Customer Acquisition Course Outline :

1. Course Plan : PGDM 2nd
Year : Elective Course at IIM-K
Course Title : “Customer Acquisition”
Full Credit : 20 sessions : 30 Hours Course.
May undergo slight change based on needs & feedback
An Elective Full Credit Course for students who have an interest in marketing and sales; and
those wo have undergone core marketing course/s and who are familiarity with the basic thought
process, concepts, tools and terms of marketing. Program Office to admit only 35 students who
fulfill the requirements above
Objectives of the course
1) TO ENABLE YOU TO DO WELL WHEN YOU ENTER THE INDUSTRY
Most MBAs are called upon to work in sales and service operations for the first few years
after entering the industry. The time to use strategy skills comes later.
2) TO ENABLE YOU TO FACE THE INTERVIEWS
As such, the course helps you prepare for facing the job interviews where the employers
may want to check your “readiness” to perform revenue and customer related tasks .
3) TO FAMILIARIZE YOU WITH CROSS-FUNCTIONAL EFFORT
The following 4 challenges exist in all the companies at the corporate level and most of these
are cross functional challenges. Irrespective of which department you are in, you will be
involved in contributing to overcoming some of these challenges in the company you work
for. The course highlights CEO level (cross functional) aspects, CMO level (within
marketing, sales and service) aspects and also HOS (customer contact for sales and service)
aspects. The 4 challenges are
a) Planning for, and achieving, sales revenue from the customers
b) Planning for, and achieving, pricing and profit from marketing and selling operations
c) Achieving and maintaining customer satisfaction as well as competitiveness
d) Building, aligning and renewing organization capabilities to face market developments
4) TO UNDERSTAND HOW ORGANIZATIONS ARE ALIGNED
Whether you are in R&D, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Finance, IT or HR; you cannot
avoid getting roped into company-wide maneuvers like entering new markets, developing
and launching new products, price wars, creating and delivering value, pre-empting or
countering competition, productivizing the sales force, satisfying channel members, retaining
existing customers etc.
5) COURSE IS WOVEN AROUND ACTUAL INDUSTRY SITUATIONS with to provide
insights into following real life industry situations which you will commonly face in the
industry. For each of this a short case of 4 pages is selected to provide a real life context
from different industries keeping in mind the interest of the class
a) Preparing for a competitive onslaught
b) How does marketing help the CEO in doing his job
c) How to estimate sales of a completely new product
d) Finding a way out of stagnant sales
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2. e) How to get the price you want.
f) How the entire marketing process works inside a company : end to end
g) Dilemma : Brand building will cost money or earn money ?
h) Can a common selling system serve the needs of multiple products?
i) To treat channels are customers or middlemen ?
j) Increasing the sale in a declining market
Pedagogy
6) FOCUS : Primary focus of the course will on acquiring profitable customers and secondarily
on their retention. It is incorrect to think that acquiring customers is the responsibility of the
sales function. Apart from this being the goal of all “market-facing” functions ( marketing,
sales, call centers, web sites, service) you must realize that that even the back-office and
fulfillment functions play an important part towards these goals. Nonetheless, our major
focus will be on the sales function which carries the target of revenue generation.
7) SITUATION / CASES : We shall mostly use cases consisting of practical situations faced in
the Indian industry. These “situation cases” are short ( a maximum of 4 pages). The purpose
of the case is to provide enough realistic context within which we will discover and
understand what are the right tools to use.
8) SITUATIONS : The pedagogy covers multiple situations like B2C, B2B, standardized
offerings, customized offerings, selling components, selling features, selling products, selling
solutions, selling projects, selling. We shall see where we have a few large customers as well
as millions of small customers. And we shall study different channels too.
9) ASSUMPTIONS
a) We shall use the “7 Ps” model ( Product, Place, Price, Promotion, People, Process and
Physical Evidence) to understand what to do in each situation.
b) From the vast knowledge available we shall focus only on “vital few” rather than “trivial
many”. For additional reading I shall prescribe references to the Kotler’s book when the
course begins.
