Study Guide

Objectives (course unit)

Student learning outcomes:

Customers have high expectations for Face-to-Face B-to-B salesmeetings and to meet those expectations a successful salesperson needs to have
solid interaction skills. The aim of the course is to understand and practice goaloriented interaction in professional B-to-B sales meetings. The student is able to distinguish between various selling orientations and personal selling skills needed in complex B-to-B sales situations for co-creating value with the customer. After completing the course the student is a able to follow the phases of a sales meeting from opening to making a proposition based on needs qualification.

Content (course unit)

Importance of sales and the transformation of selling
The sales process and its various phases
The change in customer behavior and customer expectations
B2B-oriented sales discussion
Determining customer needs and asking the right questions
Presenting a solution and addressing concerns
Managing own sales efforts

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1-2) (course unit)

The student is able to conduct basic face-to-face sales meetings in B2B settings. The student is familiar with different selling orientations and personal selling skills used in professional selling. The student is somewhat familiar with the role of value co-creation in BtoB sales. The student knows the basic phases of a sales meeting and of adaptive selling.
The student meets the minimum course objectives. The student participates in most contact lessons. The student completes the course assignments on a satisfactory level and the student's performance indicates that he/she is fulfilling the minimum requirements set in the curriculum of the course.

Assessment criteria, good (3-4) (course unit)

The student is familiar with conducting face-to-face sales meetings in B2B settings. The student can distinguish between different selling orientations and personal selling skills used in professional selling. The student is familiar with the role of value co-creation in BtoB sales.
The student is aware of the phases of a sales meeting and of adaptive selling.
The student meets the course objectives. The student successfully participates in contact lessons. The student completes the course assignments and the student's performance indicates that he/she is fulfilling most of the requirements set in the curriculum of the course

Assessment criteria, excellent (5) (course unit)

Excellent (5)
The student is highly competent in conducting face-to-face sales meetings in B2B settings. The student possesses comprehensive understanding of different selling orientations and personal selling skills used in professional selling. The student understands the role of value co-creation in BtoB sales. The student masters the phases of a sales meeting and is able to adapt one’s sales behavior during a sales meeting.
The student meets the course objectives sovereignly. The student successfully participates in contact lessons. The student completes the course assignments on a distinguished level. The student's performance indicates that he/she is outstandingly fulfilling all the requirements set in the curriculum of the course.

Assessment criteria, pass/fail (course unit)

The student is not attending to the lectures and do not finish assignments.

Location and time

Everyone's online participation is required in six Zoom sessions (https://tuni.zoom.us/j/4463910755), all taking place on Tuesday evenings from 5 pm until 7.30 pm. Oct 25th, Nov 1st, Nov 8th, Nov 15th, Nov 22nd, Nov 29th.

Assessment methods and criteria

Online sessions: Each missed session (sessions 2-6) will diminish the grade by 0.5 points
Homework: Each homework needs to be returned. If the homework clearly fails to meet the overall assignment criteria, it will diminish the grade by 0.25 points
Oral exam: To pass you need to cover all the main phases of a typical sales meeting.
Written exam: To pass you need to answer 50% of the questions correctly.

Assessment scale

0-5

Teaching methods

Six scheduled online learning sessions together (Zoom https://tuni.zoom.us/j/4463910755, everyone's online presence required) with facilitated discussions and practice with a simulated business case in smaller groups. Homework between the sessions including exchanging ideas with classmates. Oral and written exam at the end of the course.

Learning materials

Presentation slides (later available in Moodle)

Rackham, Neil. 1988 (or later editions). SPIN Selling. McGraw-Hill Book Company: New York.

Kouzes, Calvert and Posner. 2018. Stop Selling and Start Leading: How to Make Extraordinary Sales Happen. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley.

Student workload

Online sessions (*6) = 20 hours
Homework (*5) = 60 hours
Oral exam = 24 hours (preparing for and taking the exam)
Written exam = 30 hours (preparing for and taking the exam)
Official feedback = 1 hour

Content scheduling

Session 1: Orientation to B2B Sales interactions
Session 2: Introduction / selling orientations, attitude, skills
Session 3: Understanding customer's goals and challenges
Session 4: Presenting the solution in a value-based manner
Session 5: Offering viewpoints for customer's questions, worries and objections
Session 6: Ensuring the continuation of the selling process.

Completion alternatives

The written exam is organized as an online exam (can be taken from any physical location with internet access). The exam will be open from Thu, Dec 8th (6 am) until Fri, Dec 9th (11.59 pm).
The oral exam is organized as an individual, online, one-to-one simulated sales discussion/role play (20 min) during week 50 (Dec 12th – 16th). The student plays the role of the salesperson and the teacher plays the role of the buyer.
Dates for possible retakes will be negotiated on an individual basis.

Further information

You can find the course in Moodle via this address:
https://moodle.tuni.fi/course/view.php?id=30771