Guidelines and Questions for Part 2 Due Week 7

After you have finished assessing the details in your newly obtained client list, also called your book of business, you met with your manager, Casey. In your meeting, you discussed your report, which was Part 1 of the project (turned in during Week 4). Casey provided you with some feedback and has now asked you to take the steps in the planning process to work with these clients to meet an established quota.

Casey notified all of the accounts by e-mail that you will be contacting them soon. She wants to meet with you at the end of the week to discuss the pre-approach to your new contacts and discuss your strategies for moving them through the pipeline. Using the metric report you created in Part 1, and Chapters 10 through 15, answer each of the following questions in a report form for your meeting with Casey. For questions where you need to justify your answer, Casey has asked you to use sources to support your reasoning. These sources are to be cited in APA format.

Assignment Questions

1. Reflect back to the communication style assessment you completed at the beginning of the course. Each of the four styles is represented within the 20 accounts you are expected to contact and maintain. Using the details in Chapter 5 regarding adapting and flexing your style, consider how you will need to adjust your approach and communication style/delivery. Select one contact from each of the four styles and discuss how you will need to flex and adapt your approach to match that of the client.
2. From the potential sales total and closing likelihood, what is a fair sales quota to be set for the coming quarter? Justify your answer.
3. Which accounts have completed the needs analysis and discovery stage? Which accounts have high potential for closing but have not had the needs analysis completed yet?
4. Which account(s) seem ready to buy, even without a comprehensive needs analysis or product presentation? What concerns or threats exist from the eagerness of these accounts?
5. Which account is in need of a presentation and has a number of locations? How will your approach and process differ for this firm versus that of other firms? Explain your answer.
6. How might the closing date, likelihood of closing and forecast sales affect your plans to negotiate customer pushback (concerns and objections)?
7. Some of your customers do not appear knowledgeable about networks. How does this affect the approach to the close? What closing techniques are best to consider when customers do not fully understand the solutions they are buying?
8. Finally, you need to complete a pre-planning process for one of the 18 prospects you will be contacting. You cannot use the two accounts that have already purchased. You are to select one of the prospects to use for this part of your report.
   1. Why did you choose this particular contact?
   2. What are your call objectives for this contact?
   3. How will you flex your communication style for this contact?
   4. Will you be meeting with the contact via phone, Skype, or in-person? Explain your answer.
   5. What approach or opening is most appropriate to build rapport with this contact?
   6. What stage of the selling cycle is this contact in; what do you need to do to move the contact to the next stage?
   7. What important details do you need that are missing from the notes or contact file?
   8. What visual aids will be most appropriate and effective with this contact in the presentation stage? Even if the presentation stage has already occurred, discuss which visual aids are most effective. Justify your answer.
   9. From the available details, what benefits is this contact looking for?
   10. What buyer concerns, or push-back, is this contact most likely to present to you when you meet? How might you overcome the concern?
   11. What motivation does this contact have to buy from you?
   12. What type of close is most appropriate and effective for this contact? Explain your answer.
   13. From your pre-planning process report, what do you need from your manager to help you get the account through the sales cycle and secure a long-term relationship?

Grading Rubrics

 Grading Rubric For Part 1 Due Week 4

CategoryPoints%Description Documentation and Formatting 15 20%The assignment should include a title page, table of contents, and meet APA formatting (i.e., double spaced, one-inch margins).  Organization and Cohesiveness 15 20%The metric report is organized and readable. The format chosen for answering the questions appears logical and is easy for the reader to follow. The sections flow logically from one topic or question to another. Overall, the created report appears professional and aesthetically pleasing, with limited clutter or disconnected content. Editing 15 20%The details in the metric chart are correct. Correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation are important.Content 30 40%The answers to questions provide accurate analysis of the accounts based on the details in the Contact Screen Shots and the created metric report. All parts of each question are answered thoroughly and justified.  Total 75100%A quality paper will meet or exceed all of the above requirements. 

Grading Rubric for Part 2 Due Week 7

CategoryPoints%Description  Documentation and Formatting 25 20%The assignment should include a title page, table of contents, and meet APA formatting (i.e., double spaced, one-inch margins). References are in alphabetical order and in proper APA format (including inline cites).  Organization and Cohesiveness 25 20%The format chosen for answering the questions appears logical and is easy for the reader to follow. The sections flow logically from one topic or question to another. Overall, the created report appears professional and aesthetically pleasing, with limited clutter or disconnected content. References used to support justification and reasoning are appropriate. Editing 25 20% Correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation are present.  Content 50 40%The answers to questions provide accurate analysis of the accounts based on the details in the Contact Screen Shot. All parts of each question are answered thoroughly and effectively justified. Total 125 100% A quality paper will meet or exceed all of the above requirements. 

Best Practices

Best Practices:

• Your completed assignment will be a formal sales report that will be written up in a paper of approximately 10- to 15-pages, 10- or 12-point font, double-spaced. The submitted assignment should include a cover page, table of contents, introduction, body, summary or conclusion, and works cited.
• Even though this is not a scientific-type writing assignment, and is mostly creative in nature, references are still very important. You will need to use the sources to help support your justification and reasoning. If you access other sources, such as websites or publications to prepare the assignment, then these should be listed on the last page titled Works Cited. At the very minimum, the text and online course resources should be cited.
• All DeVry University policies are in effect including the plagiarism policy.
• The first part of the project is due in Week 4; final presentation and report is due during Week 7 of this course.
• Any questions about this assignment may be discussed in the weekly Q & A Forum.
• This report is worth 200 total points (over two parts) and will be graded on quality of topic, quality of content, grammar and sentence structure, and use of citations.

The following are the best practices in preparing each part of the assignment.

• Cover Page: Include the manager’s name for which you have prepared the presentation, your name and company and product name, and date. You may use your instructor’s name or that of the manager in the case details, Casey Arnold.
• Table of Contents: List the sections of your assignment and the pages on which they are located.
• Format: Use a header on your paper. This will indicate you are introducing your paper.
• Body of Your Report: Each question should be clearly identified with its own heading, answer in the order given, and be easy to identify.
• Conclusion: Summarizing is similar to paraphrasing but presents the gist of the material in fewer words than the original. An effective summary identifies the main ideas and major support points from the body of your assignment. Minor details are left out. Summarize the benefits of the ideas presented and how the presentation was effective.
• Work Cited: Use the citation format as specified in the Syllabus (required for the final submission in Week 7).