QCM : Mastering Strategic Sales and Negotiation — 22 questions

Questions et réponses du QCM

1. In B2C, which factor most strongly guides channel choice for a low-margin, low-differentiation mass-market product?

The size of the customer's executive committee
The buyer's formal job title and reporting line
Marketing positioning, price, and product complexity
The supplier's internal cost accounting structure

Marketing positioning, price, and product complexity

Explication

For B2C, channel choice depends mainly on positioning, price, and product complexity. Mass-market, low-margin products typically fit cost-effective channels such as supermarkets, Internet, mail order, or telesales.

2. What best describes indirect sales?

Selling directly to the end customer without intermediaries
Selling only through online subscriptions
Using intermediaries such as distributors or partners to reach end customers
Selling only through a company-owned store network

Using intermediaries such as distributors or partners to reach end customers

Explication

Indirect sales use intermediaries like supermarkets, distributors, or partners. Direct sales, by contrast, happen without intermediaries between seller and customer.

3. Why is it risky to wait too long before anticipating a contract renewal?

The contract automatically renews at a higher price
Competitors can create offers and narratives that penalize your renewal chances
The buyer will usually stop all communication immediately
The supplier loses all legal rights to renegotiate

Competitors can create offers and narratives that penalize your renewal chances

Explication

The material warns that delaying renewal preparation lets competitors build offers and stories that weaken your position. Early anticipation is cheaper than trying to find a new contract later.

4. What is the main effect of a mutual agreement renewal?

It automatically reduces all prices by a fixed percentage
It cancels the existing contract and starts a new procurement cycle
It extends the contract without issuing a tender and gives the supplier more room on solution and pricing
It forces the supplier to re-bid under the same conditions as a new hunt

It extends the contract without issuing a tender and gives the supplier more room on solution and pricing

Explication

A mutual agreement renewal extends the existing contract without a tender, which gives the supplier more flexibility on solution and pricing. It is not the same as a new competitive hunt.

5. What does the size of a bubble represent in an influence map?

The actor's seniority in the org chart
The speed at which the actor answers emails
Your level of trust with the actor
The actor's economic weight, often revenue

The actor's economic weight, often revenue

Explication

In the influence map, bubble size reflects the customer's economic weight, often revenue. Proximity, not size, indicates intimacy with the partner.

6. Which action priority best fits the recommended approach to an account's ecosystem?

Start with competitors to neutralize them first
Wait until the formal tender to map the players
Begin with the closest non-competing actors, then widen the circle
Focus only on the largest economic bubbles

Begin with the closest non-competing actors, then widen the circle

Explication

The guidance is to act by closeness, starting with the closest actors and often onboarding non-competing independents first. Competitors are typically avoided early.

7. What is the purpose of a Power Map?

To show real decision makers and influencers so you can plan actions
To calculate the customer’s annual budget
To list the company’s products in order of profit margin
To record only the formal reporting structure

To show real decision makers and influencers so you can plan actions

Explication

A Power Map is a written view of the real decision makers and influencers, used to plan actions that expand or limit their reach. It goes beyond the visible org chart.

8. What is the main goal when neutralizing enemies and non-supporters in the action plan?

To bypass the customer’s internal decision process
To convert them immediately into mentors
To eliminate all disagreement from the buying process
To protect your position by minimizing their impact

To protect your position by minimizing their impact

Explication

Neutralizing enemies and non-supporters is about protecting your position by reducing their influence through clarification, misunderstanding resolution, or changing the contact approach. The aim is not to remove all disagreement entirely.

9. Which selling approach best fits laggards or sceptics?

Focus on price-only comparisons
Directly push for a revolutionary vision
Avoid selling directly and go around them
Lead with a disruptive product launch

Avoid selling directly and go around them

Explication

Laggards prefer the status quo and resist change, so direct selling is often counterproductive. The guidance is to go around them like dangerous obstacles.

10. For innovators, what is the recommended way to position the offer?

Emphasize revolution, clear vision, and problem-solving impact
Focus on preserving the status quo with customization
Avoid discussing return on investment
Stress investment protection and evolutionary advantages

Emphasize revolution, clear vision, and problem-solving impact

Explication

For innovators, the offer should be aligned to revolution and state-of-the-art ideas, with clear vision and problem-solving impact. Return on investment and convincing examples also support the case.

11. Which competitive approach is most appropriate when you have strong influence and want to impose a vision that differs from the dominant players?

Disruption
Segmentation
Domination
Blocking

Disruption

Explication

Disruption fits a strong influence position and aims to introduce a different vision from the dominant players. Segmentation is for weaker influence with strong differentiation on part of the offer.

12. What is the main logic of a blocking competitive approach?

Do everything possible so nobody wins and add players or stages
Sell mainly to an installed base with proven competitive advantage
Focus on a profitable segment and influence specifications
Win by head-on competition and influence all stakeholders

Do everything possible so nobody wins and add players or stages

Explication

Blocking is used when influence is too weak and the solution does not stand out enough, so the goal is to prevent any rival from easily winning. The approach adds players, stages, benchmarks, or coexistence.

