Course Description
Professional selling provides students with the knowledge and skill sets needed to give them the ability to make effective sales presentations to businesses or consumers, including direct selling. Selling of actual product/service is a required part of this course. Prerequisite: None; Note: Students who have prior credit for ENT 324 may not take MKT 324 for credit.
Syllabus
Student Learning Outcomes, Goals, Objectives:
Students successfully completing this course will be able to:
Skills and Abilities
- Identify ways to improve time management.
- Modify her/his presentation to match the social style of a specific buyer.
- Use listening skills to determine buyer needs.
- Awareness of how verbal fillers impact reception of a message.
- Discover the impact of verbal communication (i.e., word choice and tone of voice).
- Use different questions to uncover information.
- Interpret the meaning of various forms of non-verbal communication.
- Use and identify various aspects of non-verbal communication that can be used to enhance the sales presentation.
- Present a product/service effectively in a face-to-face or virtual sales setting.
Buying Process
- Understand the steps in the complex buying process typically used for big-ticket items and/or new purchases.
- Identify different types of customers and the critical purchasing factors that will most influence their buying decision.
- Uncover the types of organizational buying decisions and what a salesperson must do to be seriously considered in these buying situations.
- Identify the different people that can be involved in a purchase and their potential role in the buying center/decision.
- Discern the optimal communication channels to connect with those involved in the buying process.
- Select the most effective entry point into a prospect’s buying process.
Selling Process
- Identify the stages of the selling process from prospecting through follow-up.
- Craft a compelling sales message with awareness of verbal fillers and eye contact.
- State the qualifications for a lead to become a prospect.
- Compare the effectiveness of different types of prospecting techniques for various types of buyers and how these vary by organization.
- Use a questioning process like SPIN or ADAPT to identify buying issues.
- Identify various negotiation pressure tactics and know how to respond to them.
Course Grading Information:
| Activity/Performance Measure | Percentage/Points |
|---|---|
| Quiz on chapters 1-5 | 15% |
| Quiz on chapters 6-10 | 15% |
| Final Exam on Chapters 1 to 10 and other course materials | 15% |
| Participation (bio, six thank you cards, personality test, intro video, etc) | 10% |
| LinkedIn Assignment | 5% |
| Trailhead Assignment | 5% |
| Sales Pitch | 25% |
| Discussion posts and responses to other student posts | 10% |
Grading Scale
| Percentage | Letter Grade |
|---|---|
| 93-100 | A |
| 90-92.9 | A- |
| 87-89.9 | B+ |
| 83-86.9 | B |
| 80-82.9 | B- |
| 77-79.9 | C+ |
| 73-76.9 | C |
| 70-72.9 | C- |
| 67-69.9 | D+ |
| 63-66.9 | D |
| 60-62.9 | D- |
| 61 – 0 | F |
Attendance/Participation:
Attendance/participation is not a graded component included in the student's final grade for this course.
Course Materials Purchased by the Students:
- Text: SELL 7 (2024) by Ingram, LaForge, Avila, Schwepker and Williams, ISBN 9780357901397
- Required Readings Book: SPIN Selling, by Neil Rackham, various publishers depending on the date of publication.
Scholarly Perspectives
This course engages diverse scholarly perspectives to develop critical thinking, analysis, and debate and inclusion of a reading does not imply endorsement.