Foundations of Sales, Group A

The course content is organized around three parts:

1) Managing sales prices

Week 1: Setting and getting prices

• Bargaining techniques (includes case Porcelaine, WHU)
• Price-quantity-costs trade-offs

Week 2: Economics of B2B2C

• Value pricing and economic value calculation (includes case Soren Chemicals, HBS)
• Distribution channels for consumer goods

2) Managing the selling process

Week 3: Personal selling techniques

• Telling a compelling selling story
• Sales conversation techniques (includes video case)

Week 4: Building customer relationships

• Selling process and buying process (includes case Boise Automation, Ivey)
• Systematic networking (includes case Heidi Roizen, HBS)

3) Managing sales people

Week 5: Managing sales productivity

• Managing field sales (includes case Clef Company, HBS)
• Managing inside sales (includes case ZenRecruit, HBS)

Week 6: Sales and the CEO

• Pipeline management and forecasting (includes case PackMach, WHU)
• Corruption and compliance (includes case Medical Equipment Inc. in Saudi Arabia, Ivey)

1) In regard to factual knowledge, participants are enabled to

• apply salespeople jargon to discussing the status of a sale (such as the “buying center”, “red flags”, “pipeline”, “RFQ”, “gatekeepers”, and other idioms),
• apply negotiation jargon to discussing the status of a negotiation (such as BATNA, ZOPA, walk-away price, logrolling, non-offer offer, good cop – bad cop, and other idioms),
• apply sales management jargon (such as quota, forecast, pipeline, DSM, and other idioms),
• understand the specific terminology of sales management in a different sales contexts, such as selling to distributors, selling to large enterprises, B2B2C, and industrial selling.

2) In regard to conceptual knowledge, participants are enabled to

• explain the evolution of retailing,
• analyze the composition of a buying center,
• analyze sales pipelines and generate sales forecasts,
• calculate price-trade-offs against other profit drivers,
• to analyze economic value to customer,
• map the structure of personal networks.

3) In regard to sales-specific procedural knowledge, participants are enabled to

• apply a structured negotiation process and blueprint,
• evaluate the win probability of a sales opportunity,
• evaluate the needs of a customer through questions,
• evaluate and create a compelling selling story,

4) In regard to general business-relevant procedural knowledge, participants are enabled to

• prepare for business meetings and internal committee sessions,
• make the best out of a limited preparation time budget,
• make concise contributions to meetings,
• constructively build and comment on contributions by other participants in the meeting, and
• derive a course of action from a careful analysis of the situation and a structured evaluation of alternatives.

5) In regard to metacognitive knowledge, participants are enabled to

• evaluate the ethical dimension of a sales situation,
• evaluate their own selling behavior, and
• observe the power of deep reflection and mindfulness that is not distracted by smartphones.

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

• 23% interactive concept lectures,
• 10% video for self-study,
• 65% case-based discussions, and
• 2% in-class role play between students.

This 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.

• 33.33% (30 points): eight written case preparation notes (pdf, bullet points are enough, ca. 300-500 words),
• 66.67% (60 points): final exam at the end of the semester.

Both for the students of the current BSc class and for students from a previous BSc class who are retaking the examination, the examination is based on the content of this semester. Re-examinees are advised to participate in as many of the current sessions as possible. Students who are re-sitting the examination module (Wiederholer) must submit all assignments during this course. Please note that this course has an early enrollment/un-enrollment deadline as some assignments are already due in the early weeks of the course.