13. In buyer psychology, what is the main role of a VITO executive sponsor?

To negotiate technical service levels with the purchasing team
To handle day-to-day use of the solution and operational questions
To approve only the lowest price among all suppliers
To drive organizational change and decide on the provider

To drive organizational change and decide on the provider

Explication

A VITO is a senior executive mandated to drive change and choose the provider. They are distinct from operational users and the purchasing function.

14. What is the best first objective when meeting a VITO executive sponsor?

Ask purchasing to write the technical specification
Validate a real project and willingness to change
Negotiate the final contract price immediately
Train users on daily operational routines

Validate a real project and willingness to change

Explication

The first goal with a VITO is to confirm that a real project exists and that there is willingness to change, while also building trust and intimacy. Price negotiation and detailed operations come later.

15. In an influence map, what does the proximity of a bubble represent?

The actor’s annual revenue contribution
Your perceived intimacy with that actor
The actor’s formal rank on the org chart
The speed of the buying decision

Your perceived intimacy with that actor

Explication

Bubble proximity shows how close or intimate your relationship is with that actor, while bubble size reflects economic weight. Formal rank is not what the map is designed to display.

16. When building action priorities around a customer ecosystem, where should you typically start?

With the largest revenue bubble regardless of relationship
With competitors first, because they are the biggest threat
With the least intimate actors to broaden the reach quickly
With the closest actors, especially non-competing independents

With the closest actors, especially non-competing independents

Explication

The recommended sequence is to begin with the closest actors and often onboard non-competing independents or consultants first. Competitors are generally avoided early.

17. Which metric best captures the speed-to-decision pain targeted in SPIN discovery?

How often the customer changes suppliers
How quickly internal stakeholders can decide when they have the needed information
How much margin the supplier earns on the deal
How many units the customer buys per month

How quickly internal stakeholders can decide when they have the needed information

Explication

Speed-to-decision measures how fast stakeholders can make a decision once they have the necessary information. SPIN discovery looks for delays caused by poor or late information.

18. Which issue is specifically used to uncover recurring defect and safety-related pain?

Number of audits
Average repair time only
Warranty and recall costs
Customer Effort Score

Warranty and recall costs

Explication

Warranty and recall costs capture the direct and indirect financial impact of defects, failures, and safety remediation. Customer Effort Score measures service friction, not defect cost.

19. What is the purpose of price to win in proposal design?

To set the final price after contract signature
To estimate the winning total price range for solution design
To calculate only the supplier’s internal cost base
To replace all value arguments with discounts

To estimate the winning total price range for solution design

Explication

Price to Win estimates the winning price range and helps align the solution design with what the customer and competitors will accept. It is a design-and-positioning tool, not just an internal cost calculation.

20. Why should unit prices around about €100 be displayed with two decimal places?

To avoid the impression of rough guessing
To hide the total contract value from the buyer
To ensure the spreadsheet can be copied directly into slides
To make the proposal look more technical than competitors’

To avoid the impression of rough guessing

Explication

Two-decimal pricing improves credibility by avoiding the impression that the number is rounded or guessed. The material also recommends reworking figures rather than pasting spreadsheets directly into slides.

21. What is the key idea of principled negotiation?

To avoid discussing emotions and focus only on status
To pressure the weaker party until it accepts a compromise
To make the first concession to build immediate trust
To separate interests from positions and rely on objective criteria

To separate interests from positions and rely on objective criteria

Explication

Principled negotiation seeks a cooperative agreement by separating interests from positions and using objective criteria. It is different from pressure-based tactics, which are more associated with conflict handling than principled bargaining.

22. How do dignity, face, and honor cultures differ in negotiation behavior?

Dignity cultures avoid conflict, face cultures attack directly, and honor cultures prioritize quick compromise
Dignity cultures favor direct rational conflict management, face cultures preserve harmony through indirect exploration, and honor cultures defend status boldly
Dignity cultures seek emotion-first dialogue, face cultures reject trust, and honor cultures prefer objective criteria above all else
Dignity cultures rely mainly on hierarchy, face cultures on written rules, and honor cultures on concession trading

Dignity cultures favor direct rational conflict management, face cultures preserve harmony through indirect exploration, and honor cultures defend status boldly

Explication

These cultural prototypes shape how people handle trust, conflict, and emotion: dignity is direct and rational, face is indirect and harmony-preserving, and honor is status-sensitive and more forceful. The other options mix these traits incorrectly.

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Sales channels — B2B vs B2C?

B2C uses direct, mass-market channels; B2B depends on complexity and customer type.

Contract renewal — key?

Extension of existing contracts at term end.

Customer ecosystem — definition?

Set of actors around a customer influencing sales.

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