Understanding how technology usage influences performance in the inside sales industry has become an important issue for practitioners. Yet, there is a dearth of literature in this area. Inside sales are sales that are performed remotely using the phone or Internet technologies. Leads (i.e., potential customers) are the life-blood of any inside sales setting, and their effective management is crucial for business success. Lead management systems are information technology (IT) tools designed to automate and support effective lead management. This study developed a conceptual model based on the Technology-Task-Fit (TTF) theory, capturing the impact of lead management systems on inside sales performance through the following mediating mechanisms: task characteristics (call productivity and effort on lead follow-up), selling behaviour (adaptive selling) and salesperson characteristics (salesperson’s competency). To validate this model, we conducted an empirical study with 108 responses collected from sales managers and decision makers. Using PLS-SEM for the analysis, our findings show that the use of lead management systems affects inside sales performance via improving salespeople’s adaptive selling, effort on lead follow-up and competency. The findings of this study contributes to the inside sales literature, and also educate practitioners of the key enablers of inside sales performance and technology usage approaches to the inside sales process.

The thesis addresses possibilities of deploying the open source data mining system LISp-Miner in the customer relationship management (CRM), specifically in the area of lead management. This is basically a process of finding information about potential customers, qualifying those customers according to their potential (future value), and turning the selected potential customers to real customers. The data used includes the records concerning the lead management of a major logistic company operating worldwide (the company wanted to stay in anonymity). The data is analysed using the LISp-Miner system which is an academic software developed at the Faculty of Informatics and Statistics at the University of Economics, Prague. The thesis also pays attention to the collaboration with the business experts of the company which provided the data. The principle aim of the thesis is to provide information contributing to the possible change of internal processes of the company. Further aims are to propose directions of the use of the LISp-Miner system when solving a similar data mining task, and propose a simple and understandable way how to present the results. The aims have been achieved by doing the analysis in compliance with the CRISP-DM Methodology. The asset of the thesis is the description of the whole project which includes the analysis of real data using the LISp-Miner system. Further result of the thesis is the description of the lead management domain. Finally, the thesis offers the instructions and recommendations for future similar projects. Section I outlines the LISp-Miner system and its procedures. Section II - A case study describes the process of analysing the data. Two cycles ("iterations") of the analysis were performed. The chapters devoted to the both iterations have been structured according to the phases of the CRISP-DM Methodology. Section III summarises the observations gained during the entire project. Moreover, it gives recommendations and instructions for the application in case a similar project of the data analysis using the LISp-Miner system is designed.

Identifying new potential customers and developing opportunities until converted to sales is a critical function of a sales organization. In most industrial business contexts, opportunities are monitored within a sales pipeline or funnel, to track the status and progress from the initial stage until the sale is completed, often using sales force automation tools, such as customer relationship management (CRM) systems to manage the process. While much is written about the adoption, usage, and failures of CRM, little empirical research exists to fully examine the levers to improve the conversion performance of sales leads, particularly in a business-to-business (B2B) industrial context. The research based view (RBV) of the firm suggests that competitive advantage is gained from a company’s distinct resources, and that in technology and other fast-paced markets, success is further determined by fast adaptation, in what is know as dynamic capability theory. This research examined certain key sales capabilities, within the high technology industrial B2B sector, to understand the impact of sales effort, sales ability and lead source, on sales lead conversion yield and cycle time. By studying the extensive CRM data base of a large semiconductor company, along with various human resource records, a quantitative study was performed to address this research, while providing useful value to sales managers seeking to improve the lead conversion performance of their organizations. Sales effort, as measured by number of sales calls made per week, and percent of time spent on selling activities was shown to modestly accelerate sales cycle times, but have no effect on the percentage of opportunities that result in wins. Sales ability, measured by annual performance ratings, prior year quota attainment and years of experience showed no effect on cycle time, nor win percentage. The most notable contribution of this research is the illumination of sales effort effects on cycle time, as previous studies of sales cycle time influences have been inconclusive. Against the backdrop of a general lengthening of industrial sales cycle times, understanding that salesperson effort can reduce the time that it takes to win an opportunity can drive meaningful improvements in salesforce efficiency and productivity.

