Graduate-level specialists and generalists pursuing
sales/business development and those building sales/client-
facing skills for other functions. Broadly applicable
knowledge/skills for focus on sales management/operations.
Leadership, technology, motivation, international,
legal/ethical theory, and practice. Effective oral and written
communication.
Athena Title
Sales Force Strategy and Mgmt
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in MARK 4220, MARK 4220E, MARK 6220E
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student Learning Outcomes
Moving, persuading, or selling others to follow your recommendations or to exchange their resources for yours to mutual benefit
Basic approaches to selling
New learning/approaches to learning, listening, and adapting to clients (we will cover improvisation, mirroring, and other skills)
Applicability/nature of alternative selling organizations given alternative business models (with particular emphasis on students’ self-identified/self-selected target industries/organizations)
Sizing and structuring your selling effort
Territory development and alignment
Identifying, interviewing, and hiring for alternative selling (business development, client facing) needs
Training your selling resources
Motivation
Compensation (to include salary negotiations as both subordinate and manager)
Customer relationship management (and alternative CRM options)
Performance management (assessments, reviews, promotion, and termination)
Development of a selling culture and its proper role in various organizations
Development and refinement of your target industry and organizations
Development and refinement of your written (resume and cover letter) and personal (practice interviews and pitches) job/internship communications
Marketing and selling/motivating via emerging tools and technologies (e.g., LinkedIn, Twitter, personal web pages). Additional deliverables (to be assessed by your working team/teammates) for all graduate students will include: a) profile statements b) updated/improved resumes covering internships/summer activities and targeted industries/jobs; improved LinkedIn profiles
Topical Outline
Importance of selling and persuasion, by whatever name, in your career.
Importance of emotional intelligence and leadership skills.
Overview of the Sales function and Personal Selling: past, present, and future.
Elements of the sales call: segmentation and customer identification; prospecting and needs analysis; planning and executing the presentation; follow-up and relationship management.
Key account management, category management, and the role of emerging technologies and information symmetry between buyers and sellers.
Value propositions, value creation, and the sales functions/client-facing resources roles in strategic delivery.
Higher level understanding of buyer behavior types and implications. Buying centers and roles/implications of boundary spanners.
Complete facility with at least one CRM package.
Sales process and skills (PSS) and assessment.
Persuasion (customer/client) and motivation (sales force/resources).
Managing a sales organization: planning/forecasting, recruiting, hiring, training/retraining, motivation and
compensation, remedial strategies and approaches, and terminations.
Legal and ethical issues, to include hiring and termination.
Managing sales and salespeople case analyses.
Sales planning and goal setting (forecasting techniques and territory/customer allocation strategies and software).
Sales manager roles (different levels): required skills, capabilities, compensation, and career progressions.
