15.387  Tech Sales and Mgmt

Please take a look at the following article written by Prof. Anderson on open source entitled "A cynic rips open source" ( http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2007/051007anderson.html?page=1).

The MorganCare case has been updated as of Sunday evening, 11/25 at 8pm.  Please prepare based on the updated case for class on Tuesday, 11/27.  Please email Dave or Sara if you have any questions.

 

Three examples of “A” papers have been posted to Stellar under the Materials section to help you better understand what makes for an “A” write up. Also, the grading criteria for video assignments can be found in the Material’s section as well.  Let us know if you have any questions.

Best,
Howard
Ken
David
Sara

For Tuesday (11/13) be prepared to talk about one thing you learned when talking to a salesperson and one good question that your classmates would love to have the answer to, regarding sales, that you learned from your interview.

We are now beginning to wind up the sales portion of the class and are moving to the sales management portion, so get to work lining up a sales manager to talk to. I would like the sales manager to be from a different company than the sales person you already interviewed.

Remember:
A sales person is someone who carries a quota.
 
A sales manager has a number of sales people working for him/her.

Regards,
Howard

Welcome to 15.387.  We want to make sure everyone is clear on a few of the upcoming assignments:

1. Partners: Please pick a partner as soon as possible since the first write up is due this week.  Submit your partners name and your "A" or "B" role in the homework section of Stellar. Email both of us if you are not able to find a teammate and we'll do our best to help you find a pair. The enrolled student list should also be on Stellar so feel free to email others to find a partner if necessary.
2. A & B roles: You and your partner should decide who will write up "A" cases and who will write up the "B" cases. Do this however you like, but let us know who will be doing each. Write ups are to be completed individually.
3. Pill Caddy Case (due Th 11/1): The teammate doing the "A" assignments should write up this case, when not writing up a case you should still read the case and be ready to role play if called upon to do so. If you do not have a partner by tomorrow night, please plan to write up Pill Caddy and we will do our best to help find you a partner over the weekend.
4. Take a Salesperson to Lunch (due Tues 11/13): See instructions in the syllabus and ask either Sara or myself if you have additional questions.
5. Video Role Play: Please buy 3 mini-DVDs for the assignments.  The first section choice should be completed next week.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Thanks,
Dave and Sara

Text Book:
“Professional Selling & Sales Management” by Ralph W. Jackson, Robert D. Hisrich, Stephen J. Newell

Published by:
Northcoast Publishers Inc.
2007 copyright

Take a Sales Person to Lunch Assignment - Date due: November 13, 2007 in class
You are to identify, get an appointment and meet with an experienced sales person about what it means to be an effective salesperson. Discuss the requirements to become a good salesperson, as well as other relevant matters (territory management, incentives, information systems, etc.). Write the insights that you learned in 2 pages max. Bullet points are OK.

Take a Sales Manager to Lunch Assignment - Date due: December 11, 2007 in class
You are to identify, get an appointment and meet with an experienced sales manager (CEOs are OK, as long as they are involved in sales and they were sales manager at some point of their career) about what it means to be an effective salesman and an effective sales manager. Discuss the differences between a good salesman and a good sales