Selling and Buying Processes

Course Module in Sales Management Course Modules help instructors select and sequence material for use as part of a course. Each module represents the thinking of subject matter experts about the best materials to assign and how to organize them to facilitate learning. Each module recommends four to six items. Whenever possible at least one alternative item for each main recommendation is included, as well as suggested supplemental readings that may provide a broader conceptual context. Cases form the core of many modules but we also include readings from Harvard Business Review, background notes, and other course materials. 1. Overview of suggested content (HBS case unless otherwise noted)

Title Author Product Number

Publication Year

Pages Teaching Note

1a. B2B Selling and Buying Processes: Professional Services Mini USA Godes 508041 2007 21p --

Alternative: Hale & Dorr Godes 505005 2005 16p 508117

Supplement: Major Sales: Who Really Does the Buying? (HBR article)

Bonoma R0607P 2006 13p --

1b. B2B Selling and Buying Processes: Software and IT Services Scriptlogic®: Point, Click, Done!™

Steenburgh 508114 2008 24p --

Alternative 1: Infosys Technologies, Ltd. (IIMB case)

Narus & Seshadri

IMB315 2006 14p IMB316

Alternative 2: SaleSoft, Inc. (A)

Narayandas 596112 1996 22p 598020

Supplement: Business Marketing: Understanding What Customers Value (HBR article)

Anderson & Narus

98601 1998 11p --

2. B2C Selling and Buying Processes New York Life and Immediate Annuities

Rotemberg & Gourville

510040 2009 22p 510094

Alternative 1: Avon.com (A) Godes 503016 2002 15p 503093

Alternative 2: Cyworld Gupta & Han 509012 2008 18p 510028

Supplement 1: Customer Has Escaped (HBR article)

Nunes & Cespedes

R0311G 2003 12p --

Supplement 2: Consumer Behavior Exercise (A) – (F)

Deighton & Fournier

596039 1995 2p (each)

597041

3. Major Accounts: Buying and Sales Processes Siebel Systems, Parts 1, 2, and 3

Deighton & Narayandas

503021, 503022, 503023

2002 9p 4p 7p

504087

Alternative1: Miles Everson at PricewaterhouseCoopers

Eccles & Lane 410062 2009 14p 412022

Alternative 2: Entrepreneurial Sales Strategies (Kellogg case)

Mayberry-McKissack & Robinson – English

KEL529 2010 10p KEL530

Supplement 1: Personal Selling and Sales Management (HBR article)

Steenburgh 507039 2006 11p --

Supplement 2: In a Downturn, Provoke Your Customers (HBR article)

Lay, Hewlin & Moore

R0903C 2009 11p --

4. Sales and Strategy Cabot Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Cespedes &

Gourville 510030 2009 10p --

Alternative: Jindi Enterprises: Finding a New Sales Manager (Ivey case)

Cotte & Yang 903A09 2003 17p 803A09

Supplement 1: New Science of Sales Force Productivity (HBR article)

Ledingham, Kovac & Simon

R0609H 2006 10p --

Supplement 2: How Strategic Is Your Sales Strategy? (HBP newsletter)

Kinni U0402B 2004 5p --

5. Capstone Materials Hubspot: Inbound Marketing and Web 2.0

Steenburgh, Avery & Dahod

509049 2009 21p 510043

and Avaya (A) Godes 508048 2008 23p 508082

Alternative: Microsoft Canada (Ivey case)

Barclay & Mark

905A15 2005 4p 805A15

Supplement 1: Ending the War Between Sales and Marketing (HBR article)

Kotler, Rackham & Krishnaswamy

R0607E 2006 15p --

Supplement 2: Sell Yourself! (HBS exercise)

Steenburgh, Norton

507045 2006 2p 507069

II. Rationale for selecting and sequencing the items in this module The complexities of selling and buying processes are examined in this module. Section 1a looks at B2B selling and buying processes in professional service firms. The module opens with Mini USA, a case that focuses on the buying process entails. The case puts the students into the

roles of the seller (an advertising agency) and the buyer (MINI USA) and asks them to develop a sales strategy for advertising services. The alternative case, Hale and Dorr, can help students to understand the different types of networks business marketers face and must manage along with developing a general working knowledge of social networks. Section 1b moves the study of the sales and buying process to the context of software and IT services. The main case, Scriptlogic, will allow students to debate the merits of going after new customers by building an enterprise sales force or mining the existing customer base with an inside sales force that already has a lot on its plate. The alternative Infosys case illustrates the process of consultative selling and can also be used as the basis of an in-class “selling exercise.” The second alternative, SalesSoft, may help students to enhance their understanding of the buying process. Section 2 examines the selling and buying processes in B2C interactions. New York Life and Immediate Annuities explores the selling of a complex and potentially important financial product to an end customer that is relatively uninformed and via a channel that may be less than fully supportive. As an alternative study, Avon examines the dilemmas facing a company that is considering modifying its traditional approach – leveraging a large independent direct-selling organization – by exploring direct sales to the consumer via the Web. The second alternative case, Cyworld, looks at a Korean social networking site which began with no business model in mind and struggled to find a way to make money. Section 3 introduces the subject of buying and selling processes with major accounts. Siebel Systems describes the details behind a multi-million dollar software sale. The fortunes of the sale rise and fall as the Siebel account manager faces multiple obstacles. The case is presented in three parts, with opportunities to debate the account manager’s choices and actions at each stage. The alternative case, Miles Everson at PricewaterhourseCoopers, examines the role of the client relationship manager. Students learn about key success factors and challenges associated with an ongoing association between a relationship manager and his or her client. Section 4 embarks on an investigation of the relationships between sales and strategy. Cabot Pharmaceuticals raises issues in aligning strategy and sales systems, performance evaluation criteria, and on-going performance management processes in field selling situations. The alternative case, Jindy Enterprises, looks at the impact of the departure of a company’s top sales representative. The CEO must find a replacement whose skills align with important aspects of the company’s strategy. Section 5 offers cases that are appropriate capstone materials for this module. The main selection is a pairing of cases that, together, look at sales and buying processes in a small company and a large company. The first case of this pairing, Hubspot, introduces the concept of inbound marketing, pulling customer prospects toward a business through the use of Web 2.0 tools and applications like blogging, search engine optimization, and social media. The second of this pair, Avaya, looks at the efforts of the vice presidents of marketing and sales of a $7 billion telecommunications firm to build a “demand generation engine.” To achieve this goal requires understanding and improving the way that marketing and sales departments work together. A supplemental exercise, Sell Yourself!, helps students to develop an effective sales pitch for their greatest asset—themselves – while broadening their understanding of how salespeople sell products and services.