Marketing, Sales and Customer Management (MSC)

An Integrated Overall B2B Management Approach

Richard Hofmaier

• Publisher: De Gruyter Oldenbourg
• Year: 2015
• eBook ISBN: 9783110412550
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Marketing
• Index: Business

This Book is primarily written for experts and managers in marketing, sales, customer and service management at BtB companies. In addition, the book is also for executives of project and quality management, research and development (R&D), procurement, logistics, and production departments, who deal with marketing-related topics and are working in related fields. The integrated marketing, sales and customer management (MSC) approach aims to lay out and explain in detail the concepts, tools and implementations of a holistic and sustainable customer-focused approach in order to successfully implement important marketing, sales and customer management measures. The concise presentation of various methods, their applications and evaluations allow managers to better choose specific tools and the necessary means of efficient implementation. In addition, this book presents students enrolled in business management and business administration programs and who are focusing on marketing, sales and customer management with a conceptualized and application-oriented guide for the implementation of holistically integrated strategies, programs and measures.

IV Integrated sales, customer acquisition and negotiation management

Integrated MSC management must now determine and incorporate the appropriate sales approach. This can be divided into sales structure, sales process (including multi-stage acquisition steps) and negotiation approaches. First, we will discuss the overall sales approach with its different distribution channels and organs according to respective customer types and kinds of customers (sales structure) (see Fig. 33), before we then focus on multimedia customer acquisition approach and sales finetuning based on select sales processes with respective “optimization” key figures. Finally, we discuss a “cross-cultural” negotiation management approach, which becomes more and more important these days.

1 Sales structure in the context of marketing and customers (MSC Management)

A national and international sales structure and its distribution organs can be generally designed with a focus on respective customer structure and therefore types of customers and customer typology (see Fig. 33).

At first, actual customers can be distinguished according to their customer types as A, B, C and D customers. This is mainly done based on criteria of actual sales, strategic potential (sales, margin development, know-how transfer, lead-user, disseminator potential, etc.), customer margin and customer growth/development potential (see Fig. 34a).

Due to today’s increasingly limited resources within a company, the same effort and the same times of availability cannot be offered. Therefore, the respective division of resources and timing must be done according to priorities. Priorities develop based on criteria I to IV (Fig. 34a) and the resulting classification of customers and customer type status. An A-customer has a much higher potential for development, infiltration and thus sales, revenue and margins than a B-, C- or D-customer. In this respect, A-customers (usually key accounts) need a specific integrative marketing, sales and customer management and service approach, for example, through coordinated CRM, customer development and key account management (KAM). Such a KAM works in conjunction with the support of key account marketing (and possibly KA field sales – as well as technical KA service management). This can often lead to customer and business development potential that is far above average and manifold (see Part VI), which is usually not possible and implementable with other customer types (unfavorable cost-benefit ratio).

On one hand, it is therefore important to analyze, develop and tap A-customers based on their “diverse” potentials; on the other hand, all actual customers must undergo a corresponding screening in order to discover and possibly target even a latent A-customer potential (e.g., with a B- or just-acquired C-customer) (see target customer profile or “development arrow” in Fig. 34a). Only then we can speak of a “complete” or consistent A-customer profile.

If one were to analyse customers only based on their actual sales, as it unfortunately still happens quite often, but not according to their important criteria of potential, one might not recognize “sleeping giants” (key account potentials) and would leave a multitude of existing customer potential unused and disregarded.

Fig. 33: Sales structure and distribution organs (within B2B customer context)

Fig. 34a: Customer Categorisation by Types and Criteria (© Prof. Dr. R. Hofmaier).

The overall sales structure presentation makes it clear that different types of customers should experience different kinds of sales support through different kinds of sales institutions (Sales Representatives (OS)/Inside Sales/eSales etc.). However, A- and B-customers can be attended to not only with personalized outside sales (OS) and inside sales (IS) in its different forms19, but also with direct/e-marketing or eSales, etc. (see also, for example, spare parts/repair services). But smaller C- and D-customers can also be attended to not only with inside sales (IS) or e-sales, but mainly also through sales partners (f.e. VAR’s) and (technical) distributors, etc.. (For the acquisition, “special” channels and organs, such as event, PR and onlinebased distribution design, can also be used.)