Class Methodology
10) MODULES : 30 hours are split into 10 modules of 2 sessions each.
Each module will include a case.
11) GROUPING :The class will be divided into groups called ABCD… of 5 students each.
12) BEFORE THE CLASS : For each module there will be case presentations. Designated 2
groups will need to prepare a case and send it to me one day prior to the session. It should be
only in PPT format and in not more than 6 slides. It should be sent to me only by the
designated COCO (Course Coordinator). The same 2 groups will need to present in the class
their PPTs and answer class questions in defense of their case presentation. These
presentations will be graded by me and all group members who are present for the class will
get equal marks.
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3. 13) DURING AND AFTER THE CLASS : Using the context of these case discussions, we
shall discuss the concepts and tools as applicable to the case. This class discussion will be
monitored by the designated two groups (obviously not the presenting groups!) and they will
take down notes of the class and will submit a synopsis of the class discussions and learnings
within 48 hours in the specified format. It should be sent as a Word document and should not
contain more than 4 pages in a Ariel font of size 10. Again it should be sent to me only by
the COCO and on e mail. These synopsis will be graded by me and all group members who
are present for the class will get equal marks.
14) BLOG : These synopsis may be lightly edited by me and put on a blog which can be
accessed by the class. It will serve as a refresher of what we covered and hopefully will
reduce the burden of taking notes during the class. Additionally, the blog also provides a
platform for queries from the students and I shall provide answers within 48 hours.
Evaluation
• Terminal Examination ( Individual ) 30% weight
• Attendance and Participation (Individual) 20% weight
• Class Summaries (Group Effort) 25% weight
• Case Presentations (Group Effort) 25% weight
Expectations From The Students
• Please come in time
• Please undertake specified reading and preparation before coming.
• Use of cell phones is prohibited during the class conduct.
• Most of the times the students may need to keep even their laptops closed.
• Please pay attention and participate through relevant questions and comments.
• A student should raise a hand in order to speak ; and speak only when asked.
• Please enrich the class by bringing to the class your experience, observations, questions
References
• Philip Kotler’s book is the reference book but is too exhaustive and therefore I shall indicate
in each module which chapters and sections are relevant.
• Additional reading materials will be distributed in the class.
Administration
15) The Program office will choose one student from the class who will act as a COCO (Course
Coordinator). He will be responsible for
a) Roll call
b) Ensuring submissions from the class reach me in time
c) Compiling evaluations
d) Getting arrangements done for printing, photocopying and distribution
e) Act as a single point of contact between the class and I
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4. Modular Course Content
10 Modules : Each of 2 sessions
1) Module 1 : Case : Wallace Fort Hotels ( Hospitality Industry)
Preparing for a competitive onslaught
a) Frameworks discussed in the class:
i) Value Creation and Capture, 5 Cs, Kano, 3 circles,
ii) The right starting point of the marketing process is environment scan
iii) Refer to : Consumer Behavior, Decision Making Unit, Market Research
b) Presentation from the Professor : Pricing : fundamentals and techniques
2) Module 2 : Case : Everwrite Pen Company ( Standard Mass Produced Products)
How does marketing help the CEO in doing his job
a) Frameworks discussed in the class
i) Process of marketing
ii) Tools used at each stage
iii) Marketing function is distributed among different parts of the organization
b) Presentation from the Professor : How marketing adapts to generic / corporate strategies
3) Module 3 : Case : 3-in-1 Ram Baan insecticide for agricultural use (B2B pesticides)
How to estimate sales of a completely new product ?
