Personal Selling
Curriculum guideline
Lecture: 2 Hours/week
Student Presentations: 2 Hours/week
The course will use a blend of lectures, case analysis and discussions, role play scenarios, student presentations and an integrative term project supplemented by appropriate videos, guest speakers and classroom activities. Self and peer evaluations will be used to supplement instructor evaluation.
Attention is devoted to the art of uncovering needs or identifying problems through the use of probing questions and developing professional relationships in business.
Understanding the importance of the sales professional in the business community and the need for ethical behaviour is emphasized. The overriding sales philosophy is relationship focused and the customer approach is consultative.
- A framework to build and execute the selling process
- Partnering - building professional relationships
- Communication styles
- Product strategies - features and benefits
- Buyer behaviour
- Planning and executing a full sales presentation from prospecting to pre-approach and approach through needs discovery, demonstration, handling objections, closing and servicing the sale
- The importance of strong ethics in relationship selling
- Management of self and employing of technology for increased effectiveness
- Social selling, virtual selling and other emerging platforms
At the end of the course, the successful student should be able to:
- Recall the steps of a complete sales call
- Demonstrate good techniques in sales presentations online and in-person
- Apply effective techniques in developing and qualifying sales leads
- Formulate probing questions to uncover needs and/or identify problems
- Present product/service features and benefits
- Demonstrate the ability to deal with objections and advance the process to the point of closing the sale
- Develop a plan to follow-up and service the sale
- Recognize the importance of ethical behaviour in business relationships
- Describe the role of the sales process as a life-skill (e.g. job interviews, requests for promotion or a raise, convincing fellow workers of the need for particular project)
- Value the importance of the sales profession to the Canadian economy
- Identify a number of online platforms that support selling efforts
- Explain and provide original examples of Social Selling techniques
Evaluation will be carried out in accordance with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy.
|
Class Participation |
5-10% |
| Interactive Presentations | 30-40% |
| Term Project | 20-30% |
| Mid-Term | 20-30% |
| Total | 100% |
Students must complete all presentations, term project, and mid-term examination in order to be eligible for a passing grade in the course.
Students must achieve at least 50% on the combined non-group components in order to obtain credit for the course, with the 50% calculated on a weighted average basis.
Students may conduct research as part of their coursework in this class. Instructors for the course are responsible for ensuring that student research projects comply with College policies on ethical conduct for research involving humans, which can require obtaining Informed Consent from participants and getting the approval of the Douglas College Research Ethics Board prior to conducting the research.
Textbooks and Materials to be Purchased by Students
Textbook: Manning, Reece, et al. Selling Today: Partnering to Create Value, Pearson, latest Canadian edition and/or other textbook(s) (or other materials as approved by the Department).