Curricula

Objectives

This course is targeted to participants that aim to become great sales professionals. The course will be both academically strong and real life oriented. The delivery will consist on a set of tools that are conceptually solid and extremely practical.
Participants will first learn to map the responsibility allocation and collaboration between sales-marketing functions in a company, to ensure a smooth and productive cooperation. After that, the course will provide a set of pre-sales tools to diagnose the target customers, and design a sales process in the most effective way.
The core of the course will consist on mastering the whole sales process from beginning to end. Students will be very well guided during all the whole sales process. First, participants will learn to open up customer relationships, in a way that curiosity is triggered, and customers are attracted to further interactions. After that, students will understand the different alternatives to design sales interactions/presentations, strengthened by the persuasion elements that should be added for maximum impact. We live in an information overload society, and the product message should be of high quality, standing above the "excessive media noise", and be remembered.
This course will develop top skill strengths in the three key "sales challenging elements" required to succeeding in the "sales marathon" until the end: effective negotiations, customer objections, and sales closing tools. Students will receive a very complete set of well defined negotiation difficulties and real-life tested actions, customer objections with professionally practical resolutions, plus a full "hands-on" set of sales closes to guarantee that the deal is completed.
The course will end with a visual and intuitive selection of metrics to evaluate overall the sales performance, and to map its profitability for the professional and the company.
All the lecture sessions have been designed in a very dynamic and lively format, so participants will receive not just a set of great tools, but a very "immersive" experiencing of the sales atmosphere with its intensity and focus.
Sales are needed at many stages in everyone's career. Professionals are continuously selling: not just products, but convincing colleagues about ideas/improvements, selling solutions when real problems appear, selling themselves for a promotion or for a new job, and many other situations. The tools and experiences learned in this course will be priceless for many critical career situations.
- Sales vs. Marketing: main differences, responsibilities design, models of sales-marketing relationships in companies
- Sales Cycle Models: Sales Funnel Mapping Tool, Target Segment-Leads-Prospects-First Customer evolution follow-up
- Pre-Sales Process: Prospect selection, Customer sales-related decision roles, Matching customer decision processes and sales processes
- Early Sales Process Stages: Relationship opening, Effective Sales Presentation design types / delivery / persuasion tools
- Mid-Sales Process Stages: Practical sales negotiations, full set of sales objections types, objection resolution strategies
- Final Sales Process Stages: Effective sales closing types, post-sales management
- Sales Profitability Assessment: Sales cost/profit metrics, sales success evaluation

Content

This course is targeted to participants that aim to become great sales professionals. The course will be both academically strong and real life oriented. The delivery will consist on a set of tools that are conceptually solid and extremely practical.
Participants will first learn to map the responsibility allocation and collaboration between sales-marketing functions in a company, to ensure a smooth and productive cooperation. After that, the course will provide a set of pre-sales tools to diagnose the target customers, and design a sales process in the most effective way.
The core of the course will consist on mastering the whole sales process from beginning to end. Students will be very well guided during all the whole sales process. First, participants will learn to open up customer relationships, in a way that curiosity is triggered, and customers are attracted to further interactions. After that, students will understand the different alternatives to design sales interactions/presentations, strengthened by the persuasion elements that should be added for maximum impact. We live in an information overload society, and the product message should be of high quality, standing above the "excessive media noise", and be remembered.
This course will develop top skill strengths in the three key "sales challenging elements" required to succeeding in the "sales marathon" until the end: effective negotiations, customer objections, and sales closing tools. Students will receive a very complete set of well defined negotiation difficulties and real-life tested actions, customer objections with professionally practical resolutions, plus a full "hands-on" set of sales closes to guarantee that the deal is completed.
The course will end with a visual and intuitive selection of metrics to evaluate overall the sales performance, and to map its profitability for the professional and the company.
All the lecture sessions have been designed in a very dynamic and lively format, so participants will receive not just a set of great tools, but a very "immersive" experiencing of the sales atmosphere with its intensity and focus.
Sales are needed at many stages in everyones career. Professionals are continuously selling: not just products, but convincing colleagues about ideas/improvements, selling solutions when real problems appear, selling themselves for a promotion or for a new job, and many other situations. The tools and experiences learned in this course will be priceless for many critical career situations
- Sales vs. Marketing: main differences, responsibilities design, models of sales-marketing relationships in companies
- Sales Cycle Models: Sales Funnel Mapping Tool, Target Segment-Leads-Prospects-First Customer evolution follow-up
- Pre-Sales Process: Prospect selection, Customer sales-related decision roles, Matching customer decision processes and sales processes
- Early Sales Process Stages: Relationship opening, Effective Sales Presentation design types / delivery / persuasion tools
- Mid-Sales Process Stages: Practical sales negotiations, full set of sales objections types, objection resolution strategies
- Final Sales Process Stages: Effective sales closing types, post-sales management
- Sales Profitability Assessment: Sales cost/profit metrics, sales success evaluation
.

