IO1. Customer Management Skills: The project activity “Development of Customer Management Skills in a digitalizing B2B Context” contains the literature review identifying the state of the art of B2B sales, selling, and sustainable digital marketing education (competence models; learning programs and job description, skill proposals). It will also identify the characteristics and needs of the learners and broadly what the learners will need to do to upskill or reskill successfully. At the end of this phase, the current knowledge in literature will be fully mapped and summarized.
IO2. Best Practice Benchmark: In the project activity “Development of Benchmarking Cases,” a case study interview guide will be designed based on the literature review and theoretical basis of Output 1. Successful practice case companies are then selected based on various sampling criteria (e.g., size, industry, purchasing maturity), including multinational corporations, small and medium-sized companies, as well as associations and consultancies. Visiting these companies, next to the literature know-how acquired in IO1, possibly missing skills already established in practice training programs will be added. In this way, it can be made sure that a comprehensive set of B2B customer management skills will be available.
IO3. Skills and Training Survey: The “best practices” are only assumed best practices when a large quantitative survey confirms them. Therefore, the project will verify the practices and skills identified during the literature review and the benchmark phase by conducting a “Pan-European B2B Skills Survey”. Importantly, this survey will not only describe the application of practices but will also measure the success of the respective organizations. It is insufficient to describe what firms are doing in their training and which skills acting professionals have, but to identify those skills which explain the success. This way, for the first time, it will be possible to identify practices that can be successfully distinguished from those of less successful sales personnel.
IO4. Designed curriculum for higher education: Based on the empirically verified skill and practices set and the needs of the learners, a Digital Sustainable Customer Management Skills in B2B curriculum for education on a Master’s level will be designed. Strategic commitments of the program will be developed (e.g., knowledgeable sales and selling action) from which Program Intended Learning Outcomes (PILOs) will be further specified. Evaluation strategies of the intended outcomes will also be specified. A program guide will also be offered to address the needs of trainers involved in the program and administrators who will support its operations. The developed curriculum will be tested and refined in an international summer school, inviting representative students from all participating organizations.
IO5. Introductory Massive Open Online Course (MOOC): This project activity will build on the designed curriculum and the preliminary feedback results from the international summer school and will a) specify the pedagogy, b) develop the content, and c) technically implement a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on digital customer management skills in B2B.