Furthermore, it is important to note that actual and potential customers should be addressed and – where possible – built and “developed” differently according to their customer type (purchase status). First, potential customers are divided into so-called interests, that is, companies, which have a fundamental need for potential (depending on nature of the business, administration, production concept and marketing approach, etc.). They can thus be basically considered as customers and are mostly recorded, selected and contacted by the marketing division (especially at first by market research and direct marketing) and then by the sales department (inside sales, tele-sales, e-sales, customer competence center (internal/external, etc.) via fitting acquisition and address data management (see Part IV/B). In a second acquisition step and once interest and need have basically been confirmed, such potential customers can be classified as prospects who then trigger the respective next acquisition steps and sales process stages. When a product or solution requirement is specifically laid out and comprehensible, the actual sales process now starts, since this is already about specified leads that are now “attended to” as part of the sales process and its individual steps (request generation, quoting, and follow-up negotiations, etc.). If such a lead now buys for the first time, he/she turns into a launch customer, who can now be developed (depending on customer analysis and prioritization) into a follow-up (subsequent), repeat, and, if necessary, up to a regular customer. (Conversely, so-called “lost” customers can be recovered as “sustainable” actual customers with specific “re-acquisition” (“lost status” I = short-term recoverable customer; “lost status” II = mid-term recoverable customer; “lost status” III = unrecoverable customer).)

Depending on customer status, different sales organs can be combined with customer support institutions as well as those responsible for marketing (team selling). Basically, it depends on the optimal selling mix, i.e. a usefully integrated sales, customer care and marketing team (especially for larger customers) and thus a “team approach” through different levels of inclusion and support of internal service/inside sales, tele-sales, direct marketing, e-marketing and e-sales, online marketing and distribution partners.

Additional integratable distribution organs include, for example, sales partners (value-added resellers, system integrators, consultants, etc.) that can add their own value creation for customers (e.g., a system retailer who can take on software sales as well as hardware selections and implementation advice/care), or even special distributors (mostly specialized distributors), who present customers with product programs and assortment-building functions in order to facilitate his/her decisions among all the choices. Additional select, partly also (supplementary) special forms of distribution organs can be specific company or customer event measures, different trade shows (types of trade shows) and “special offers” in the context of PR, sponsorship and other communication activities (with direct follow-up or ordering options) (as well as various online/communication and other distribution media (see also Fig. 37a and b)). Overall, respective sales care and support can take place with varying intensity and varying scope of support (ideal situation illustrated by the arrow in Fig. 33).

Another possibility of Customer analysis and planning management can be described by the present account and “target position” account portfolio (see Fig. 34b). Using the necessary customer data base, the relevant accounts can be categorized based on their attractiveness and our provider position as “Question Mark Accounts”, “Star Accounts”, “Cash Cow Accounts” and “Migration Accounts”. This provides the opportunity to position our present accounts based on these categories and to compare it with an “ideal typical” (benchmark oriented) account portfolio (based on branch and segment specific empirical studies). This will lead to a more guidelined and efficient positioning of our select accounts. According to the practical example (in Fig. 34b) basically more star accounts developed (out of the question mark accounts) and even more substantial cash cow accounts are needed. On the other side the second largest present account group of migration accounts should be reduced resp. transferred to less cost intensive sales channels (e.g. e-sales, resellers, distributors). In summary this account portfolio generally allows more distinctive and different planning and implementation of the multi channel sales and distribution organs and a more specific account and specifically key account management (see Part VI).

Fig. 34b: “Ideal Typical” (Target) and present account portfolio positioning by types of customers (practical example) (© Prof. Dr. R. Hofmaier).

2 Customer acquisition and its multi-functional approach

Possibilities of acquiring customers in B2B markets today are very diverse and result in a multiple customer acquisition approach with a corresponding mix of media and thus a diverse acquisition basis. Fig. 35 illustrates this with a systematic overview:

Fig. 35: Opportunities for winning customers (customer acquisition) and customer acquisition approach (© Prof. Dr. R. Hofmaier).

Personal sales and personal customer contact (measures of personnel sales, customer management and inside sales/tele-sales/marketing approach, etc.) represent a first approach to acquire select customers. Thus, the key account manager (KAMgr.) can – aside from actual KA-development and infiltration – facilitate a first sighting or contact of a potential new (“referred”) national and inter-national (large) customer for the overall acquisition through his/her communication and information network. Along the same lines, external sales representatives as well as internal representatives (in-house/inside sales, etc.) in their various forms (call center/customer center/competence center, etc.) can be used specifically for this purpose. In addition, if present, business development managers can also be integrated and incorporated into customer acquisition.

A second approach involves so-called direct marketing (including e-marketing and direct sales/e-sales). Through select (electronic) mailing campaigns, newsletter distribution and the entire acquisition range of online ma...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Preface
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• I The holistic marketing, sales and customer management approach (B2B)
• II Strategic marketing, sales and customer management (B2B)
• III Integrated product, service and product development management
• IV Integrated sales, customer acquisition and negotiation management
• V Integrated customer loyalty, customer relations and customer retention management (CRM)
• VI Integrated Customer Development and Key Account Management (KAM)
• VII Integrated Focus Group Management (FGM) and marketing, sales and customer scorecard management
• Appendix I: Checklist for the Collaboration of Marketing, Sales and Customer Management
• Appendix II: Example of a KAM Assessment Questionnaire
• Endnotes
• Bibliography
• List of Figures
• Index