B2B and B2C Sales, CRM systems

Exam questions – 2019/2020 Fall semester

1. Discuss the key roles of salespeople as financial contributors, change agents,

communication agents and customer value agents.
Salespeople are important financial contributors to their organizations as they assume a key
role in revenue production.
Change agent: salespeople are also expected to act a change agents as they stimulate sales
cycles and help customers reach buying decisions as soon as reasonably possible.
Communications agent: Salespeople are heavily involved as two way communications
agents between their customers and their employers. Customers depend on salespeople for
their knowledge of products and services as well as developments in the marketplace. Sales
organizations typically rely on their salespeople to be the eyes and ears of the company on
competitive activity, buyer preferences and ideas for new products.
Customer value agent: the fourth key role fulfilled by salespeople is that of customer value
agent with salespeople helping to create communicate, deliver and continually increase
customer value

2. Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of sales organization structures.

Type of sales organization
Geographic structure
Advantages Disadvantages
-Organizing your sales team - Limited specialization
by geography or territory - Lack of management
allows each salesperson to control over product
develop familiarity with a or customer emphasis
specific geographic location.
They can build rapport with
local businesses, get to know
regional competitors, and
track target accounts.
It can also be easier to
evaluate your reps by taking
into account the performance
and market potential of a
specific geographic location.
-More economically:
minimize travel,
administrative costs.
-Fewer Management levels
-No customer duplication.
- No geographic duplication.

Product -Sales people become experts -High cost

in product attributes and -Geographic duplication
applications -Customer duplication
-Management control
overselling effort allocated
to products
Market -Salespeople develop better -high cost
understanding of unique -geographic duplication
customer needs
-Management control
overselling effort allocated
 to different markets
Functional Efficiency in performing -Geographic duplication
selling activities - Customer duplication
-Need for coordination

3. Discuss the Discuss the sales funnel stages.

Stage 1: Awareness: At the very top of the funnel is the awareness stage. The main purpose
of this phase is to improve the visibility of your brand and start collecting leads. While you
want to be sure you’re targeting the right group of people, it’s also okay to cast a wide net at
this stage.
During the awareness stage, you want to bring attention to your brand but you don’t need to
push any particular product or service. Instead, you should focus on sharing ideas, solutions,
or advice.
Stage 2: Discovery: In the Discovery phase, your prospects are interested in your company and
products and want to know more. In this stage, you need to share valuable content that
addresses their specific problem.

Your goal is to make them more familiar with your brand and to provide them with content that
interests them enough to move to the next stage.

You should educate them on the problem that your company can help them solve, but you
need to do this without pitching them directly.

Stage 3: Evaluation: During the Evaluation stage, your prospect takes a closer look at your
company and the products and services you offer. They’re also looking at your competitors to see
how your offerings measure up.

At this stage, prospects want to know more about how you can help them solve a problem or issue
they’re facing. But they’re still not ready to consider making a purchase from you.

Your aim at this point is to begin nurturing a relationship with your leads to better understand what
their end goal is and to show them how you can help them meet that goal.

Stage 4 Intent: At the Intent stage, your prospect indicates that they’re interested in
buying your product, but haven’t made the purchase just yet. They might indicate their
interest by taking a survey, watching a product demo, or placing an item in their shopping
cart.

Stage 5 Purchase: Once customers reach the Purchase stage, they’re ready to buy. This is
the point where it’s safe to make your final pitch. Now you know for sure that they’re
interested in your offerings, and just have to convince them that your offerings are worth
spending their money on.

Some ways to convince them to make the sale include: testimonials, reviews, and a
streamlined, trustworthy sales process. The type of content you can use at this stage includes:
customer success tips, special offers, product trainings, package bundles, and follow-up email
campaigns.

4. Discuss the sales pipeline stages.

1. PROSPECTING STAGE
Whether you call it the prospecting stage, the lead generation stage, or even the new
opportunities stage, this is the beginning of your sales pipeline. During this stage, you’re
 eager to get new leads or opportunities. Hopefully, you can convert these leads into loyal,
buying customers. These leads enter your sales funnel at the very top. They don’t know a lot,
if anything, about your company. Their level of interest may be low

2. THE LEAD QUALIFICATION STAGE

By this point, you should have a healthy stream of leads based on what you did in the first stage of
your sales pipeline generation. Now it’s time to do something with the leads, namely
qualification.

