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Overview-MSA/B/C System

The MSA/B/C system consists of three modules:

Marketing Skills Assessment (MSA): An assessment of the basic “mission critical” knowledge and skills required for effective marketing execution. MSA consists of 76 questions organized in 4 units;

Marketing Skills Builder (MSB): MSB is a comprehensive training program in the practical skills of business-to-business marketing execution. MSB consists of 378 questions organized in 18 units;

Marketing Skills Certification (MSC): MSC certifies knowledge of the basic skills required for the effective execution of business-to-business marketing programs, and is the professional certification program endorsed by the Business Marketing Association. MSC consists of 233 questions organized in 12 units.

The MSA/B/C system is designed to be taken in the order of the modules above:

  • Start with the MSA assessment to evaluate your basic skill levels, and identify those areas needing improvement;
  • Next, work with the MSB skills-building system to learn and develop the wide range of practical skills across the wide range of marketing methods required in most B2B marketing programs;
  • Finally, and when you’re ready, you can certify your skills with the MSC certification module. MSC is an open-book format certification requiring a 90% passing score.

If you’ve ordered all three modules MSA, MSB, and MSC, you must complete module MSA before beginning MSB, and you must complete MSB before beginning final MSC certification.

The Marketing Manager’s Handbook, a 512-page desktop reference for business-to-business marketing professionals, is the master study guide for all three modules of the MSA/B/C system, and is included when you order levels MSA/B, MSB/C, or the full MSA/B/C system.

While we strongly recommend you read, study, and utilize The Marketing Manager’s Handbook while using MSB skill-building and MSC certification modules, we also recommend that you do not refer to the book while taking the initial MSA assessment, since this assessment is intended to be a measure of your marketing-related knowledge prior to reviewing these study materials.

The entire content of The Marketing Manager’s Handbook is accessible by clicking the “Study Guide” tab on your Training Home screen, or the links on the left-hand sidebar while you’re answering MSB skill-building questions. This online book reader is most useful for quickly accessing specific chapters and sub-topics from the book, to answer questions you may have on specific topic areas covered in the book.

How to Answer Questions in the MSA/B/C System

All modules of the MSA/B/C system are multiple-choice format, consisting of a question (or incomplete statement), followed by three possible answers.

Carefully read each question, and each possible answer. Select the answer that you think is the best answer to the question being asked, or correctly completes the incomplete statement given. You can skip any question and preview/advance to any other question in a unit by clicking its question icon at the bottom of the screen.

Once you’ve completed any unit in MSA, MSB, or MSC, you can review your incorrectly-answered questions by clicking the “review” link to the left of any unit.

While each unit in modules of the initial MSA assessment and MSC certification can only be taken once, You can re-take any unit in the MSB skill-building module twice. Re-taking MSB units to improve your score helps you master the material in the MSA/B/C system, and builds confidence prior to taking MSC certification.