giving our students the best learning experience. If you are interested in contributing in one of the following areas, please contact us:

  • Developing joint case studies for practice-oriented teaching
  • Holding guest-lectures for students and participating in podium discussions
  • Offering international internships (particularly in French and Spanish speaking areas)
  • Providing financial support for the print of lecture materials
Chair of Digital Marketing Campus Düsseldorf Marketing and Sales Group About WHU
Chair of Digital Marketing Campus Düsseldorf Marketing and Sales Group About WHU
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