| Course | MT455 Strategic Management of Sales |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 1 |
| Paper type | Discussion board post |
| Length | About 510 words, 2 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 discussion post |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MT455 Unit 1
Nine Hours of Takeovers, Two of Coaching: An MT455 Unit 1 Discussion Post on a Sales Manager's Week
MT455 · Unit 1 Discussion Board Post
Posted by [Student Name]
The packaging distributor, its manager and the classmate are composite; the source cited is real.
Initial Post
For three years I was an inside seller at a packaging distributor, and I reported to a sales manager I will call Greg. For this unit I rebuilt a typical week of his from memory and from old calendar invites I still had. The figures are estimates from a seller's desk, and I could not see time he spent with his regional director or with finance, so the real week was longer.
Forecast and reporting calls took about 13 hours. Pricing approvals and escalations took 11. Joining sellers' calls, which usually meant taking them over, took 9. Hiring and onboarding took 6, internal meetings 5, weekly one-on-ones 4, and observed calls where he listened and gave feedback afterward about 2.
Mintzberg (1973) followed executives through their days, saw work arrive in short, scattered pieces and grouped what they did under interpersonal, informational and decisional roles. Greg's week fits that picture. The forecast calls and reports are informational: he gathered numbers and passed them up. Pricing approvals and escalations are decisional: he allocated discounts and handled disturbances. One-on-ones, hiring and coaching are interpersonal, the leader role. By my count, about 24 hours went to informational and decisional work, and about 12 to the interpersonal work of developing people.
The nine takeover hours are the ones I think about most. When a deal stalled, Greg joined the call, took over the conversation and often closed it. Those hours helped the quarter. They taught nobody anything. The seller sat on the call watching, and the next stalled deal came back to Greg as well.
Nine hours a week closing sellers' deals produced revenue and no better sellers.
Our team of nine lost four sellers that year. I cannot prove the takeovers caused it, since pay and workload played a part, but two of the four told me they left because they never felt trusted to run their own deals.
Badrinarayanan et al. (2015) describe coaching as the manager's main lever for developing sellers, which makes two hours a week a thin investment for a team of nine.
Which hours could a manager like Greg give up without the numbers falling? I would start with converting some takeovers into observed calls with feedback.
Reply to Kendra
Kendra, your store manager's week sounds informational in a different way: you said she spent most mornings in reports for the district office. I wonder whether those reports were ever used to make a decision. If the district asked for numbers it never acted on, those hours belong to Mintzberg's monitor role in name only. A useful test might be to ask which report, if it stopped, anyone would notice. That would show which informational hours could become time on the sales floor with her staff.
References
Badrinarayanan, V., Dixon, A., West, V. L., & Zank, G. M. (2015). Professional sales coaching: An integrative review and research agenda. European Journal of Marketing, 49(7/8), 1087-1113. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-06-2014-0368
Mintzberg, H. (1973). The nature of managerial work. Harper & Row.
The Purdue Global MT455 Unit 1 instructions
MT455's first board looks at how a sales manager actually spends time and what that says about the role. Estimate a typical week for a manager you have worked for or observed, broken into categories with hours, and say how you estimated, since a seller sees only part of a manager's week. Sort the hours with a framework from the reading, often Mintzberg's managerial roles, and say what the sorting reveals. Choose one category to argue about, explaining its effect on the team with whatever evidence you have and admitting what you cannot prove. End with a question about which hours a manager could give up or add. Most sections look for a post near 450 words and a reply of roughly 150. In the reply, turn a classmate's description into a choice their manager could actually make.
How this MT455 Unit 1 example is built
The post opens with the writer's seat at the distributor and a candid limit on what a seller could see. A paragraph of hour estimates follows, from forecast calls down to observed coaching. Mintzberg's role groups then sort the week, totaling informational and decisional hours against interpersonal ones. The nine takeover hours get their own paragraph, under a highlighted line about revenue without better sellers. The writer connects them to four departures with a caveat about pay and workload. Badrinarayanan and colleagues' review of sales coaching sets two hours a week against a team of nine. The post closes by asking which hours could be traded for observed calls. The reply to Kendra asks which of her store manager's district reports anyone would miss if it stopped, applying the same test of useful hours.
Reading the MT455 Unit 1 grading rubric
Early MT455 posts are marked on whether the student turns a description of a manager into an argument. Estimates with a stated method earn more than vague claims that a manager was always busy. A framework applied to sort the hours, rather than defined, shows the expected use of the reading. Instructors credit a focus on one category with consequences for the team, especially when the student admits the limits of the evidence. Separating the manager from the role, so the post critiques how the job is structured rather than the person, shows maturity. Ending on a trade a classmate could propose to their own boss keeps the thread going. Replies are credited when they extend the framework to the classmate's case. Mintzberg and one source on coaching or sales management, cited in APA style, are the usual support.
MT455 Unit 1 help: mistakes that cost points
Weak Unit 1 posts describe a manager's personality and leave out the time. Another frequent problem lists Mintzberg's ten roles with a definition each, never applying them to the week described. Students often present estimates as precise figures without saying how they were made. Posts sometimes blame the manager for turnover with no acknowledgment of other causes. Replies tend to share a similar story without a question. Before posting, add up your hours and check that the total is believable for a working week, then mark which categories you could actually see. If most hours are guesses, say so and explain why you still think the pattern holds. Then make sure your argument rests on one category with a clear effect, rather than on the whole week at once.
Get an MT455 Unit 1 example written to your instructions
Think of a sales manager you reported to, watched from a nearby desk, or heard about from a friend in sales, and send that picture with your Unit 1 prompt and participation rubric. The custom post, hours estimated and a reply drafted if needed, is delivered in 24-48h, free as a first sample. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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MT455 Unit 1 questions, answered
What if I have never worked in sales?
Any manager of people who sell, serve customers or hit targets can work, such as a retail store manager, a restaurant general manager or a call center supervisor. The question is how that person divided their time and what it produced. Some students interview a friend in sales. Say which vantage point you had, since it limits what you could see.
Do I need a framework for a discussion post?
Not always, but one usually strengthens it. Mintzberg's managerial roles, a list of sales management activities from your textbook, or a coaching model from the first readings can turn a memory into analysis. Apply it briefly; a paragraph explaining the framework without using it on your manager adds length without adding much.
How precise do the time estimates need to be?
Rough is fine as long as you say how you estimated. Calendar memories, the rhythm of weekly meetings, or how often the manager joined calls can support approximate hours. Presenting guesses as exact data looks less credible than labeled estimates. What matters is the pattern, such as reporting crowding out coaching, not an audit of someone's week.
Where can I find a free MT455 Unit 1 sample paper?
This page carries the complete MT455 Unit 1 post on a packaging sales manager's week, sorted by Mintzberg's roles, with a reply about a store manager's reports.
Why does the MT455 Unit 1 sample focus on takeover hours?
Nine hours a week spent taking over sellers' stalled calls closed deals but taught nobody, and two of four departing sellers said they never felt trusted to run their own deals.