This diploma thesis focuses on evaluation of marketing communication of a company operating in the automotive industry. The aim of the thesis it to characterize and evaluate current external communication of the authorized dealerships of the Peugeot brand and their communication with import in the area of marketing activities. Subsequently appropriate recommendations leading to their improvement will be determined. Recommendation comes up also in the area of usage of client database and with processing potential demand. The literature search works with theoretical knowledge of the marketing area, marketing mix, communication mix, methods of budget and databases determination. Practical part uses findings to describe individual parts of marketing communication of the chosen company, which are subsequently evaluated by the individual subsidiaries of the Peugeot brand in the questionnaire survey. On the basis of answers -which are demonstrated by the charts- specific solutions are proposed.

Business-to-business (B2B) organizations are facing challenges related to complex sales cycles and increasing competition, resulting in more value-driven sales processes and a holistic ecosystem for the B2B marketplace. Recent studies have acknowledged the lack of research on inside sales and sales development in B2B organizations. Scholars point at the increasing importance of inside sales due to changes in the environment and increasing customer demands, which has resulted in the development of digital sales processes within companies. In this study, we have examined the early phase of the sales process referred to as customer acquisition, which is an important part for companies to do business and be profitable over time. In customer acquisition, lead generation and lead management are two central phenomena including generating potential customers and managing them in an adequate way. In this study, where we are writing on commission for Tele2 IoT, our aim was to develop recommendations for how they can improve their conversion rate and sales performance by asking; “How can B2B companies work with sales development processes and lead generation to improve their sales performance?” Based on a literature review of previous studies on sales processes, Internet of Things, and content marketing, we developed an exploratory and qualitative research design, where data was collected through twelve semi-structured interviews with respondents from the case company. Our empirical findings present how the development of a separate unit for Sales Development in Tele2 IoT can be a solution for handling the current challenges for lead generation and lead management. A dedicated Sales Development Representative (SDR) can be responsible for the early phase of the sales process before a Sales Manager takes over. This would include responsibility for lead generation, qualification, and follow-up to ensure that the qualified leads are timely managed. We demonstrate a model that conceptualizes how companies in a highly competitive business environment can initiate a dedicated function working with customer acquisition practices, which we refer to as Sales Development. In our model, we emphasize how three different channels for attracting and managing leads must be considered: 1) outbound lead generation, 2) inbound lead generation and 3) marketing automated lead generation, to improve sales performance. Based on these findings, we propose iterative customer acquisition processes where communication, documentation and cooperation are at its core. Finally, we propose a framework with reflective questions for managers and organizations to take into consideration when implementing Sales Development into their business. The study primarily contributes to the scarce research field of inside sales, where we encourage practitioners and academia to apply our model and utilize quantitative data measures to understand how a Sales Development configuration can improve lead generation within different industries.

The growing number of companies creates competition, new markets and forces commercial organizations to apply modern tools to develop and maintain sales. This means that marketing in Russian manufacturing companies must move to a new level. The goal of the master's thesis is to develop and test a methodology for creating a marketing strategy for an enterprise, a feature of which is the assessment of key indicators of the marketing plan, such as the cost of attracting one lead and one client. The analysis was based on a study of the financial performance of market players, periodicals and articles, research data published on the official website of enterprises, including organizational documents and corporate publications. During the writing of the master’s thesis, a methodology was developed and tested for creating an enterprise’s marketing strategy based on lead management. The use of the developed tools is aimed at increasing the efficiency of marketing organization at the enterprise and the level of competitiveness of the company As a result of testing the developed methodology, a marketing strategy was created at the company KZTS-Dormash LLC, and directions for improving the developed methodology were determined. / Рост числа компаний порождает конкуренцию, новые рынки и заставляет коммерческие организации применять современные инструменты для развития и поддержания уровня продаж. Это означает, что маркетинг в российских производственных компаниях должен переходить на новый уровень. Целью магистерской диссертации является разработка и апробация методики по созданию маркетинговой стратегии на предприятии, особенностью которого является оценка ключевых показателей маркетингового плана, таких как стоимость привлечения одного лида и одного клиента. Анализ основывался на изучении финансовых показателей игроков рынка, материалах периодической печати и статей, данных об исследованиях, опубликованных на официальном сайте предприятий, в том числе организационные документы и корпоративные издания В ходе написания магистерской диссертации была разработана и апробирована методика по созданию маркетинговой стратегии на предприятии на основе лид-менеджмента. Использование разработанного инструментария нацелено на повышения эффективности организации маркетинга на предприятии и уровня конкурентоспособности компании. В результате апробации разработанной методики была создана маркетинговая стратегия на предприятии ООО «КЗТС-Дормаш», а также определены направления совершенствования разработанной методики.