| Course | DBAX 9101C Business Consulting Research Project Stage 1 |
|---|---|
| Week | Week 3 |
| Paper type | Researchable restatement |
| Length | About 760 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Walden University |
| Program | Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for DBAX 9101C Week 3
From "Our Salespeople Cannot Sell Digital" to a Question a Study Can Answer: A Researchable Restatement of a Printing Client's Problem That Keeps Its Words and Drops Its Untested Cause
Student Name
Walden University
DBAX 9101C: Business Consulting Research Project Stage 1
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
From "Our Salespeople Cannot Sell Digital" to a Question a Study Can Answer: A Researchable Restatement of a Printing Client's Problem That Keeps Its Words and Drops Its Untested Cause
The Starting Sentence
"Our salespeople cannot sell digital." The vice president of sales at my client, a commercial printing firm in Milwaukee, offered that sentence as the problem. It is a reasonable belief and may turn out to be partly right. As a research problem, though, it has two defects: it assumes the cause, and it assumes the remedy lies in the people. A study built on it could only confirm or reject the vice president's view, and would miss other explanations. This paper restates the problem so a study can answer it, while keeping the client's dissatisfaction intact.
The Restatement in Steps
Table 1
From Client Statement to Researchable Problem
| Step | Wording | What changed and why | |
|---|---|---|
| Client statement | Our salespeople cannot sell digital | Starting point | |
| Remove the assumed cause | Digital service revenue is well below plan | Keeps the dissatisfaction; drops the untested cause | |
| Name who could act | Sales leaders at the firm have not found ways to grow digital service revenue | Locates the problem with people who can act, without blaming the sales force | |
| General business problem | Small commercial printers that add digital and marketing services often fail to grow revenue from them as offset printing declines | Places the client within a wider pattern | |
| Specific business problem | Some sales leaders of small commercial printing firms lack strategies to grow revenue from digital and marketing services among existing print customers | Researchable; names a population and a missing capability | |
Each step was compared with the verbatim accounts recorded in Week 2.
Why This Wording
"Sales leaders" replaces "salespeople" because the leaders design territories, compensation and targets, which may matter as much as individual skill. "Lack strategies" is the standard form for a business problem in this program and keeps the remedy open: the strategies might involve hiring, as the vice president wants, or compensation, customer access or packaging. "Existing print customers" narrows the problem to the firm's 412 active accounts, since winning new customers is a separate challenge. Ulaga and Reinartz (2011) found that manufacturers who succeeded with services built on resources they already had, including their installed base of customers, which supports focusing on existing accounts.
Support for the General Problem
The general problem rests on evidence beyond this firm. Ulaga and Loveland (2014), studying industrial firms moving from products to services, found that sales forces built for products often struggled with services, and that firms had to rethink selection, training and pay together. Tuli et al. (2007) showed that customers see solutions as relational processes, which require different relationships than product sales.
The Research Question
What strategies do sales leaders at a small commercial printing firm use to grow revenue from digital and marketing services among existing print customers?
In a consulting study, the answer will combine what the client's own leaders and salespeople have tried, what has worked for the few salespeople with higher digital revenue and what the literature suggests. The client's vice president can use the answer to choose among hiring, training, compensation or access changes.
Terms I Considered and Rejected
Two alternative wordings were tempting. "Sales capability gap" would have kept the vice president's cause in the problem itself, which is the move this week asks me to avoid. "Revenue diversification" was broad enough to include every possible remedy, but it would have pulled the study toward pricing strategy and new markets, which the president did not raise. "Digital and marketing services" was also debated: the firm calls them "digital," but customers seem to call them campaigns or mailings. I kept the firm's term in the problem and will note customers' terms in the interviews, because a study that used a word its client does not recognize would make its findings harder to act on.
What the Client Will Recognize
I read the restatement back to the vice president. The response was that it "sounds like we're not blaming the reps anymore." I explained that the study would still examine sales capability as one possible cause, alongside the others. The vice president agreed that the restatement described the problem, even if it was not the cause the vice president expected. That agreement matters, because a sponsor who rejects the framing at the start rarely accepts the findings at the end: Block (2011) warns that a consultant who restates a problem in terms the client does not accept will find recommendations ignored.
References
Block, P. (2011). Flawless consulting: A guide to getting your expertise used (3rd ed.). Pfeiffer.
