1. Chapter 2: Strategy and Sales Program Planning
Part I THE BIG PICTURE
Chapter 2:
Strategy and Sales Program Planning

2. Learning Objectives Describe the major elements of business strategy.
State the basic elements of strategic marketing planning.
Explain what is meant by strategic implementation process decisions.
Describe the purpose of a sales force program and lists its major elements.
Tell What is an account relationship strategy is and explain its purpose.

3. Chapter Outline Business Strategy and Marketing Strategy.
Factors Influencing Strategic Management.
Business Strategies.
Go to Market Strategy.
Product Development Management (PDM).
Supply Chain Management (SCM).
Customer Relationship Management (CRM).
Sales Force Program Decisions.

4. Figure 2-1 The Sales Force Decision Sequence
LEVEL 1
Top
Management
Decisions
Business
Strategy
Marketing
Strategy
Go-to-Market
Strategy
Supply Chain
Management (SCM)
Customer
Relationship
Management (CRM)
LEVEL 2
Implementation
Decisions
Product Development
Management
(PDM)
Structure
Competencies
Leadership
LEVEL 3
Sales Force
Program
Decisions
Sales Process
Activities
Account Relationship
Strategy
Figure 2-1 The Sales Force Decision Sequence

5. Efficiency & Effectiveness
Efficiency - getting the most output from the least amount of inputs
“doing things right”
concerned with means
Effectiveness - completing activities so that organizational goals are attained
“doing the right things”
concerned with ends
Effectiveness and efficiency are interrelated and sometimes overlapped.

6. Business Strategy:
Business Strategy involves defining and articulating an overall business mission, developing specific business goals, and designing a strategy for achieving these goals.

7. Marketing Strategy:
Marketing Strategy is the set of integrated decisions and actions a business undertakes to achieve its marketing objectives. Marketing Strategy decisions are related to market segmentation & target marketing, as well as the development of a positioning strategy.

8. Segmentation & Target Marketing
Market Segmentation involves aggregating customers into groups that (1) Have one or more common characteristics, (2) Have similar needs, and (3) Will respond similarly to a marketing program.
Target Marketing refers to the selection and prioritizing of segments to the company that will market.

9. Positioning Strategy
Positioning strategy is developed and implemented based on product, price, distribution, and promotion decisions.
Positioning occurs in the mind of the consumer and refers to how the consumer perceives the product, brand, and company vis-à-vis competitors.

10. Positioning Strategy
The fundamental questions that a customers ask about brands are:
Who are you? (brand identity)
What are you? (brand meaning)
What do I think or feel about you? (brand responses)
What kind and how much association would I like to have with you. (brand relationship)

11. Figure 2-2: Factors Influencing Strategic Management
Environmental constraints
Legal & regulatory
Demographics
Economic Conditions
Technology
Competitive conditions
Sociocultural factors
Resources
Financial
R&D
Personnel
Brand Equity
Production
Distinct competencies
Marketing
Financial
Technology
Information
Strategic Management
Planning
Firm’s history
management culture
Figure 2-2: Factors Influencing Strategic Management 1

13. Go to Market Strategy:
Go to Market Strategy is concerned with answering one question which is; How will customers will be accessed?
A Go to Market Strategy defines who will perform marketing activities and for which customers.

14. Steps in Developing a Go-to-Market Strategy
What is the best way to segment the market?
What are the essential activities required by each segment?
What group of go-to-market participants should perform the essential activities?
Who face-to-face selling participants should be used?

15. Go to Market Strategy
To determine a Go to Market Strategy, an important decisions should be taken in these three areas:
Segmenting the Market.
Sales Process Activities.
Go to Market Participants.

16. Figure 2-6 Essential Activities
Interest Creation
Post-Purchase
Pre-Purchase
Purchase

17. Interest Creation Activities
It include all the ways that the customers can learn about the benefit of the product and the company:
Prospecting.
Generating leads.
Creating awareness and interest.
Providing information.

18. Pre-Purchase
In this phase customers are actively considering and evaluating competitive product and service offerings:
Explaining features and benefits.
Qualifying prospects.
Assessing customers needs.
Cooperating in problem solving.
Demonstrating company and product capabilities.

19. Purchase Negotiating. Bidding. Finalizing terms and conditions.
Writing Proposals.

20. Post-Purchase Delivery. Installation. Servicing of products.
Addressing customers questions.
Providing information about new features.
Collecting payments.

