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| Detailed information |
| Pre-requisites |
Zulassung zum Masterstudium
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| Original study plan |
Master's programme Management 2022W |
| Objectives |
This course aims to:
- Introduce basic knowledge about the psychology behind selling and buying to students including a sales process in synchronization with the different buying stages of a buyer to students.
- Equip students with a profound understanding of the role of sales within profit organizations and the role emotions while selling and buying with the objective to identify seller and buyer types in the seller – buyer exchange process.
- Enhance and strengthen the personality of students towards becoming a critically thinking, self-reflective, confident sales person by building up a skill set of basic and advanced sales techniques.
- Provide students with a theoretical and practical foundation about sales funnel management and effective motivational people management taking remote and multicultural perspectives into account.
- Enable students to convert potential buyers into loyal customers integrating psychological concepts while applying sales techniques effectively in accordance with the identified emotional buyer type.
Learning outcomes:
On successful completion of this course, the students will be able to:
- LO1: Recall basic sales terminologies, define what sales psychology is including the sales process and recall the role of sales in a profit organization. [Business Management Qualification]
- LO2: Discuss the role of emotions in the sales process. [Interdisciplinary Skills]
- LO3: Identify seller and buyer types in the sales conversation and defend your judgement. [Intercultural skills]
- LO4: Illustrate basic and advanced sales skills and examine which ones to apply within the different stages in the sales process. [Analytical skills | Self-Management Skills]
- LO5: Accurately make use of trust and relationship building, story telling and persuading techniques in a sales conversation. [Social skills]
- LO6: Propose your own sales pitch and sales presentation and experiment with emotional selling, probing and evaluate the effectivity of your sales talk. [Problem solving and Reflection Skills]
- LO7: Critically analyse and evaluate which and how effective sales techniques are applied by sellers and provide feedback. [Analytical skills | Social skills]
- LO8: Utilize effectively barrier handling techniques to identify barriers, decide how to overcome them and creatively create a successful closing tool in order to close a sale. [Intercultural skills | Social Skills | Self-Management Skills | Problem Solving Skills]
- LO9: Discuss sales management and people management strategies and evaluate the same on the grounds of effective remote and intercultural components. [International orientation | Business Management Qualification | Intercultural Skills]
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| Subject |
Most graduates of business programs will start their careers in a sales or sales related roles or even in a sales organization. Therefore, acquiring sales skills is vital for everyone as selling products, services, ideas, and of course his/herself is important in every professional (and private) context. Hence, this course aims at providing a profound theoretical basis of Sales Psychology including the effective application of basic and advanced sales techniques and Sales Management with a specific focus on relational sales approaches. The course will emphasize strongly on practical implications taking the role and view of sellers (employees), buyers and the management of sales into account. As part of sales and people management, a short overview about most important tasks and effective management tools on the basis of international, intercultural and remote settings will be provided. The course content is divided into five subject domains:
1) Sales Psychology: The inner and outer world of selling; sales process and after sales processes
2) Emotional Selling Approaches: The role of emotions while selling. Seller and buyer types.
3) Basic Sales Techniques: Persuading techniques, relationship and trust building, crystalizing and story telling
4) Advanced Sales Techniques: The sales talks and its specific stages; focus on pitch, COWMAN, 3 Level Probing, FAB, Barrier handling (TPV) and Closing
5) Introduction into sales management, people management, remote management: Sales funnel; KPI management; leadership and coaching skills; multi – cultural dimensions
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| Criteria for evaluation |
The assessment strategy follows an adaptive learning design including motivational strategies.
The range of assessment methods for the points distribution consists of:
1. Mandatory self-evaluation of group work and field task (not counted in points but amounts to field work assessment)
2. Peer feedback (not counted as points but amounts to course participation assessment)
3. Mandatory individual field work (max. 50 points)
4. Individual assessment of course participation (max. 10 points each class)
5. Voluntary focus tasks after each session (10 points each class).
The assessment of each component follows a points system and the criteria for each task is specified: None of the tasks includes an exam and hence no multiple-choice questions.
