My Master’s thesis was done for my home company, Pylon Rakennus Oy, a private repair construction company operating in Helsinki area. Construction industry is one of the last frontiers for sales and new customer acquisition development. Construction business, including repair construction, has traditionally based on competitive bidding. Therefore, pro-active sales has not played a significant role.

Recently, increased competition and price erosion has driven repair construction companies to search for business potential in developing pro-active sales and by acquiring new customers, for example, among private property owners.

Starting from this perspective, the study focused on exploring how sales actions prior the bidding stage and a new customer acquisition process can help to get beyond the painful competitive bidding. The study suggested that through improved visibility and relationship management, as well as through a better service offering, the company could get better access to new customers and a better gateway to joint property development projects.

The study suggested considering sales as a strategic function, which originates from sales strategy. In order to convert strategy into sales performance, the study recommends allocating the sales resources based on customer prioritization. In addition, customer segmentation and offerings should be also considered as strategic decisions.

In regard to the sales process, the study recommended the company to broaden its relationship network outside its buying network. The study found that relationships should be independent of any projects to increase visibility on the market. A customer reference marketing was found to be as the main tool to build company’s image. Additionally, a good service offering is needed to ensure high quality and cost effective services. These actions will increase the touchpoints, thus enabling better access to customers, and providing better possibilities for alliance and negotiation contracts.

In addition, the proposal presented a model for a three-step risk assessment to support the company’s project risk management during sales strategy, customer acquisition and bidding stage.

This proposal was successfully accepted by the home company and now it works as a backbone for the case company’s sales development. The improved sales process will allow the company to become more customer-oriented and forward-looking. Better anticipation will improve the risk management, resource efficiency and, in the long run, will have a positive impact on both sales performance and profitability.

Researcher Päivi Stordell, Master of Engineering in Industrial Management

This Master’s thesis has gained a high praise from both the school and the home company, and is available in the AMK common database (https://www.theseus.fi/handle/10024/145863). Topic: ‘Developing the Sales Process in a Repair Construction Company’

Master’s Thesis as Part of Master’s Programme

In order to graduate from a Master’s Degree programme a final thesis project has to be completed. In University of Applied Sciences, a Master’s Thesis should be research-based practical development project that offers applicable solutions to the industry´s needs. Hence, the Master’s thesis projects are ordinarily completed in the context of companies and organizations.

With 10 years of running Master’s level programs, Metropolia students have benefited a multitude of organizations and companies. Still, it is always a joy to see a successful Master’s thesis getting its implementation at the home company of the student. One such example is the project by Joska Taipale, whose Master’s thesis in fire protection training took 1,5 years to find its way to the customers.

Joska Taipale’s Thesis: An example of Real-Life Project

I graduated in May 2016 and did my Master’s project on a real-life business issue at work. My project focused on developing training as a service for my company, Marioff. The company manufactures and delivers excellent firefighting equipment to ships, especially cruise ships, where safety is an ultimate priority. I used my opportunity as a Master’s student and developed a full service concept as my Master’s thesis. It took 1,5 years to turn my thesis into the actual service ‘productized’ for training the ship crews in the use of the firefighting equipment. I was in charge of the first pilot delivery in 2017 based on my Master’s thesis. My company supported me and allowed to publish the results.

Seafarers have always recognized the value of such training services, but its urgency and need for implementation was fully recognized after an accidental fire on one of the ships, which incurred multi-million dollar losses and could have been prevented easily. At the time of the fire, if only the crew had known how to act, the damages would have been much smaller, or that fire would not have happened at all. After that, the safety authorities, as well as the ship operators, recognized the benefits of the new practical, well-organized, hands-on training service.

At that time, my Master’s thesis was completed and the new service was ready for use. The core idea was to focus only on relevant trainings for each target group. The training module was super short, approximately 2-hour sessions for the bridge officers conducted right on the bridge, and for the engine officers inside the engine control room, etc. And, yes, the Galley (kitchen people) made the biggest group. In that environment, it is not a question if the deep fat fryers will catch fire, but rather when it will happen. The training was supported by easy visual materials similar to airplane safety cards – you get the idea immediately when you see it.

We launched the new service in Miami, in December 2017, and trained 300 people in 5 days during a cruise in the Caribbean. We received extremely positive feedback. Everything worked well – the schedule, the content and the outcomes. In addition, the high level of engagement of the ship crews marked the new service as special success. Now, this training is steadily becoming a certified requirement for every ship. In this sense, I am happy with the results and due to the fact that my thesis project found implementation.

Master’s Thesis – An Open Access Material

Thesis projects in Universities of Applied Sciences make a good example of contribution to both the industry and the well-being of society. Importantly, all UAS final thesis – both Master’s and Bachelor’s – are open to the public in a common online database. High quality thesis projects, such as Joska’s, also benefit the next generations of students who can learn and build on the existing foundation, and create even more excellent projects. Being in open access and offering practical solutions to industry needs, developed by industry professionals with experience and passion, such projects contribute to open innovation and create knowledge for the future.

Joska Taipale,

Master of Engineering (2016) in Industrial Management, Metropolia,

Zinaida Grabovskaia,

Master’s process instructor