The second stage is all about determining if you and the lead are a good fit for one another. You
want them to blend in with your target audience as closely as possible.

3. INITIAL MEETING: This is an important first meeting, and the way you prepare for it matters a
lot. Before you have the meeting with the lead, you want to be sure of what the point of it is.
What are your goals with this meeting? Are you trying to inform them more about your
company’s products/services? Do you want to make the sale right then and there?
Depending on what your goal is, your tactics during the meeting will differ.

4. PROSPECT NEEDS STAGE

Through your lead scoring and initial meeting, you’ve learned a ton about your prospect. This
benefits you for the next stage of your sales pipeline, which is identifying the needs of your
prospects.

If you created a buyer persona for your leads, then you should have a decent idea of what your
prospect’s needs could be. Now you want to fill in any missing info. This way, when you progress to
the next stage, which is making your offer, you have a higher chance of the prospect saying yes.

5. THE OFFER STAGE

That’s because, as we mentioned, the fifth stage of your sales pipeline is the offer stage. By this
point, you’ve done all the necessary homework on your prospect. You’ve given them a buyer
persona, scored them, and interacted with them. You’ve created a certain level of engagement
between the two of you. Through all this communication, you’ve also learned of their pain points
and needs. Finally, you’ve assessed whether your products or services are the right fit for the lead.

6. NEGOTIATION FINAL PROPOSAL

7CLOSING THE DEAL
If the prospect said yes, they want to try your product/service, then you move into the
finalizing or closing stage. This is where terms may be negotiated and formal contracts are
often drawn up.

6. Evaluate sales channels – types, charactaristics, impact, cost/benefit

Direct Channel:
Managed sales force
• Customer support
• Requires inbound leads
• Manage customer communication
• - Linear increase in cost
• + control over sales, brand and pricing
• + increased customer visibility
• + highest margin

Direct & Indirect:

• Salesforce and account management
• Multi-face customer support
• Channel conflict
• Channel specific products may be required
• Pricing consistency
• - Managing channel conflict
• - Limited control over sales, brand and pricing
• + leveraged sales environment
Indirect
• Account managers instead of sales staff
• Competing on partners and customers
• Needs a direct customer feedback effort
• - Lowest margin
• - Minimal control over sales, brand and pricing
• - Minimal customer visibility
• +greatest reach
• +most scalable sales strategy
7. Discuss the change in the sales terms ABC according to Daniel H. Pink.
That’s why To Sell is Human introduces the new ABC’s:

A — Attunement (sintonanizacion)

B — Buoyancy (resilience)

C — Clarity

These three qualities are now essential whether you’re trying to move a prospect to buy a
computer system or your daughter to do her homework.

Attunement is the capacity to take another’s perspective, to understand their interests, and to
see the world from their point of view. Buoyancy is the capacity to stay afloat on what one
salesman calls an “ocean of rejection.” Clarity is the capacity to make sense of dark
situations, to curate information rather than merely access it, and to move from solving
existing problems to finding hidden ones.

To Sell is Human reviews the science of why these qualities are so effective. But it also includes an
array of tools, tips, and exercise to help you hone your abilities.

On my website — just for you, dear newsletter readers — I’ve put three of my favorite exercises,
one for each quality. (They’re a bit too long to include in the body of the newsletter).

For Attunement, the exercise is “Pull Up a Chair” — a simple strategy that Amazon honcho Jeff
Bezos uses to stay attuned to his customers.

For Buoyancy, it’s “Send Yourself a Rejection Letter” — a fun way to prepare yourself for
encounters in which you might get smacked with a big, fat “No way.”

For Clarity, I chose “Find the 1 percent” — featuring the single best lesson I learned in my
years of law school.

