On September 8, 2017 we were able to welcome Mr. Martin Hopmann for a guest lecture in the MSc course "B2B Pricing: Negotiation, Calculation, and Strategy". In his presentation "Strategy & Tactics of Professional Buyers: Example from the Automotive Industry" Mr Hopmann described the challenges of price negotiations in the automotive industry.
Mr Hopmann first explained that purchasing organisations have become much more professional. He also addressed the former Volkswagen manager Ignacio Lopez and his key role in the upheaval of an entire industry. In addition, he presented various trends in purchasing, including web auctions, for example. In the main part of the entertaining presentation, Mr Hopmann also described very vividly the rhetorical means and tactics used by buyers to obtain price concessions from suppliers. The lecture concluded with an intensive and lively round of questions from the students.
Martin Hopmann is Manager, Global Sales, Fuel Handling and Evap at DELPHI Powertrain Systems. Previous stations in his career were Arvin Meritor Exhaust Systems, AlliedSignal and BMW AG.
Guest lectures are an elementary part of the practical marketing and sales training at WHU. Among Europe's leading business schools, WHU offers the widest range of sales courses. The elective courses offered in the Master of Science program range from "B2B Pricing: Negotiation, Calculation & Strategy" to "Leading the High-Performance Sales Force" and "Entrepreneurial Selling and Customer Development". Already in the Bachelor of Science all WHU students attend the compulsory course "Basics of Sales". Prof. Dr. Ove Jensen's team of more than 200 marketing chairs at German universities is one of the few research teams dedicated entirely to sales management.
We thank Mr Hopmann very much for his commitment!
Chair of Sales Management and Business-to-Business Marketing
Martin Hopmann gives guest lecture
Guest lecture on the subject of "Strategy & Tactics of Professional Buyers: Example from the Automotive Industry".
