Mastering Sales Strategy

Primarily for the people who own the plan: commercial leaders, sales managers and those who support planning. Individual sellers do benefit, since understanding how quotas, territories and target segments were chosen makes them better at executing, but the modules on market sizing, revenue planning and route to market assume the participant has some influence over those decisions.

Module seven starts with the link from corporate targets to individual quotas, then compares bottom-up and top-down revenue planning. It covers forecasting methods and pipeline coverage ratios, and finishes with forecast accuracy, the biases that distort it and the governance routines that catch them early. Sales leaders come away with a repeatable forecasting process rather than a monthly argument.

The components of a working strategy. Typical outputs include a market sizing with TAM, SAM and SOM, a prioritized segment list, a written ideal customer profile and personas, a value proposition canvas with positioning against competitors, a revenue plan with a forecast method, a territory and account tiering design, a channel mix decision, a playbook outline and a governance cadence. Many cohorts use these directly in the next planning cycle.

Module nine does. It compares direct, indirect and hybrid coverage models, shows how to choose and balance the channel mix for each segment, outlines what partners need in order to sell effectively, and addresses the conflict and economics that arise when several channels reach the same customers. Companies considering a move to partner-led coverage find it a useful first framework.

Yes, in module ten. It reviews the models available for setting what a customer pays and their strategic trade-offs, explains value-based approaches and willingness to pay, sets out discounting discipline and margin protection, and finishes with how to prepare for and structure negotiations so the value proposition built earlier is not given away at the close.

Because the 30 hours are self-paced on the Blue Ocean learning platform, available on web and mobile, a leadership team can start well ahead of the planning cycle and complete the analytical modules first. The administrator dashboard shows who has finished each stage, so the commercial director knows when the group is ready to draft the plan together.

Use the Register Now button on this page. It opens Mastering Sales Strategy on the Blue Ocean Academy website, where you can enroll and start learning at your own pace.