8. Define strategy and discuss different strategies within an organization.

Strategy defines the company’s distinctive approach to competing and the competitive
advantages on which it will be based.
 Corporate strategy:
Corporate mission
Strategic business unit definition
Strategic business unit objectives
 Business strategy:
Strategy types:
Strategy execution:
 Marketing strategy:
Target market selection
Marketing mix development
Marketing communication
 Sales strategy:
Account targeting strategy
Relationship strategy
Selling strategy
Sales channel strategy
9. Discuss similarities and differencies between B2B and B2C sales.
Differences Similarities
B2B B2B sales, is related to the 1. B2B and B2C sales both
selling of products and require a unique sales
services from one business to process with a well-defined
another. B2B sales strategy, regardless of their
relationships are continually length.
developing and typically have 2. B2B and B2C sales both
a longer lifespan, as the require a strong alignment
processes involved in closing a with marketing. If marketing
sale is lengthier. B2B sales communications are weak,
include a decision making sales will suffer on both sides.
process that characteristically 3. Customer service is vital
needs more than one regardless of the type of
individual signing off. selling in question. It is
Driving factor: important that the customer
Relationships/Product or organization consuming
features/customer support your products and services
Primary motivation for have the ability to reach the
purchase: Establish strategic service team and are
advantage or generate value. attended at the top level.
Price: More complex
Market size: Focused small
niche
B2C B2C sales, is related to the
selling of products to one
individual consumer. An
example of B2C includes retail
sales, as the items sold are
directly targeted and
consumed by one individual
person. In general, the B2C
sales cycle is shorter, as the
consumer is encouraged to
purchase the product on the
spot. In addition, B2C selling
does not usually include more
than one individual in the
decision making process.
Driving factor: Product
feature/ brand appeal
Primary Motivation for
purchase: status related
personal gratification
emotional attachment,
economic considerations
(affordable, pricing, etc)
Price: aligns with individual
capacity/ comparatively less
complex
Market size: Large

10. Define sales forecast and discuss the affecting factors, and evaluate the necessity of
forecasts for different levels within a sales organization.
Companies with accurate sales forecasts are 10% more likely to grow their revenue YoY.
 What is a sales forecast? A sales forecast predicts what a salesperson, team, or company will
sell weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually.
Managers use reps' sales forecasts to estimate business their team will close.
Head of Sales use team forecasts to anticipate department sales.
Director uses department forecasts to project organization sales.
Forecasts provide the basis for the following sales management decisions:
• Determining salesforce size
• Designing territories
• Establishing sales quotas and selling budgets
• Determining sales compensation levels
• Evaluating salesperson performance
• Evaluating prospective accounts
11. Describe the sales budgeting process.

Select a Period for Your Sales Budget

While it is common to use an annual sales budget, some companies have quarterly or even monthly
sales budgets.Collect Historical Sales Data for Your Company

If you run an existing business, you should be able to consult past sales records. If you are making a
sales budget for anything but an annual period, use sales data for the same period as the current
budget you are preparing. For example, if you are working on a budget for your upcoming spring
quarter, use data from a previous spring quarter to minimize the effect of seasonal factors on your
sales.
Locate Sales and Industry Information

Search for information on companies similar to yours. You can get actual sales data from the annual
and quarterly reports of public companies, but that information is typically only available for large
companies. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics can provide you with industry growth estimates and
other important financial data about your industry. Your local chamber of commerce can provide
information on local companies and put you in touch with colleagues in your industry.
Compare Sales with Past Sales Periods

Count the number of salespeople working for your company and compare it with past sales
periods. If the number of salespeople in your company has risen or fallen, increase or decrease
your estimated sales figures accordingly. Ask your salespeople for their own personal projections
for the upcoming sales period, as their first-hand knowledge and experience can help you make
accurate projections.
Research Current Market Trends

While past sales provide a good starting point for your budget, past performance does not always
predict future results. If market trends are changing, they will most likely affect your company's
fortunes as well. For example, if you make plastic cases for CDs and CD sales are falling, you may
have to revise your sales estimates downward as well.
Speak with Your Customers

Their intentions to buy your products are solid indicators of future sales. If your customers tend to
buy at certain times during the year, factor this typical buying trend into your sales forecast.
Create the Forecast

Based on a combination of previous sales, the current state of the market, the strength of your
sales force and customer intentions, make your best estimate as to sales during the next budget
period.

Compare Results With Your Forecast

Compare actual results with the sales forecast. After the projected sales period concludes, see how
close your projection was to your actual sales. Any variance you uncover can help you prepare
future budgets more accurately.

