Co-operative operating model to generate new B2B sales
Bhatt, Amrishkumar (2016)
Bhatt, Amrishkumar
Metropolia Ammattikorkeakoulu
2016
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2016120118648
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2016120118648
Tiivistelmä
The purpose of the present study was to build a synergistic operative model to generate new business-to-business sales in the case company. The case company is a Finnish branch of a global ICT company having more than 600 employees in various locations in Finland. The study was conducted on two specific case units of the case company-: Application Management Service Sales and People Unit SAP. Responsible for sales and application delivery respectively. The case units were in quest of the new operative model to generate new business-to-business sales due to a decrease in sales.
The study was performed using an action research method containing four-step procedure. First to define the background and purpose of the study, followed by a building framework where actions were planned, performed and evaluated. By completing this process, the study was started by identifying the business challenges and objective. The conceptual framework was created based on the results of studying extensive research done during the past few years on operative models in business-to- business sales, cross functional integration teams and delivery approach in all different phases of sales cycle. A qualitative research methodology was used in this study. The qualitative research data consisted of interviews and group discussions with various stakeholders, such as account executives, solution architect and solution team members. In addition, internal case company documents were used as a data.
The results of the analysis revealed that there was no cooperative operating model in place in the case company where the sales team and the solution team work together from the beginning of the sales cycle. The in-depth interview with the stakeholders of the case company revealed that both teams had dependencies on each other to convert the prospect to new business but, due to the lack of cooperation between the team, the issues in the various phases of the sales cycle were not addressed by either of the team. A conceptual framework for addressing the problem areas was created and used to produce an initial proposal for a new cooperative model. The initial proposal was then reviewed and refined which resulted in the final version of the conceptualized operative model.
The author recommends that the case units in the case company implement the new cooperative operating model to generate new business-to-business sales. The proposed cooperative model provided a comprehensive list of phases in the sales cycle and clarified the roles and responsibilities for each team. The model also proposed various aspects to integrate the cross-functional teams and a standardized delivery approach throughout the sales cycle.
The study was performed using an action research method containing four-step procedure. First to define the background and purpose of the study, followed by a building framework where actions were planned, performed and evaluated. By completing this process, the study was started by identifying the business challenges and objective. The conceptual framework was created based on the results of studying extensive research done during the past few years on operative models in business-to- business sales, cross functional integration teams and delivery approach in all different phases of sales cycle. A qualitative research methodology was used in this study. The qualitative research data consisted of interviews and group discussions with various stakeholders, such as account executives, solution architect and solution team members. In addition, internal case company documents were used as a data.
The results of the analysis revealed that there was no cooperative operating model in place in the case company where the sales team and the solution team work together from the beginning of the sales cycle. The in-depth interview with the stakeholders of the case company revealed that both teams had dependencies on each other to convert the prospect to new business but, due to the lack of cooperation between the team, the issues in the various phases of the sales cycle were not addressed by either of the team. A conceptual framework for addressing the problem areas was created and used to produce an initial proposal for a new cooperative model. The initial proposal was then reviewed and refined which resulted in the final version of the conceptualized operative model.
The author recommends that the case units in the case company implement the new cooperative operating model to generate new business-to-business sales. The proposed cooperative model provided a comprehensive list of phases in the sales cycle and clarified the roles and responsibilities for each team. The model also proposed various aspects to integrate the cross-functional teams and a standardized delivery approach throughout the sales cycle.