In order to design the new training curriculum of International Key Account Management and Sales, were been conducted focus group with students, professors and SMEs representatives. Here the emergent results in Spain , thanks to the analysis of Universitat Rovira I Virgili and Camera Italiana Barcellona

1. I.N.K.A.M.S.
Focus group presentation
TGN Meeting, 17th May 2018

2. IN.K.A.M.S. - FOCUS GROUPParticipant profile
HIGHLIGHTS
• 100% , 19 years old.
• 80%, woman.
• 100%, second year of their major career.
• 80% of them speaks at least 3 different
languages.
QUESTION 1
“Do you have any parent/relative/friend working in sales?”
NO
60%
YES
40%
QUESTION 2
“Have you ever had any selling experience?”
HIGHLIGHTS
• Ages 45-63.
• 50%, women
• 50% of them speaks at least 2 different
languages.
STUDENTS PROFESSORS
YES
0%
NO
100%
YES
60%
NO
40%
YES
0%
NO
100%
HIGHLIGHTS
• Age 23-77
• 100% master’s degree .
• 60%, man.
• 100% of them speaks at least 3 different
languages.
PROFESSIONALS
YES
100%
NO
0%
MIN. 2 years
MAX 50 years
YES
100% NO
0%

3. IN.K.A.M.S. - FOCUS GROUPPoint 1 - Animal metaphor
HIGHLIGHTS
• Students. 4 out of 5 associate a salesperson with different types of feline. They identified a salesperson as a “man”.
• Professors. 3 out of 4 associate a salesperson with “hunting” so even though the animal were very different, the
justifications and observations are very similar to those of students.
• Professionals. the figure of the “hunter” re-emerges and at the same time the aspects of loyalty and empathy are
important.
• The words “cunning” and “hunting” were the ones that had most repetitions in both groups.
“You have to go little by little, because if you
simply “attack”, the client will be scared off”
“You have to "seduce" the client a
little with well-chosen words”
STUDENTS
COBRA
PANTHER
CHEETAH
LION PROFESSORS
SLUG
EAGLE
FOX
WOLF
“Cunning is as important for
animals as it is for a salesperson”
“A salesperson has the same need to
sell as an animal has to hunt”
PROFESSIONALS
DOG
EAGLE
FOX
CAT
“The market is like a jungle. You should
have a very wide view to catch the prey at
the right moment”
“The commercial is a person who is closer
to people and should enjoy relationships
with them”

4. IN.K.A.M.S. - FOCUS GROUPPoint 2 - Sales important activities
Seduce /
persuade
clients
Know what you
are selling
Find
clients
Be aware of
current
events
Make a
good
impression
Study
clients
characteris
tics
Train
yourself
FIRST CLASSIFIED
ACTIVITIES
LAST CLASSIFIED
ACTIVITIES
STUDENTS PROFESSORS
Personality
(honesty, empathy)
Communication
Ethics
Good
presentation
HIGHLIGHTS
• Between students’ group there was only 10 different kind of responses.
• Professors’ answers were more justified that the students’ ones.
The strategy that you choose depends where is going to be used.
“The message of selling must be transparent, not
cheating”
“Communication is a fundamental tool to get to know your
client, to explore needs, to adjust the services, and to convince
and persuade the client. To sum up is everything”
“Psychology is important, as much as selling techniques”

5. IN.K.A.M.S. - FOCUS GROUPPoint 2 - Sales important activities
Observation
Strategy –
planning and
organization
Market
research
Reporting
Make a good
impression
Good
presentation
Buyer’s
needs
FIRST CLASSIFIED
ACTIVITIES
LAST CLASSIFIED
ACTIVITIES
PROFESSIONALS
HIGHLIGHTS
• The answers were homogeneous among the participants
• The answers emerged from the professionals are a mix of the observations of students and professors
“If the commercial is not a good person they are not
appreciated within the market”
“You have to be flexible, curious and investigate a lot,
never let your guard down when you are in the street”
"You have to propose a solution, have the vision of the product and
know how to adapt it to the needs of the customer. It is not
important selling quickly and cheaply but understand those needs.”