21. Customers and Prospects
Figure 2-7 Potential Go-to-Market Participants
Customers and Prospects
Direct Sales
Force
Agents
Distributors
Retailers
Integrators
Alliances
Advertising
Promotion
Direct Mail
Tele-
marketing
Internet
Direct
Indirect
Sales Force Options
Non-Sales Force Options
Company

22. Figure 2-8 Comparing Various Go-to-Market Alternatives
Low Cost
per Exposure
Advertising
Direct Mail
Internet
Telemarketing
Efficiency
(inexpensive
Per customer
contact)
Sales Force
High Sales
per Exposure
Effectiveness

23. Product Development Management (PDM)
Product Development Management is the process of developing, producing, and marketing new product offerings.

24. Figure 2-9 Product Development Management Subprocesses
Identify customer needs for better solutions
Discovering and designing new product solutions
Developing new solution prototypes
Managing internal departmental priorities and involvement
Designing activities to speed-up development process
Launching new and redesigned offerings

25. Supply Chain Management (SCM)
Supply Chain Management is the integration and organization of information and logistics activities across firms in a supply chain for the purpose of creating and delivering goods and services that provide value to customers.

26. Figure 2-10 Supply Chain Management Subprocesses
Selecting and managing supplier relationships
Managing inbound logistics
Managing internal logistics
Managing outbound logistics
Designing product assembly and batch manufacturing
Managing process technology
Order, pricing, and terms management
Managing channel partners
Managing product installation and maintenance

27. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
It is a comprehensive set of processes and technologies for managing relationships with potential and current customers and business partners.
Successful CRM efforts depends on a combination of people, processes, technology, knowledge, and information.

28. Figure 2-11 Customer Relationship Management Subprocesses
Identifying high value prospects
Learning about product usage and application
Developing and executing advertising and promotion programs
Developing and executing sales programs
Developing and executing customer service programs
Acquiring and leveraging customer contact information systems
Managing customer contact teams
Enhancing trust and customer loyalty
Cross-selling and upselling of offerings

29. Three Steps in Leveraging the CRM:
Customers viewed as assets
CRM;s Task: To increase shareholder value by leveraging the customer base.
The Market Value of the Company is the sum of (NPV) of all current and future customers cash flow.
Providing customized solutions in marketing, sales and customer service continuum.
Shareholder Value
Driver of Cash Flow
& economic value added
(EVA)
Improving the profitability of customers seen as a driver of business profit
Focus on customer selection
British Telecom used new techniques including telemarketing and Internet to decrease the costs of face to face selling.
Business
Driver of Profits
CRM viewed as a tool to achieve a bigger customer share through cross-selling, up-selling, and finding new solutions to customers that could be packaged as new offerings
Focus on account planning and organizational alignment
Sales
Driver of Revenue

30. Different Sales Orientations
Solutions to your needs
“Solution provider”
Function/ department
Product and service
solutions to customer needs
Understanding the
customer’s needs
Solution Sales
Product Sales
Impact on your
business results
“business consultant”
All levels
Valuable solutions to
support competitive advantage
Driving customer
profits and EVA
Value Sales
Sales
Argument
Best products
“Product Expert”
Narrow Space
(e.g., purchasing)
Best products with a
competitive price
Product excellence and/
or cost leadership
Profile of
Sales
Customer
Contacts
Offering
Success
Factors

31. Sales Force Program Decisions.
A sales force program is a tool for planning how the sales force will perform its role in achieving the firm’s objectives.

32. Account Relationship Strategy.
A firm’s account relationship strategy refers to the type of relationship it intends to develop with its customers.
Why it is important? What implications does it have on the Sales Force Program?

33. Figure 2-13: Alternative Types of Account Relationships
Investment by
Supplier
Enterprise
Relationship
Consultative
Relationship
Transactional
Relationship
Investment by Customer
Figure 2-13: Alternative Types of Account Relationships

34. Transactional Relationship
A transactional relationship is a relationship based on the need for a product of acceptable quality, competitively priced, and a process and relationship convenient for the buyer.
“I have never bought anything from someone I did not like.”

35. Consultative Relationship
A consultative relationship, a common relationship in industrial market, is based on the customer’s demand and willingness to pay for a sales efforts that creates new value and provides additional benefits outside of the product itself.
Understand customers’ problems
Develop better solutions
Advocate the customers’ interests

36. Enterprise Relationship
An enterprise relationship is one in which the primary function is to leverage any and all corporate assets of the supplier in order to contribute to the customer’s strategic success.
Product and sales force are secondary.
Customer must be of strategic importance to the selling organization.
Suppliers are involved in early stages of need identification.
Supplier’s team interface with the customer on regular basis.
Suppliers respond immediately and share information continuously.

38. Figure 2-14: Changes in Customer Expectations of Suppliers