The online game where you compete against your peers and hone your strategy skills

March 2021 to May 2021

In this highly innovative online program, participants will compete against their peers to develop and implement an account strategy while trying to earn the business of a strategic account. Through a mix of game play, narratives and problem-solving activities, players will gain the principles and tools necessary to develop a superior growth strategy for a top customer account.

During the 12-week course, participants will perfect their ability to:

●        Define and segment a strategic account in new ways that reduce competition

●        Choose the best sales opportunities for the future that align with the buyer’s needs and leave competitors stuck in the past

●        Position their brand in a superior way that connects with real customer needs

●        Capture their account strategy in a plan that can be used to sell the strategy internally

●        Be better at implementing the plan in a dynamic world

Weeks 1 - 4: Account Segmentation

●        Use marketing strategy thinking to develop powerful account strategies

●        Define and segment a strategic account in new ways that reduce competition

●        Use segmentation to decide where to compete

[First decision round]

Weeks 5 – 6: Opportunity Targeting

●        Understand strategic portfolio analysis

●        Ensure the account strategy is aligned with the customer’s procurement strategy

●        Choose the best sales opportunities

[Second decision round]

Weeks 7 – 8: Superior Positioning

●        Understand value propositions and how to spot the gaps and gold that lies within them

●        Position the brand to beat the competition in a way that connects with real customer needs

●        Create financially quantified value propositions

[Third decision round]

Weeks 9 - 10: Account Planning

●        Understand the difference between average account plans and the best ones

●        Learn to put the “strategy” into strategic account planning

●        Use the plan to get the needed resources

[Fourth decision round]

Weeks 11 - 12: Implementation

●        Prepare for the perilous journey that is implementation

●        Improve the odds of plan success

●        Implement account plans in a dynamic world

[Final decision round: One team will be selected to win the business]

Creators: Malcolm McDonald, Emeritus Professor, Cranfield University School of Management, and Edmund Bradford, Managing Director, Market2Win