12. Discuss the necessity and the methods of measuring salesforce effectiveness.

• Necessity: Assesses the firm’s sales management process. Provides direction for improved
performance and prescription for needed changes. necessary to develop a comprehensive
evaluation of any sales organization

Sales Analysis: ▪ Sales results vs target ▪ Customer satisfaction ▪ Profit vs target ▪ Sales
manager feedback ▪ Market share ▪ Cost of sales ▪ Sales employee feedback.
Cost Analysis: Assess the costs incurred by the sales organization to generate the achieved levels
of sales. Compare the costs incurred with planned budget.

Corporate resources earmarked for personal selling expenses for a designated period
represent the total selling budget.

Profitability analysis: Sales and cost data can be combined in various ways to produce evaluations
of sales
 organization profitability for different organizational levels of different types of sales.

types of profitability analysis: income statement analysis, activity-based costing, and return on
assets managed analysis.
Income Statement Analysis: Full Cost Approach: Allocate shared costs to individual units based on
some type of cost allocation procedure.
Percentage of Sales: Expenditure percentage multiplied by sales forecast.
Objective and Task: Budgets and objectives/tasks are tied together during planning.
The contribution approach is different in that only direct costs are included in the profitability
analysis; the indirect or shared costs are not included
• Profitability Analysis Activity-Based Costing (ABC): Allocates costs to individual units on the
basis of how the units actually expend or cause these costs. Places greater emphasis on
more accurately defining unit profitability by tracing activities and their associated costs
directly to a specific unit.
Productivity analysis:
Compares profits and asset investments

Expressed in terms of ratios of inputs to output

13. Evaluate CRM types.

Operational CRM:
▪ „front-office” CRM
▪ Involves direct customer touchpoints
▪ Enables communication to & from customers however doesn’t mean optimising service
Analytical CRM:
▪ ‘back-office” CRM
▪ Involves understanding customer activities that occurred in the front office
▪ Requires technology and new business processes
Collaboration CRM:
Is an approach to customer relationship management (CRM) in which the various departments
of a company, such as sales, technical support, and marketing, share any information they
collect from interactions with customers.

14. Why do we say that CRM is a modular system?

CRM software is generally built to be modular in nature, featuring different elements that
focus on a specific team or process. This makes it easier to organize your data and operations
within the CRM system and can allow you to pick and choose modules based on your needs
and budget. Most important modules are: activity, account, products, support, opportunity,
vendors.
15. What initiatives can you name in marketing for implementing a CRM system?
▪ Cross-selling and up-selling
▪ Customer retention/loyalty management
 ▪ Behaviour prediction
▪ Customer profitability and value modeling
▪ Channel optimization
▪ Personalization
16. Discuss the implementation process of a CRM system.
▪ Pre-implementation checklist ▪ CRM development team – roles and responsibilities ▪ CRM
programme – think it as many projects to be well-run ▪ Implementation roadmap ▪ Success
measurement
17. Discuss relationship strategy and selling approaches.
Depends on customer needs Transaction? Solutions? Partnership? Collaborative?
18. What is a sales territory plan and what does territory management mean?

A sales territory plan is a workable plan for targeting the right customers and implementing
goals for income and consistent sales growth over time.

Traditionally, sales territories were created by geographical location. However, these days it’s
been extended to include different industries, customer types, and other segments.

Territory management is a customer group or geographic area over which either an individual
salesperson or a sales team has responsibility. These territories are usually defined based on
geography, sales potential,
19. Name the forecasting methods. Evaluate one of them.
20. Evaluate the 6 successors of the elevator pitch according to Daniel H. Pink.
In his book, To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others, author and speaker
Daniel Pink introduced the six successors to the elevator pitch: the one-word pitch, the question
pitch, the rhyming pitch, the subject line pitch, the twitter pitch, and the Pixar pitch.

These modernized types of pitches can be used by sales professionals to communicate with the
audience better. This achieves a clearer, more convincing sales presentation.

In this post, we’ll cover the first three types of pitches that you can use to enhance your content.

1. The One-word Pitch

The idea of one-word pitch or “one-word equity” was conceptualized by Maurice and Charles
Saatchi, founders of Saatchi & Saatchi, one of the world’s top advertising agencies. By condensing
your brand in one word, it can help your audience remember what you’re planning to convey.

Nowadays, people have limited attention spans. Microsoft‘s study explains that the human
attention span has declined from eight seconds to twelve in 2013. Given this limited timespan,
presentations become more effective when they’re shorter.

