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Selling an intangible like advertising services is a difficult task. The first step is to understand how brands buy these services. What are they looking for? What do they need to learn? How do they go about assessing things like creativity, trust, and loyalty? This set of cases puts the students into the roles of the seller (an advertising agency named Butler, Shine, Stern and partners) and the buyer (MINI USA) and asks them to develop a sales strategy and a buying strategy for advertising services. As outlined in the (B) case, the agency developed an intriguing and original approach to assessing the intangibles and students are asked to react to it from a sales perspective and to attempt to generalize the approach to other sales domains.

Selling an intangible like advertising services is a difficult task. The first step is to understand how brands buy these services. What are they looking for? What do they need to learn? How do they go about assessing things like creativity, trust, and loyalty? This set of cases puts the students into the roles of the seller (an advertising agency named Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners) and the buyer (MINI USA) and asks them to develop a sales strategy and a buying strategy for advertising services.

Selling an intangible like advertising services is a difficult task. The first step is to understand how brands buy these services. What are they looking for? What do they need to learn? How do they go about assessing things like creativity, trust, and loyalty? This set of cases puts the students into the roles of the seller (an advertising agency named Butler, Shine, Stern and partners) and the buyer (MINI USA) and asks them to develop a sales strategy for advertising services. As outlined in the (B) case, the agency developed an intriguing and original approach to assessing the intangibles and students are asked to react to it from a sales perspective and to attempt to generalize the approach to other sales domains.

Anyone in sales will tell you that social networks are critical. The more contacts you have, the more leads you'll generate and, ultimately, the more sales you'll make. But that's a vast oversimplification. Different configurations of networks produce different results, and the salesperson who develops a nuanced understanding of social networks will outshine competitors. The salesperson's job changes over the course of the selling process. Different abilities are required in each stage of the sale: identifying prospects, gaining buy-in from potential customers, creating solutions, and closing the deal. Success in the first stage, for instance, depends on the salesperson acquiring precise and timely information about opportunities from contacts in the marketplace. Closing the deal requires the salesperson to mobilize contacts from prior sales to act as references. Managers often view sales networks only in terms of direct contacts. But someone who knows lots of people doesn't necessarily have an effective network because networks often pay off most handsomely through indirect contacts. Moreover, the density of the connections in a network is important. Do a salesperson's contacts know all the same people, or are their associates widely dispersed? Sparse networks are better, for example, at generating unique information. Managers can use three levers--sales force structure, compensation, and skills development--to encourage salespeople to adopt a network-based view and make the best possible use of social webs. For example, the sales force can be restructured to decouple lead generation from other tasks because some people are very good at building diverse ties but not so good at maintaining other kinds of networks. Companies that take steps of this kind to help their sales teams build better networks will reap tremendous advantages.

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Federal Express' (FedEx) recent acquisition of RPS--a ground delivery firm--gave the firm the potential to offer a single source for a client's delivery needs. However, to deliver on this potential, the firm needed to deliver the integrated solution through a single sales force. This integration required the solution of many issues, none more important than the formulation of a new compensation plan that not only determined the sales force's effort but also served as a medium through which FedEx communicated its expectations to the salespeople. Jerry Beyl headed the committee charged with making recommendations on the compensation and training the new sales force. The compensation plan needed to encourage salespeople to sell both products. Complicating matters was the fact that the two organizations' cultures were radically different.

Highlights how word-of-mouth is crucial in the acquisition of new customers. Specifically, it shows the existence of both internal (to the firm) and external markets for customer leads.

Supplements the (A) case.

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Hasbro's newest toy is so unique it requires a unique launch strategy. Comparing traditional media (TV, print) with a non-traditional viral campaign, Matt Collins must weigh the risks and benefits of doing things the way they've always been done or blazing a new path in the marketing of toys.

Supplements the (A) case.

BuildingBlocks International (BBI) plans to accomplish its mission to help children in developing countries succeed in school by bringing management expertise to local organizations. Two years after founding BBI, however, the team hasn't figured out exactly how to make it work. In their model, a firm would support BBI in two ways: by donating money and by lending BBI a highly skilled employee for anywhere from four months to a year. This employee would live in the developing country and work with the local organization to improve its effectiveness. So far, they've not been able to convince any firm to sign on, although few have said "absolutely not." Presents the options for the selling strategy. There are three potential entry points into the organization: senior management, philanthropy, and human resources. Moreover, there are two substantial value propositions: social benefit and leadership training of the employee. Where should BBI focus its selling effort, and what should the main message be? Allows for quantification of the social benefits delivered by BBI and discussion of when and whether this would be useful in the selling process. Rich description of BBI's selling process at a single site makes it possible to draw inferences about what is really going on, why things aren't working out, and what might be changed in the sales strategy.

Raymond James Financial (RJF) currently sells financial services through two channels. It is considering adding a third in the "middle" of the other two. The current strategy has one channel with employees and another with independent contractors. These attract very different financial advisers with various interests. The new proposal would create a "quasi" employee who would have some of the benefits of being an employee, but enjoy a lot more freedom than a traditional employee in running his or her own business. Raises many important issues at a general level as well as those specific to service industries. First, students must decide how many different services the firm should offer. How targeted should the firm be? How does the firm ensure that the right people select the right offering? Which salespeople should sell in which model? Given the competitive dynamic, the class is able to discuss why an adviser comes to work at RJF as compared with another firm and what this means for his or her business. Offers an opportunity to apply marketing principles to a human resources problem and discuss how test markets differ between business and consumer marketing and between products and services.

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XM Satellite Radio is a radically new way to listen to radio. Management must develop a marketing strategy to launch the firm and the category. A crucial aspect of the strategy is to determine which of two business models the company will pursue. Should it focus predominantly on charging customers a monthly subscription fee or on selling advertising time to advertisers? This decision is closely related to target market selection and to the choice of optimal price points for subscription fees and radio receivers. Market research commissioned by XM provides rich insights into these issues. In addition, XM management needs to figure out how to establish partnerships with the leading electronics manufacturers. A consideration of its market share and channel presence are essential to XM's ultimate success in integrating satellite radio into home and car audio systems. As it formulates its plan, XM needs to take into account the competitive landscape, primarily comprised of broadcast radio (AM and FM) that has been in existence for many years and is offered for free, as well as a second satellite radio provider (Sirius). Includes color exhibits.

Spreadsheet supplement for case 504-009.

When and how should a firm introduce an innovative new product? Introduce too early and functionality may not be there, too late and strong competition might appear. Precise Software Solutions, headquartered in Westwood, MA, is a small, growing company with a successful--albeit narrowly targeted--software product for database performance management. In 1999, it had the beginnings of a new product with radically broader functionality and market appeal. However, this new product would potentially appeal to a different "audience" within the client's IT organization. Once management decides when to introduce the product, it must also decide how to do so. Specifically, should this product be sold through the same sales force as other successful products? Or, would the company be better off creating a separate group targeted at this new audience? Finally, it must also decide how to price the product. Its current products have historically yielded sales of $15K to $25K. The firm feels that the value of this new product could be five times this amount. Is this possible? Will the same salespeople be effective? Teaching Purpose: Examines sales organization, sales strategy, and new product introduction.