The Client-Centric Marketing Course:
Accelerating Services’ Growth
Through Client-Focused Initiatives

Babson College
Wellesley, MA
4-7 December 2001

"In the IT and networking space, services marketing is often seen as the driver of corporate strategy rather than simply the customer interface function."

Stephen T. Hurley, Vice President, Learning and Performance Excellence, ITSMA

Focus of the Course

This three-day course is highly focused on the unique skills and processes required to be successful in marketing services within the IT and networking sectors. It will also provide an integrated services marketing framework which can be used as a "road map" for implementing services marketing programs. Our course focuses on increasing the value, and ultimately the long term revenue stream, of a company’s greatest assets—its client relationships.  Our model aligns all marketing activities with meeting the value requirements of services.

While services in this industry have many of the same characteristics as services in other industries—intangibility, inability to inventory, difficult to demonstrate, delivery variability, etc.—there are a number of unique factors that need to be understood and leveraged by IT services marketers. The Client-Centric Marketing Course will give the participants the ability to develop marketing programs that effectively communicate the value of IT services in their respective marketspaces.

 As a result of the explosive growth in IT services, services marketing staff come from a variety of backgrounds—product marketing, sales, services operations, etc. Very few have extensive experience in the services marketing field. This course is designed to bring those newly involved in IT services marketing up to speed quickly.

Course Benefits       

As a result of attending this course, the participants will:

• Have a holistic perspective of services marketing processes and activities.
• Understand how marketing IT services differs from both IT product marketing and services marketing in other sectors.
• Have a set of tools, created by ITSMA, that can be applied throughout the marketing process.
• Learn about marketing programs and practices of other IT companies by sharing their experiences.
• Establish a network of services marketing peers in other IT companies who can be excellent support resources.
• Learn about future trends in services marketing from ITSMA professionals and leading academics in the field.

Course Description

The course presents many of the topics important to services marketing.  Topics addressed include market selection and development, new services development, pricing, market research, building awareness, leveraging the sales force, building customer loyalty, and E-marketing techniques.

The course is built on ITSMA best practice research presented in a series of interactive sessions and includes ample opportunity for learning from peers through class discussion and team work assignments. Case examples drawn from ITSMA research on each of the core topics are provided. Additionally, the course contains a structured action-planning session so the valuable tools gained during the course are immediately applied to the real world.

"The course gave me an opportunity to view my job in terms of the processes I ought to be using as I develop service programs. The course provided new ideas to include in my process framework."
Jim Barker,
Premium Program Manager, Novell

Course Topics         

The course covers many of the services marketing skills and competencies that are needed to be successful in today’s changing economy. Over the three-day period, the participants will receive valuable insights, tools, and methods in the following areas:

I. Assessing Market Opportunities

• Client-Based Analysis
• Evaluating Competitor Strategy
• Determining Core Competencies

II. Defining Services Opportunities

• Market Segmentation
• New Service Development Process
• Value Proposition Development
• Pricing Strategies
• Branding

III. Supporting Services Delivery

• Leveraging the Sales Force
• E-Marketing Techniques
• Internal Marketing
• Effective Marcom Approaches

Babson College Partnership

ITSMA is pleased to announce that it has entered into a formal partnership with Babson College to design and deliver its courses on services marketing.

One of the benefits of the partnership is that all course participants are eligible for MBA credits through Babson’s MBA program. Anyone who is interested in receiving MBA credits must write a final course report that will be reviewed and graded by a member of Babson’s faculty. An additional fee of $750 will be required to cover the administrative and faculty activities associated with an MBA course.

Babson College, located in Wellesley, Massachusetts, is known for its innovative approaches to learning and education. Babson has recently been listed as one of the top 10 schools worldwide in executive education, and has also been listed as a top 25 MBA school in the U.S. In addition, Babson has been listed as number one in the world in the field of entrepreneurship by both BusinessWeek and US News & World Report for the past 10 years, which is considered a critical business competency in the IT industry.

Faculty         

Philip Dover, Ph.D., is the Faculty Director for the School of Executive Education for Babson College. He is a leading authority on strategic marketing and has published extensively in academic and industry journals on the topic. Dr. Dover’s distinguished career includes faculty positions at Cranfield School of Management and the University of Warwick in England, IMD in Switzerland, and American University and the Sloan School of Management at MIT in the United States.

Stephen T. Hurley, Vice President of ITSMA’s Services Marketing Institute, has extensive experience in the fields of professional services and management education. Mr. Hurley led a business practice for nearly 10 years at Arthur D. Little, Inc., a top tier management consulting company. In addition, he was also the director of executive education for the Arthur D. Little Management Education Institute, designing and delivering educational programs management in over 50 countries. Mr. Hurley has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Windsor, and a Master of Science in Management from the Arthur D. Little School of Management.

Who Should Attend         

The Client-Centric Marketing Course is designed for individuals with less than 5-7 years of IT/networking services marketing experience. Sample titles of persons appropriate for this course would include services marketing associates, services sales managers, services program managers, and services marketing communications specialists.

Admissions        

Admission to the Client-Centric Marketing Course is based on an application process to ensure that the class is made up of individuals having the appropriate experience and background to enhance the learning for all participants.

After registering for the course a confirmation e-mail will be sent to you with a link to the admission form. Please fill it out completely and then submit it for approval. You will be notified shortly after filling out the admission form of your eligibility for the course.

Confirmation of acceptance will be sent upon review and approval of application. Enrollment is limited.

Fees and Registration

The fee includes tuition, accommodations, course materials, meals, and refreshments. If payment is not received by the start of the course, a credit card or other form of payment will be required for admittance.

Register for this event online and receive a 5% discount. To register by phone dial (781) 862-8500 ext. 19.

Schedule and Dress Code         

The course will begin on Tuesday evening at 5:00 p.m. and end on Friday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. During the course, in-class sessions will start at 8:30 a.m. and end by 5:00 p.m. The evenings will include reading and possible group work.

Dress code is business casual.

Cancellation Policy          

Any cancellations or substitutions must be in writing and forwarded to ITSMA, One Militia Drive, Suite 4, Lexington, MA 02421 or via email to cjefferson@itsma.com.

You may cancel your enrollment without penalty up to five business days before the start of the event. A $350 administration fee will be imposed for cancellations received after this date. Nonattendance without cancellation will incur the full course fee. Substitutions approved by ITSMA are permitted up to the start of the course.

Satisfaction Guarantee           

ITSMA guarantees your complete satisfaction with this event. If, however, you are not satisfied, we will provide you with a full refund of your money or provide a credit towards another offering.