This means every presenter’s message needs to be clear and more direct, if only because clients
will have an easier time remembering your main points.

Some large firms incorporate this to their slogans to promote a more comprehensive way of
presenting their brands to customers. For example, the word “search” is often associated with
Google.

How to Get Started:

Pink advises presenters: “Write a 50-word pitch. Reduce it to 25 words. Then to six words. One of
those remaining half-dozen is almost certainly your one-word pitch.”

Ask yourself: If there’s one word you can use to describe your brand, what is it? Identify your
objectives to guide you in crafting a more focused pitch. Decide what you want your audience to
remember after hearing your brand name, or after letting them visualize your marketing
campaign.

This will help you come up with a powerful word that fits your desired plan. It can also instill a
catchier, more memorable name you can associate with your business or brand.

2. The Question Pitch

There’s nothing more effective than questions that’ll motivate audiences to take action. Though
you shouldn’t rely on this all the time, Pink’s research suggests certain questions become more
persuasive when they possess a strong argument.

For example, when Ronald Reagan was running for president in 1980, he chose to ask: “Are you
better off now than you were four years ago?”, instead of mentioning America’s then-current
economic recession and proving his point with numbers.

Rhetorical questions like these are used to compelling the audience to resolve the point being
discussed, while letting them absorb the message you want to deliver.

Probing questions are also effective when convincing your listeners to share their stories and
experiences, while voicing their concerns. Asking “Does this product interest you?” is way too
open-ended from “Will this product provide convenience and solution to your concern?” The
latter emphasizes the benefit and convinces your prospect to consider the offer.

How to Get Started:

Pink suggests: “Use this if your arguments are strong. If they’re weak, make a statement. Or better
yet, find some new arguments.”

If a statement won’t work, add a question to your pitch. This will prompt your listeners to answer
it silently in their minds.

When crafting your pitch, gather all the facts and resources needed, and organize relatable details
or information to prioritize them. This lets you pinpoint what particular argument is more
effective in a question form. It also ensures your listeners or prospects will understand the entire
topic to make it more convincing.
3. The Rhyming Pitch
Pink states that “pitches that rhyme increase processing fluency.” This makes the message easier
to digest and internalize.

The following example shows how rhyming and non-rhyming words differ:

Woes unite foes. (original rhyming version)

Woes unite enemies. (modified non-rhyming version)

You’ll notice that the first sentence is much more interesting to hear than the second one.
Incorporating rhyming words in your speech also improves audience recall as it produces a
pleasant sound when they’re pronounced.

Another example would be: “Videos can sustain what text can’t explain” has more impact than
plainly saying it as “Videos can sustain text that lacks explanation.”

How to Get Started:

Pink states: “Don’t rack your brain for rhymes. Go online and find a rhyming dictionary.” Use the
Internet to look for a rhyming dictionary. This will help you restructure plain and simple
statements into rhyming sentences.

Before applying it to your presentation, start by identifying your main points. Try out rhyming
words to see if they’d work well together in one statement. You can also ask one of your
colleagues for his opinion towards your pitch and give you his feedback.

Be careful not to overdo it. Choose among and focus only on the ideas relevant to your subject for
greater emphasis and easier retention. This will generate more interest among your listeners and
draw attention to your performance.
4. The subject-line pitch. This pitch technique is based on Carnegie Mellon research into emails—
what gets opened and what doesn't. The researchers found that utility and curiosity were equally
potent. Pink adds a third, specificity. The most effective subject lines are either a promise or a
benefit to the person opening the email, drive curiosity, or include ultra-specific information. One
example of utility and specificity is: 3 simple but proven ways to get your e-mail opened.

5. The Pixar pitch. This technique is a way to organize your pitch in story form. According to Emma
Coats, a former artist at Pixar Animation Studios, every Pixar film has the same narrative DNA:

Once upon a time____________. Every day____________. One day____________. Because of

that, ____________. Because of that,_____________. Until finally___________.

