Bringing Technology to Market: Trends, Cases, Solutions

Sales executives manage their product and services business, lead the sales force, and represent the organization for which they work. In order to succeed in those tasks they need managerial acumen as well as people skills. These include a basic understanding of the markets in which their industry competes, the mechanisms with which these markets function, a comprehensive set of management tools and techniques as well as soft methods to coordinate and motivate their teams.
This is particularly the case when it comes to technology-based companies where a single sales pitch may easily exceed revenues of EUR 100 to 200 million. With generally only a very few, but constantly powerful and aggressive competitors, it is crucial for their executives to understand the current dynamics of the markets, the changing value chains, the necessity of new forms of business partnerships, ways and means to turn services into profitable business, adjusting sales strategy to business strategy, and measuring sales and business performance.
"Bringing Technology to Market" gathers those current developments of B2B marketing and sales, presented by major practitioners and leading scholars in Europe and the US.
"Bringing Technology to Market" will offer basic know how, best practice examples, and new insight and ideas for marketing and sales executives. These are managers, who so far have made their decisions mostly from the gut, frequently relying on stable environments and lasting connections to traditional business partners. Now they are required to understand and work on the developments and changes influencing their present and future markets, be they local, national and/or global.

Olaf Pl?tner is Managing Director of esmt (European School of Management and Technology) customized solutions and a lecturer in accounting at Freie Universit?t Berlin. His research focuses on customer relationship management, business management, communication, and marketing strategy.

Robert Spekman is Tayloe Murphy Professor of Business Administration at the Darden School of Business, University of Virginia. He is an internationally recognized authority on B2B-marketing, supply chain / channels management, and strategic alliances.