Time and location

100% contact/classroom course.

Learning materials and recommended literature

Jobber, D., Lancaster, G., Le Meunier-Fitzhugh K., 2019. Selling and Sales Management, Pearson. Cates, M., 2015. 7 Steps to Success for Sales Managers. Boger. Johnston, M., Marshall, G., 2013. Sales Force Management, Routledge. Tanner, J., Honeycutt, E., Erffmeyer, R., 2014. Sales Management; Shaping Future Sales Leaders, Pearson.

Teaching methods

Flipped learning: The course is divided into learning tracks/themes. Each track contains the following steps supporting students learning process.
1. Expertise lecture relating to each track/theme
2. Additional study/support material relating to the track/theme
3. Individual assignments
4. Group work and presentations
5. Business life visitor/s (to be confirmed)

The support during the course will be available in the following way:
1. Introduction to each track/theme
2. Support and feedback for group work and individual assignments
3. Peer reviews of the group work

Exam dates and retake possibilities

Online exam will be held on the last lecture day of the course, it is anyhow possible to execute (during the exam day) in any location.

Course book for the exam is Jobber, D., Lancaster, G., Le Meunier-Fitzhugh K., 2019. Selling and Sales Management, Pearson. Tenth edition (2015) is also applicaple for the exam. (better availability)

Student workload

Lectures 35 hours, (incl. exam, exl. holidays) group work 50 hours and independent study 50 hours, total 135 h.

Compulsory lectures are the first lecture and the group presentation lecture. (lecture before the final exam)

Content scheduling

Themes/tracks in the course are;
Track I: Sales & Marketing integration & evolution
Track II: Global Sales processes - operational sales
Track III: Global Sales processes - sales management and support
Track IV: Digital Sales
Track V: Role of Culture in Global Sales

Further information for students

Course will be evaluated by the group work (50%) and the exam (50%).

Evaluation scale

0-5

Evaluation criteria, satisfactory (1-2)

Satisfactory (2) Knowledge and Understanding: The student demonstrates acceptable conceptual knowledge. The central course frameworks have been generally understood. The student demonstrates sufficient command of the Global Sales Management field.
Intellectual Skills: The student is able to interpret sales management issues at a superficial level. The student possesses limited analytical skills, assessing uncomplicated challenges, and incorporating limited perspectives. The student reviews relevant academic literature satisfactorily.
Sufficient (1) Knowledge and Understanding: The student demonstrates basic conceptual knowledge. The fundamental course frameworks have been generally understood. The student demonstrates passable command of the essential aspects of the Global Sales Management field.
Intellectual Skills: The student is able to somehow interpret sales management issues and address rudimentary challenges. The student is able to support his/her argumentation using academic literature at a basic level.

Evaluation criteria, good (3-4)

Very good (4) Knowledge and Understanding: The student demonstrates substantial conceptual knowledge. The central course frameworks have been understood thoroughly. The student displays a high command of the Global Sales Management field.
Intellectual Skills: The student is able to interpret and analyse with considerable depth sales management issues and challenges arising from multiple perspectives. The student reviews skillfully relevant academic literature.
Good (3) Knowledge and Understanding: The student demonstrates fairly good conceptual knowledge. The central course frameworks have been considerably well understood. The student displays a reasonable command of the Global Sales Management field.
Intellectual Skills: The student is able to interpret and analyse properly sales management issues and challenges arising from several perspectives. The student reviews relevant academic literature moderately well.

Evaluation criteria, excellent (5)

Excellent (5) Knowledge and Understanding: The student demonstrates solid conceptual knowledge in the area. The central course frameworks have been understood with great clarity and precision.
The Intellectual Skills: The student is able to interpret and analyse in depth sales management related issues and challenges arising from multiple perspectives. The student reviews relevant academic literature with excellence.e student displays a very high command of the Global Sales Management field.

Prerequisites

First Year Studies or Basic business studies.