MM2100: Sales and Business Development

Module code: MM2100

Module provider: Leadership, Organisations and Behaviour; Henley Business School

Credits: 20

Level: Level 2 (Intermediate)

When you'll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Mr Fabio Goncalves De Oliveira, email: f.deoliveira@henley.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: na

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 28 May 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This module introduces students to sales and in particular the sales process and selling. It adopts a highly practitioner-oriented view of sales. It explains to students the different approaches and sales models, with a specific focus on direct and online sales.

Students will understand the modern role of sales as a philosophy, culture, process and strategic business development role for companies. Students will understand and assess how sales activities influence the direction and decisions related to marketing, logistics, manufacturing, finance, resource capability and allocation. A customer centric approach to the stages of the sales funnel will be discussed, and marketing activities (digital and traditional acquisition medium channels) to capture and nurture leads, prospects and clients through the modern customer journey. At the same time, the module offers a practical approach to the foundations of individual skills and behaviour required from a salesperson.

Selling is central to any career in business. This module aims to help students gain an understanding of sales including the sales process. The module aims to equip students with concepts and their applicability in enterprises of any size or industry. Students will be equipped with concepts and practical examples that will allow them to articulate their understanding of sales as a strategy, as an individual practice and skill for life, and company’s flourishing. After attending the module, students will be equipped to assess the diverse activities, resources and methods to overcome the challenges of elaborating a successful sales process, both in an individual and collective spectrum of sales.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. To assess the different characteristics of the sales channels (value chain) and correlate them with company’s capabilities and capacities.
2. To understand traditional and digital marketing most common acquisition channels/medium, and to assess the application in each stage of the customer journey and sales funnel. Understand and critical appraise own behaviour and attitudes regards to the role of a salesperson in a progressing digitalised context (lifelong learning, adaptability, curiosity, fast and accurate execution).
3. To understand and evaluate the role of the salesperson in adding value and sell a company’s unique value proposition (consultative selling, challenger seller, knowing your competitors, and match external threats, needs and opportunities with your company’s unique selling proposition).

Module content

Introduction to the holistic role of sales and the effects of sales activities in other departments of a company

Route to market: The sales value chain

Embracing “Customer Orientation”

Building a persuasive ‘sales value proposition’

Engaging the Sales Process

Developing your selling skills

Customer journey framework and B2B stakeholders mapping

Understanding and assessing traditional acquisition channels

Understanding and assessing digital acquisition channels

Creating a winning sales strategy

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

The module is delivered in a combination of face-to-face lecturers and online workshops delivered by guest speakers (entrepreneurs, sales directors and CEOs). The content of the lectures presents the latest sales concepts and practical perspectives from the industry. Students will learn how to apply traditional sales methods in a progressing digital business environment   They will be introduced to the most used software tools that support sales professionals in companies of all sizes and sectors during seminars.

Study hours

At least 23 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students must achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Reassessment

Additional costs