6. The twitter pitch. This is my personal favorite. I’ve been recommending this strategy since 2008
based on my observation that every Steve Jobs pitch for an Apple product easily fit within 140
characters (iPod: “1,000 songs in your pocket.” MacBook Air: “The world’s thinnest notebook.”)
According to Pink, the Twitter pitch isn’t a replacement for a presentation, but rather an invitation
to engage, to take the conversation further. “What’s your Twitter pitch for your new book?” I
asked Pink. “We’re all in sales now, but sales isn’t what it used to be.”

Conclusion
Pink’s first three techniques not only offer a new approach in making your pitch more powerful
and memorable. Applying these types can guide you in presenting your ideas creatively.

Think of a word that’ll give your brand or business much exposure, and make it catchier enough to
increase audience recall.

For greater impact, make sure to deliver a strong argument. Ask questions that convince them to
take action. Turn simple sentences into rhyming statements to let your listeners be more attentive
to what you’re conveying.

Try it yourself and you’ll be amazed by how it positively affects the way people better understand
your message. Master these three approaches to allow for a better and more focused
presentation that your audience will remember.

21. Describe the connection between contacts, leads, account and opportunity in a CRM system.
Leads are people who have shown some level of interest in your product or service.
Contacts are created as soon as a lead expresses interest in doing business. The lead is converted
into a contact. Contacts are people who are attached to accounts (companies) and are considering
going through a transaction.
Opportunities are transactions. When an opportunity is created (converted) it’s to signal the start
of a sales cycle. There can be many opportunities in a company but a specific contact can only be
attached to one account.

A lead and a contact are the only two objects in the system that describe a person. A lead cannot
evolve in an opportunity.

Once the conversion from lead to contact has occurred the sales rep should interact mainly with
the opportunity record.

22. Discuss success factors for implementing a CRM system.

Factor # 1. Top Management Commitment and Support
Factor # 2. Define and Communicate CRM Strategy
Factor # 3. Culture Change: In order for CRM to succeed in realizing its objectives, organization
should develop a culture where all staff are encouraged to share and learn from new work
structure and information that is based on customers.
Factor # 4. Inter-Departmental Integration: From strategic perspective CRM implementation
has an organization-wide influence. Different functions and departments of the organization
should be integrated and connected with a structure that support the flow of information.
Factor # 5. Skillful Staff:
Factor # 6. Key Information on Customers:
Acquiring and analyzing the right quantity and quality of information on customers helps to
meet customer’s needs.
Factor # 7. Manage IT Structure: Considering CRM as only a technological solution is a vital
misconception that resulted in increasing failure of CRM projects.
Factor # 8. Customer Involvement: Direct and indirect Involvement of customers in CRM
designing is a tool for strengthening practical CRM. Such an involvement helps the
organization to analyze the customer relationship life cycle
23. Evaluate CRM market nowadays - you can use Gartner report findings and analysis.
Digital business models, improved AI maturity and connected customer service ecosystems
are changing how organizations engage with customers and manage customer service teams.
Over the past five years, Gartner has observed important changes in how organizations
handle customer service. Whereas formerly a single department would respond to customers’
needs, increasingly customer service is now a cross-departmental function that requires
coordination. Also, it has changed from a reactive service to an increasingly proactive one.
24. Discuss partner management in CRM.
It usually means providing sales partners and resellers with the tools and information the need
to:
- Access up-to-date product information, including release dates, problems, marketing
 materials
- Communicate with support resources and offer online assistance with products and services
- Reduce paperwork by obtaining online knowledge managing resources eg.pricing revisions
and sales contracts
- Access a company’s supply chain network to check inventory, outstanding shipments, and
other order details
- Download sales presentations and other product marketing materials
25. Define ethics and discuss the importance of it in an organization.
Ethics is the code of moral principles and values that govern the behaviors of a person or a
group with respect to what is right or wrong ▪ Ethics sets standards as to what is good or bad
in conduct and decision making ▪ Ethical behavior refers to treating others fairly

26. Discuss ethics when dealing with customers.

Bribes
▪ Misrepresentation: A misrepresentation is a false statement of a material fact made by one party
which affects the other party's decision in agreeing to a contract.
▪ Price discrimination: Tie-in sales Selling the same quantity of the same product to different
buyers at different prices
• To buy a particular line of merchandise, a buyer may be required to buy other, unwanted
products

Exclusive dealership
▪ Reciprocity
▪ Sales restrictions
• Buying a product from someone if the person or organization agrees to buy from you
• Cooling -off laws