PTMBA2022 B2B Sales Management

The course content is organized around four parts:

1) Fundamentals

• The domain of sales
• Sales forces and sales jobs
• The world of B2B
• Sales Force Management framework
• CRM
• Sales force size

2) B2B Pricing

• Pricing powerin B2B (includes guest speaker)
• Pricing commodities
• Pricing value-added products (includes caseAtlantic Computer, HBS)
• Pricing services

3) B2B Selling

• Selling and negotiating value-added products (includes role playWindblades, WHU)
• Opportunity management (includes case:Boise Automation, Ivey)
• A structured enterprise selling methodology

4) B2B Sales Force Management

• Autonomy vs. automation (includes caseCabot Pharmaceuticals, HBS)
• Managing field sales (includes caseStepSmart Fitness, HBS)
• Pipeline management (includes casePackMach, WHU)
• The future of sales work and sales management

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”, “mentor”, “RFQ”, “gatekeepers”, and other idioms),
• apply sales management jargon (such as quota, forecast, pipeline, DSM, and other idioms),
• understand the specifics and terminology of sales management in various industry sectors,
• define sales performance indicators.

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

• to analyze economic value to customer,
• calculate price-trade-offs against other profit drivers,
• analyze the composition of a buying center,
• organize the elements of a structured selling methodology,
• classify different types of sales forces and sales jobs,
• classify the dimensions of sales performance management,
• evaluate sales KPIs.

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

• demonstrate financial value to the customer,
• evaluate the win probability of a sales opportunity
• apply a structured sales process and blueprint,
• analyze sales pipelines and generate sales forecasts.

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,
• 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 their own selling behavior,
• create a skill profile for sales people,
• evaluate the excellence of sales organizations.

The learning method mix includes role-play sessions between students with joint debriefings, case-based discussions with concluding mini-lectures, interactive concept lectures, and managerial guest presentations. One highlight of the course is a three-hour selling & negotiation role play with multiple parties. This video shows the style of case-based sessions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbNNsq1fC0A. The problem-based way of learning requires a great amount of energy, both from the student and from the teacher.

• 50% (=5 x 10%): five class preparation notes (pdf, bullet points are enough, ca. 500-750 words)
• 50%: open-book, time-constrained (150 minutes), take-home exam. The take-home exam is a Moodle quiz with quantitative calculation questions and qualitative multiple-choice questions.