Tuli, K. R., Kohli, A. K., & Bharadwaj, S. G. (2007). Rethinking customer solutions: From product bundles to relational processes. Journal of Marketing, 71(3), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.71.3.001
Ulaga, W., & Loveland, J. M. (2014). Transitioning from product to service-led growth in manufacturing firms: Emergent challenges in selecting and managing the industrial sales force. Industrial Marketing Management, 43(1), 113-125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2013.08.006
Ulaga, W., & Reinartz, W. J. (2011). Hybrid offerings: How manufacturing firms combine goods and services successfully. Journal of Marketing, 75(6), 5-23. https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.09.0395
The Walden DBAX 9101C Week 3 instructions
Week 3 asks you to restate your client's problem in researchable terms. Start from the client's exact words. Show the restatement in steps, explaining what changed at each and why. Remove any assumed cause while keeping the dissatisfaction. Name who could act on the answer. State a general business problem with support from literature and a specific business problem naming a population and a missing capability. Defend each key term. Write the research question. Explain wordings you considered and rejected. Close by reading the restatement back to your sponsor and reporting whether the client recognizes the problem in your words, since a client who does not will not use the findings.
Inside the DBAX 9101C Week 3 example
The paper starts from the sponsor's sentence and names its two defects. A table moves through five wordings, noting what each change accomplished. A section defends "sales leaders," "lack strategies" and "existing print customers," citing Ulaga and Reinartz on building from the installed base. A section supports the general problem with Ulaga and Loveland and Tuli and colleagues. The research question follows. A section explains why "sales capability gap" and "revenue diversification" were rejected and why the firm's term "digital" was kept. A closing section reports the vice president's reaction and agreement, citing Block on client acceptance. Every change in the table is paired with a reason short enough for the sponsor to dispute it.
Reading the DBAX 9101C Week 3 rubric
Credit goes first to a restatement that removes the assumed cause without losing the client's dissatisfaction. A stepwise table that shows each change and its reason carries heavy weight. Defending key terms with evidence demonstrates care. A general problem supported by literature beyond the client shows doctoral grounding. A research question that uses the specific problem's terms shows alignment. Explaining rejected wordings shows deliberate choice. Confirming that the sponsor recognizes the restated problem shows consulting judgment. Restatements that keep the client's cause, drift into vague academic language or skip the sponsor check will need revision. Explaining why a familiar client term was kept, even when a more precise one existed, shows that usability was weighed alongside precision.
DBAX 9101C Week 3 help: mistakes that cost marks
Write the client's sentence at the top of a page and ask what it would look like with the cause removed. Then ask who in the organization could act, and name them. Look for a published pattern your client fits; that becomes the general problem. Narrow it to a population and a missing capability for the specific problem. Read each word as your sponsor would: would they recognize it? Many students either keep the client's diagnosis in the problem or replace the client's language with academic terms the client would not accept. Both make findings harder to use. Try the restatement on your sponsor before you finalize it. Our writers can help you test each term against the client's original words.
Get a DBAX 9101C Week 3 example written to your instructions
Share the Week 3 instructions and rubric and your client's complaint, reworded if confidentiality requires. A translation table running from a comparable complaint to a testable problem, with rivals and a client note, returns in 24-48h, free on a first request. Rebuilding your own client's sentence remains a task for you and the organization you serve.
More DBAX 9101C papers and DBA samples
- DBAX 9101C Week 1: Client Framing Discussion
- DBAX 9101C Week 2: Client Problem Statement
- DBAX 9101C Week 4: Client Diagnosis Check
- DBAX 9101C Week 5: Client Stakeholder Map
- DBAX 9101C Week 6: Usable Answer Note
- DBAX 9101C Week 7: Consulting Scope Boundary
- DBAX 9101C Week 8: Client Access Statement
- DBAX 9101C Week 9: Consultant Independence Note
- DBAX 9101C Week 10: Consulting Peer Read
- DBAX 9101C Week 11: Consulting Stage 1 Document
- DBAX 9101 Week 3: Problem Evidence Paper
- DBAX 8151 Week 3: Construct Definition Paper
- DBAX 8101 Week 3: Standing Objection Analysis
- DBAX 8006 Week 3: Claim-Sorted Source Base
DBAX 9101C Week 3 questions, answered
Where can I find a free DBAX 9101C Week 3 sample paper?
The restatement, including its five-step table, is available below at no charge.
What sentence does the DBAX 9101C Week 3 paper restate?
Our salespeople cannot sell digital.
Why replace salespeople with sales leaders?
Leaders set territories, pay and targets, which may matter as much as individual skill.
Why focus on existing print customers?
Firms that succeed with services tend to build on their current customer base.
Did the sponsor accept the restatement?
Yes, while noting it no longer blamed the salespeople.