Foundations of Sales, Group B
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)
Date | Time |
---|---|
Wednesday, 06.01.2021 | 15:30 - 18:45 |
Thursday, 21.01.2021 | 11:30 - 15:15 |
Wednesday, 10.02.2021 | 15:30 - 18:45 |
Wednesday, 17.02.2021 | 08:00 - 11:15 |
Wednesday, 28.04.2021 | 09:00 - 12:00 |
1) In regard tofactual 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 toconceptual 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 tosales-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 togeneral 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 tometacognitive 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.