As companies seek to add value to customer relationships the role of the salesperson in this value creation process now demands increasing scrutiny and is being allocated more corporate attention and resources than ever before. Additionally, the achievement of corporate strategy relies heavily on the successful design and implementation of sales strategies derived thereof. This is particularly so in the context of business-to-business firms where the effectiveness of personal selling and its management is critical.
The Marketing Institute of Ireland as the professional body representing marketing practice in Ireland states that business graduates need to be able to both support and do the tasks required for effective marketing. These would include developing and implementing marketing strategy and plans and managing products/services, customer relationships and marketing projects. Equally, they identify the need for “soft” skills, in particular those of communication, teamwork, critical evaluation and decision-making.
This module aims to equip students with both required skill sets: those for business development and those for effective participation in the workforce. The proposed delivery methodology –a blended learning approach using lectures and Problem-based Learning (PBL) – aligns the learning platform to the workplace and will help graduates to be both “work-ready and change-ready”
Personal selling
The strategic sales organisation. Role of the sales function in the value creation process. Salesprocess. Customer value propositions. Organisational buying behaviour. Business-to-businessselling. Key/Strategic account selling
Overview of the Sales Management Function
Linkages between corporate, marketing and sales strategies. Sales Management as anIntegrated function of marketing management. Role, skills and competencies of the salesManager.
Organising the Sales Effort
Sales organisation decisions. Key and major account management policies. Key accountPlanning. Sales force structure. Territory management. Routes to market
Sales Planning
Planning for sales. Environmental influences on sales programmes. Demand estimation
HRM for sales
Selection and recruitment. Sales Management and Sales Executive training. Coaching andLeadership. Motivation: Theory and Practice. Remuneration and incentive programmes. JobSatisfaction.
Sales Evaluation and Control
Sales productivity: strategic and tactical issues. Sales quotas and targets. PerformanceEvaluation
Students will learn about Management of Sales through the process of the problem-
based learning (PBL) pedagogy. They will work in small groups on one semester-long live company
problem that has been written in such a way as to cover all learning objectives of this module and
engage them in the type of problem they are likely to meet in the workplace.
Well-documented outcomes of this pedagogy include demonstrable analytical and decision
making abilities that are necessary for working as part of a team and making a contribution to the
choice of strategic options.
Additionally their capacity to reflect on their own practice and develop an understanding of
themselves in the context of the theoretical areas and problem solution process is an integral
element of the PBL approach and part of the summative assessment strategy
| Module Content & Assessment | |
|---|---|
| Assessment Breakdown | % |
| Other Assessment(s) | 100 |