Assignment: UMass Lowell - Sales and Customer Relations Management Strategic Selling - Deal Sheet Assignment

You are Rob (or Roberta) Allison from Boise Automation Canada Ltd. You have been working on a large sales opportunity with Northern Paper Inc. The date is June 6, 2011. You are updating your Strategic Selling - Strategic Analysis/Deal Sheet to reflect the pertinent information for this selling opportunity in preparation for a sales funnel meeting with your regional sales manager Dieter Haase. Below are the areas of the Deal Sheet that need to be updated using data from the Boise Case. The format will expand to accommodate however much you want to write. Be detailed and specific. Your boss will want to see that you are effectively gathering all the pertinent information to be successful in the sale.

Ideal Customer Criteria - characteristics that fit best with Boise's products, services and go-to-market strategy. They can be demographic, psychographic or needs-based. One way to think of this is what specific types of customers would pay a premium for Boise.

Single Sales Objective - Northern PaperOpportunity (i.e. what do your internal functional teams need to know about this potential sale to be prepared?)

Product & Services being offered

Sales revenue opportunity

Estimated close date

Buying Influences / Role (Economic-User-Technical-Coach), Degree of influence, Response Mode:

Last Name and Title             Role               Degree of Influence                  Response Mode

Results - What organizational benefits can you deliver (corporate, tangible, measurable, process oriented). What is a B2B customer looking for when they buy Boise's system? Must be specific and compelling.

Results and Rationale

Key Personal Wins for Buying Influences

(Benefits that a buying influence directlyattains when you deliver Business Results as described above). Must be personal.

Last Name(from above)                       Describe Possible Key Win

Summary of my Position today (Identify Red flags -uncovered bases/positions, new players, lack of data, uncertainty; Identify Strengths - areas of differentiation or opportunities to improve your position)

Red Flag or Strength?                 Position Summaries

Red Flag

Red Flag

Strength

My Position vs. Competition?(Are we Only Alternative? Front Runner? Shared? Zero?) Briefly assess the competitive landscape - one, two, several? And the incumbent competitor (JTB) - entrenched? highly regarded? weak?

Overall position?

Rationale - Provide evidence to support your position rating above.

Best Action Plan - Describe next steps to improve your position by eliminating Red Flags and/or Leveraging Strengths (Be specific about What...Who...Information Needed...From Whom; This sale is clearly not going smoothly. Your manager will be expecting YOU to recommend and implement specific actions and timelines to improve your position. Simply cutting the price is not an option. What can you do to shift the discussion from a simple price comparison to more of an "investment thesis"? References from other customers? Innovative financing options? Guarantees of some kind? Be resourceful.

Marketing Strategy: What seems to be Boise's marketing strategy?

What is the company's and the product's competitive positioning?

How do they differentiate themselves?

Is Northern an "ideal customer" for them?

Information related to above question is enclosed below:

Attachment:- BoiseAutomation.rar