a) Framework discussed in the class
i) How to express the strategy : Market, Value, Connection
ii) Template for expressing the marketing plan
iii) How is the process of marketing planning carried out in an organization
b) Presentation from the Professor : Tata Nano
4) Module 4 Case : Nilkamal Plastic Furniture ( B2C Consumer Durables)
Finding a way out of stagnant sales
a) Frameworks discussed in the class
i) Aligning strategy (MVC), Resources (BCG) and Organization (7S)
b) Presentation from the Professor : BMW Case
5) Module 5 : Case : Vasai Cradles ( B2B engineering products vendor )
How to get the price you want.
a) Frameworks discussed in the class
i) How positioning should be used before arriving at marketing mix
ii) Discussion of positioning as a tool ( B2C and B2B )
iii) Primary focus of strategy can be customer, competitor, collaborator, collaborator
iv) Tools to use in each case
b) Presentation from the Professor : Sony Cybershot OR iCelero
6) Module 6 : Case : Elegant Furnitures ( B2C kitchen furnitures )
How the entire marketing process works inside a company : end to end
a) Frameworks discussed in the class
i) Pulls and Push between 3 elements of marketing strategy
ii) Architecture of connection strategy
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5. iii) Hunting vs gathering style of going to market
b) Presentation from the Professor : Sales Funnel comparisons of different industries
7) Module 7 : Case : Tan Dan Steel ( B2B Mining and Metals)
Dilemma : Brand building will cost money or earn money ?
a) Frameworks discussed in the class
i) Definition of a brand and how brand adds value
ii) How branding is different under different circumstances
iii) Role of Features, Experience, Capabilities
iv) Type of selling : transactional, solution, enterprise
b) Presentation from the Professor : Forbes Facility Branding
8) Module 8 : Case : Ecolab Laundry chemicals (B2B specialty chemicals)
Can a common selling system serve the needs of multiple products?
a) Frameworks discussed in the class
i) DMU and Access are important considerations
ii) The type of salespeople needed
b) Presentation from the Professor : How to go to market in B2B business
9) Module 9 : Case : Adany Televisions ( B2B Brown Goods )
To treat channels as customers or middlemen ?
a) Frameworks to discuss in the class
i) Why do you need channels ? What function do they perform ?
ii) How networks develop
iii) What are the different types of positions in the partnering space
b) Presentation from the Professor : Is Direct Marketing Coming Back ?
10) Module 10 : Case : Eddington Sales & Service (B2B selling of products and service)
Increasing the sale in a declining market
a) Frameworks discussed in the class
i) What / How does a good field sales manager contribute to sales
ii) How sales force is organized at the field level
b) Presentation from the Professor : How HUL fought Nirma in the field
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6. iii) Hunting vs gathering style of going to market
b) Presentation from the Professor : Sales Funnel comparisons of different industries
7) Module 7 : Case : Tan Dan Steel ( B2B Mining and Metals)
Dilemma : Brand building will cost money or earn money ?
a) Frameworks discussed in the class
i) Definition of a brand and how brand adds value
ii) How branding is different under different circumstances
iii) Role of Features, Experience, Capabilities
iv) Type of selling : transactional, solution, enterprise
b) Presentation from the Professor : Forbes Facility Branding
8) Module 8 : Case : Ecolab Laundry chemicals (B2B specialty chemicals)
Can a common selling system serve the needs of multiple products?
a) Frameworks discussed in the class
i) DMU and Access are important considerations
ii) The type of salespeople needed
b) Presentation from the Professor : How to go to market in B2B business
9) Module 9 : Case : Adany Televisions ( B2B Brown Goods )
To treat channels as customers or middlemen ?
a) Frameworks to discuss in the class
i) Why do you need channels ? What function do they perform ?
ii) How networks develop
iii) What are the different types of positions in the partnering space
b) Presentation from the Professor : Is Direct Marketing Coming Back ?
10) Module 10 : Case : Eddington Sales & Service (B2B selling of products and service)
Increasing the sale in a declining market
a) Frameworks discussed in the class
i) What / How does a good field sales manager contribute to sales
ii) How sales force is organized at the field level
b) Presentation from the Professor : How HUL fought Nirma in the field
SKP / Dec 16, 2014 Version