Class Overview

Strategic account management is the process of finding, developing, and managing customer accounts for the firm.  Strategic account management is often the most important promotion tool used in business-to-business markets.  We will focus on the determinants of salesperson performance and on the sales force management skills that promote higher performance.  To facilitate our learning, we will use readings, cases, and group discussions.

Monday, March 9

8:00-12:00

Determinants of Salesperson Performance

Salesperson Skill

Salesperson Role

Case–Daktronics (B): The Large Sports Venue Sales Channel

• What is the situation in the Large Sports Venue display market?
• Who are the players in the buying center?
• Describe the needs of the buyers as they make this purchase decision.
• What should be the role of the Daktronics sales force?
• What are the forces pushing buyers toward the use of consultants?
• What options are within Jay Parker’s control?
• What strategic options does Daktronics have?

 1:00-5:00

Organizing the Selling Effort

Recruiting, Selecting, Training, Coaching

Motivation

Case–FormPrint Ortho500

• How should the Ortho500 go to market: through the Ortho division sales force, through independent sales reps, or through a hybrid effort that involves both? What are the economic implications of this decision?  What are the organizational implications?

Review key learning points of the day

Pre-Readings

1. "Drivers of Sales Performance: A Contemporary Meta-Analysis," by Willem Verbeke, Bart Dietz, and Ernst Verwaal, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, (2011), 39:407-428.
2. "What Entrepreneurs Get Wrong," Harvard Business Review, May 2013.
3. "Motivating Salespeople: What Really Works," Harvard Business Review, July-August 2012.
4. "Ferguson's Formula," Harvard Business Review, October 2013.

Cases

1. FormPrint Ortho500, Harvard Business School Case 5-915-536.
2. Daktronics (B): The Large Sports Venue Sales Channel, Harvard Business School Case NA0234-PDF-ENG.

Optional Readings

1. Insight Selling, by Mike Schultz and John E. Doerr, Wiley.
2. The Challenger Sale, by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson, Portfolio/Penguin,