6. IN.K.A.M.S. - FOCUS GROUPPoint 3 - Activities and their skills
Seduce /
persuade
clients
Be secure
Be
adaptive
Be
convincing
Be patient
Take the
Initiative
Be
persuasive
Stand out
Be bold
Communication
Product
Knowledge
Rithm
Pause
Intonation
Conversation
Adaptation
Conversation
domination
Empathy
Honesty
Confidence
Good
listener
Self
control
Good
public
speaker
HIGHLIGHTS:
• To seduce/persuade clients is the “core” competence” for students.
• To communicate is the core competence from professors point of view.
• It was easier for the students to relate skills with the concept of “seduction or persuasion”.
“In a conversation, is very important to maintain a good rhythm,
not too fast or too slow. It’s important to exploit voice tone. It’s
important to know how to use the volume of the voice.”
“As far as listening is concerned, it’s important to be able to
relate what the customer is talking about to the products. It is
also important to let them know that you are listening either
vocally or physically trough body language.”

7. IN.K.A.M.S. - FOCUS GROUPPoint 3 - Activities and their skills
HIGHLIGHTS:
• All of professionals participants were agree with that the core competence is the Self-knowledge
• Some points are in common with the characteristics designated by the professors
• The common opinion of the representatives of the companies present is that it is difficult to define a sales technique, given the rapid change of the
market and its sector. There are as many sales techniques as there are sectors, but above all there are as many techniques as the relationship between
seller and customer.
“Many times we really sell our capabilities, and it is essential to
know yourself.”
“If you do not know yourself you can not move around the world, you
can not get better and mature, therefore it is important to know
yourself. If you are not a good observer you miss opportunities.”
Confidence
Education
Self-
knowledge Observation
Product-
knowledge

8. IN.K.A.M.S. - FOCUS GROUPPoint 4 - KAM’s skills classification
Communication
skills
[…]
Legal knowledge
Product
knowledge
[…]
People management /
leadership
HIGHLIGHTS:
• Several skills were unknown to the students, so they ranked them at the bottom of the list.
• Professors agree that communication skills should be at top of the list.
• Professionals: according to the different points of view and the various personalities, the classifications have been drawn up in a
different way, also influenced by the reference sector of the various participants. In addition the answers emerged are a mix of
the observations of students and professors.
MOST IMPORTANT
LEAST IMPORTANT
“It’s very important to know what you work in, so you can
transmitted it well” “Communication is the key for everything: detecting needs,
convincing, being polite, empathizing, everything. But if we can
communicate but we can’t read the client we are not doing it right”
“The high priorities skills and the lower priority ones are linked
like a chain”
Product and
Market
Knowledge
[…]
Legal knowledge
“Knowing the market allows you to sell the best solution for the
client, which later turns out to be the best one you can offer him.”

9. IN.K.A.M.S. - FOCUS GROUPPoint 5 – Sales as a teaching
NO
75%
YES
25%
Not as an independent subject,
but as a part of marketing subject
Lectures are general. Not selling
skills are really taught
In marketing subjects, mainly
administration and business
management degrees
HIGHLIGHTS:
• Most degrees at both bachelor and master level should include selling
courses

10. IN.K.A.M.S. - FOCUS GROUPPoint 6 – Sales as a teaching
HIGHLIGHTS:
• All the participants agreed that in the university field a complete training is necessary: this will make a person able to
see the company at 360 degrees and report feedback on the evolution of the market.
• Another fundamental factor is putting knowledge into practice, both through classroom simulations and through
training internships in local and foreign companies. That allows to expand the personal visions and learn how to sell
yourself before the product.
TO
DEVELOP
Public
Speacking
Debate
Neuro-
linguistic
psycholgy
Coaching
Persuasion
technique
Dynamic
paths
(internships)
Communication
Time/conflict
management