For the seminar paper students can choose between two field tasks related to sales skills or sales management including guiding questions. The point distribution is outlined below:
- 10 points can be achieved for each guiding question answered
- 10 points for a minimum of 7 literature references
- max. 50 points out of 100 points can be achieved with the field work.
After each session a focus task (out of class applied learning) will be presented including its evaluation criteria (in total 5 voluntary focus tasks). Students have one week to conduct the task. For each focus task a total of 10 extra motivation points can be achieved. In order to pass the course a minimum of one focus task is required in addition to the seminar paper (field work).
Below are for each learning outcome the assessment strategies outlined:
- LO1: Group task / Course participation assessment
- LO2: Group task / Course participation assessment
- LO3: Group task + Role Play + Peer Feedback / Course participation assessment / Focus task
- LO3: Group task + Role Play + Peer Feedback / Course participation assessment / Focus task
- LO4: Individual task + Presentation + Peer Feedback / Course participation assessment
- LO5: Individual task + Role Play + Peer Feedback / Course participation assessment / Focus task
- LO5: Role Play + Peer Feedback / Course participation assessment / Field task / Mandatory self-evaluation
- LO6: Individual task + Role Play + Peer Feedback / Course participation assessment / Focus task
- LO7: Group task + Debate / Course participation assessment / Focus task
The code of ethics for all tasks is outlined repeatedly in the course and consists of the so called “WALLD” principle:
1. Work together
2. Appreciate and respect each other (no phone in the course), no plagiatism
3. Laugh together and Learn from each other
4. Discuss together
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| Methods |
The course leader will use the latest technology and stretch on the usage of digital didactic tools. The content will be presented actively by the course leader as well as interactively as a team along with the students. Aspects of team teaching, role plays, debates and tools that enhance self-reflection and critical thinking will be used.
Students will have a possibility to apply their knowledge after each course session in the field as motivational optional field tasks will be provided.
The course follows an application and problem based pedagogical approach:
- Interactive
- Adaptive, individualized
- Group discussions
- Analytical field work
- Roleplays
- Feedback
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| Study material |
Compulsory reading:
Kotler, Philip; Armstrong, Gary; Opresnik, Marc Oliver (2021): Principles of marketing. 18e, global edition. Harlow England: Pearson. (Chapter 16)
Kotler, Philip; Keller, Kevin Lane; Brady, Mairead; Goodman, Malcolm; Hansen, Torben (2019): Marketing management. 4th European edition. Harlow England: Pearson. (Chapter 11)
Supplementary Reading:
Cravens, David W.; Le Meunier‐FitzHugh, Kenneth; Piercy, Nigel F. (2011): The Oxford Handbook of Strategic Sales and Sales Management: Oxford University Press. (Chapter 15 and 18)
Recommendations:
Interesting Journal articles
Flattery Actually Works: A Dual Attitudes Perspective. In: Journal of Marketing Research 47 (1), S. 122–133. DOI: 10.1509/jmkr.47.1.122.
Rejection Increases Aspiring Consumers' Desire for the Brand. In: J Consum Res 41 (3), S. 590–609. DOI: 10.1086/676980.
Sales and people management
Blanchard, Ken; Johnson, Spencer (2015): The new one minute manager. First edition. New York: William Morrow.
Goleman, Daniel (2011): HBR's 10 must reads on managing people. Featuring "Leadership that gets results" by Daniel Goleman. In: Harvard business review.
Personal development – becoming a sales person
Keller, Gary; Papasan, Jay (2019): The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results.
Stephen, R. Covey (2004): The 7 habits of highly effective people. Powerful lessions in personal change. London: Simon & Schuster
Dale Carnegie (1998): How to win friends and influence people. New York: Pocket Books
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| Changing subject? |
No |
| Further information |
none
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