Press release
Bonn, November 20th, 2019

Call for Papers

Sales Enablement – Scientific Foundation for Sales Success

On 25 and 26 June 2020, "Sales Conference 2020", hosted by FOM University and Global Sales Science Institute (GSSI) will take place at the FOM University study centre in Bonn. The main topic will be: "Sales Enablement – Scientific Foundation for Sales Success. State of the Art in Research and Application of Frame Conditions and Drivers". Scientists and practitioners meet on 25 June, the "Best Practice Day" (2:00pm – 6:30pm) and on 26 June, the "Scientific Day" (9:00am – 5:30pm) to exchange ideas and information in lectures as well as informal chats and to catch up on the latest research and practice.

The business’ complexity and speed impose great challenges to sales organisations. On the one hand, the number of people involved in the purchasing process increases constantly, on the other hand, customers do not make decision to purchase at the end of the sales negotiation – they expect the supplier to perform excellently during the complete customer journey. More changes to the role and challenges of personal sales are imminent due to the introduction of digital channels. Sales organizations have to prove their added value continuously to successfully convince customers.

In sales research, there is a strong emphasis on the success of concepts and tools designed for the “front end”, i. e. how to succeed in negotiations, like Solution Selling, Challenger Sale, SPIN Selling or Digital Sales. Although these approaches are of high importance for the sales work, they frequently disregard the factors outside the sales departments that determine the frame conditions for front end sales.

This is the domain of Sales Enablement, which is defined as follows: „Sales Force Enablement: A strategic, collaborative discipline designed to increase predictable sales results by providing consistent, scalable enablement services that allow customer-facing professionals and their managers to add value in every customer interaction“ (Matthews and Schenk 2018).”

Empirical studies (e. g. CSO Insights 2016, 2018) show that companies which use Sales Enablement programs are more successful. However, sales enablement is not employed across the whole industry by far. Just above 60 % of companies use Sales Enablement to various degrees, but the number increases.

The “Sales Sonference 2020: Sales Enablement” aims to identify and discuss current actions needed to create effective frame conditions for sales success. In doing so, we make an important contribution to sales research and practice.

Scientists and practitioners are invited to submit their insights and best practice cases related to Sales Enablement for this conference. Both, empirical and theroretical-conceptual papers will be accepted.

We ask for papers on the following (and related) subjects:

• Interactions between Departments, Interfaces
• Customer Interaction/Customer Journey
• CRM IT-Infrastructure
• Sales Organization Design
• Agile Sales Organizations
• Sales Enablement Performance Measurement
• Sales Enablement Trainings
• Recruiting/Selection
• Career Paths and Sales Enablement
• Sales Process Management
• Sales Leadership/Coaching
• Proposal Management
• Motivation/Rewarding/Incentivation (Compensation Systems)
• Sales Enablement and Financial Aspects

Papers on strategic-conceptual models of Sales Enablement as well as management of interfaces with Sales Enablement Content sources may also be submitted.

All submissions will be double-blind peer reviewed. The best practice cases require a one-page abstract.

The authors of accepted papers agree to the publication of their paper in the conference proceedings. We aspire a book publication. The conference languages are English and German. Papers and cases will be accepted in both languages.

Deadlines:

• Submission deadline: 30 January 2020, 11:59pm
• Committee decision to be expected by: 13 March 2020
• Final submission deadline for all accepted papers: 30 April 2020

Submission Guidelines:

Papers are required to be composed as customary for journal articles, with presentation of the problem or leading question, theoretical framework, methodology and discussion of the findings (designed for practical use). An abstract of up to 100 words must precede any paper. The paper should not exceed 10 pages.

The Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management’s submission guidelines apply. Papers must be submitted in Microsoft Word file format by Friday, 01-17-2020 to the following e-mail address: SalesConference@fom.de.

Please submit two files:

• The first file must contain the complete paper including information about the author(s) such as name(s), universities/organisations, address, phone number and e-mail address
• The second file must contain the complete paper without any authorship information. Please avoid any indication of the author(s) to assure the anonymity of the process.

Each paper will be assessed on the following criteria:

• relevance and currentness, contribution applied sales
• conceptual quality
• methodological quality
• insights’ value for corporate practice

The co-chairs of the conference are Prof. Dr. Jörg Westphal, FOM University, Scientific Director of KCMS Competence Centre of Marketing & Sales Management (joerg.westphal@fom.de) and Prof. Dr. Jobst Görne, Aalen University of Applied Sciences, of GSSI presidium member (jobst.goerne@gssi.world).

The programme committee consists of Prof. Dr. Christian Schmitz, Ruhr University Bochum, Sales Management Department; Prof. Dr. Wolf-Dieter Hiemeyer, FOM University, and Prof. Dr. Frank Tubbesing, FOM University.

FOM University of Applied Sciences

With 55,000 students, FOM is Germany’s biggest private institute of higher education. It has been accredited by the German Council of Science and Humanities, Germany’s most important advisory body for science policy. At the beginning of 2012, FOM was also the first private university in Germany to be accredited as an institution by the FIBAA (Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation). This seal of approval from one of the world’s most important higher education assessment agencies proves that FOM’s quality management satisfies the highest international standards. Further information can be found at www.fom.de.

The FOM University Centre Bonn, where the Sales Conference 2020 will take place, is located at Joseph-Schumpeter-Allee 23-25.

Press contact:

Yasmin Lindner, Press Officer FOM University, phone: 0201 / 81004-984, e-mail: yasmin.lindner@fom.de

 

---