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.

Abstract Vertical integration is a strategy where the firm owns the supply chain activities to gain control over the business operations, increasing the market share, and lowering the transaction costs. The vertically integrated firms tend to make more in-house operations. In the supply chain, vertical integration is performed either upstream or downstream. In the automobile industry, upstream integration is chosen to acquire or increase control over the suppliers by manufacturing goods internally while downstream integration is preferred to gain ownership with the previous distributors and dealers. This thesis work is carried out in the department of New and Strategic Project Markets in Sales and Marketing, Scania. The department New and Strategic Project Markets works with identifying the market potential in a country and future expansion of the sales and service network. A significant part of the Scania business is delivered through the sales and service network, which differentiates Scania from the competitors and provides the basis for profitability. Scania currently has models for identifying market potential and setting up the business in a market. With the future expansion, the establishment of a competitive sales and service network is a core part of the Scania business model. Currently, with changing market dynamics, Scania needs to evaluate the appropriate level of vertical integration to capture market potential, achieve profitability, and manage risk for the sales and service network. This led to the development of a decision model for vertical integration of the sales and service network. The purpose of this research is to develop a structured decision model for performing vertical integration and disintegration in the sales and service business of Scania to maintain or improve profitability by considering the risks. The current state illustrates an overview of the sales and marketing business process in Scania. As a pre-study phase, the thesis project includes reviewing Scania’s current practice for evaluating the market which contains market screening model and distributor development process (market establishment). Adding to that, an empirical study is carried out through interviews to identify the factors, forces, and risks involved in driving captive and non-captive markets. The above-mentioned information will act as a base for performing the analysis on building the decision model. From the acquired information, the analysis is carried out by prioritizing and categorizing the predominant factors and forces of vertical integration. Further, by performing risk analysis the decision model is built into four levels and the appropriate decisions are made to identify the level of vertical integration in the sales and service network. At last, to check the credibility of the decision model, a country is chosen for analysis, and the results are discussed.