Learning objectives
a. Knowledge and understanding
The purpose of the course is to introduce students to the key issues of sales management according to a marketing perspective. b. Applying knowledge and understanding
At the end of the course, the students will be able to:
- Explain relevant sales management theories and concepts;
- Organize the sale of products and services.
- Understand the stages of a sales process.
The students will be trained to develop teamwork skills, stress management skills, deadline orientation and commitment towards the required tasks.
c. Making judgements
Students will be encouraged to develop analytic skills and problem solving skills and their own independent judgment and critical thinking.
The student will be encouraged to develop analytical and problem-solving skills, as well as their own autonomy in judgment and critical thinking.
d. Communication Skills
During the course, the student will acquire adequate communication skills aimed at clearly and effectively conveying information and concepts (including complex ones) related to the specific issues of service enterprises to different audiences (both academic and business). Additionally, the student will be encouraged to adopt "active listening" behaviors, i.e., the ability to understand the concepts and languages used by companies. These skills will enable the student to prepare short written reports or deliver oral summaries on specific topics, possibly supported by presentation software.
e. Learning Skills
By the end of the course, the student will have developed the ability to expand, update, and deepen the level and variety of the knowledge acquired in class and through textbook study.
Prerequisites
Knowledge of basic concepts related to economics and management.
Course unit content
The course aims to introduce the student to the foundations on which Sales Management is based, with a particular emphasis on the new approach that can be summarized in the statement "salesman are made, not born".
In particular, the course will develop the following fundamental topics:
• What is sales management, what does it mean to sell in different business contexts and the main differences between selling a product and selling a service
• Centrality of the person in the sales structure, understood both as a focus in the entire hiring process to attract talent and to develop the negotiating skills of the sales force;
• Development of a customer-based sales process, adoption of this process in the company, how to involve all stakeholders and ensure that the changes adopted are effective and lasting.
• The role of digital in sales, hints at the transformation that AI is imposing in the sales context.
• How to evaluate a negotiation through the observation of scalable and objective data.
• How to evaluate a salesperson through the action of synthetic performance indicators.
Full programme
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Bibliography
Textbook:
Mark Roberge, ACCELERARE LE VENDITE, La formula per moltiplicare i profitti sfruttando i dati, la tecnologia e l’inbound selling. ROI edizioni
To delve deeper into the subject, we also suggest (not mandatory):
Silvio Cardinali, CONTEMPORARY PROFESSIONAL SELLING, Percorsi di ricerca e riflessioni sul nuovo ruolo dei professionisti delle vendite. Franco Angeli editore.
Marco Aurelio Sisti, Paolo Guenzi, Paola Caiozzo, GESTIRE LE VENDITE, L’eccellenza nel sales management. SDA Bocconi, Egea edizioni.
Teaching methods
Within the course students will have the chance to attend business seminars and to be engaged in case discussions.
• Acquisition of knowledge: lectures and business seminars.
• Acquisition of the ability to apply the analysis methodologies: case study discussions
• Acquisition of learning skills: case studies will present problematic situations and stimulate to focus on the critical issues and to propose alternative solutions.
• Acquisition of technical language: the meaning of the terms commonly used in the service marketing context will be illustrated during the lectures.
The slides used to support lectures will be loaded weekly on the Elly platform. To download the slides, students need to enroll in the online course.
To achieve an effective preparation for the exam you can rely on slides and your notes taken during lectures.
Assessment methods and criteria
The learning results will be assessed through a final oral test.
Other information
For further information please check the Elly page of the course.
2030 agenda goals for sustainable development
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