BIK 2946 Sales Strategies in a Digital Perspective
BIK 2946 Sales Strategies in a Digital Perspective
Sales is basically about creating values for firms and customers. Instead of asking what to sell, current questions often deal with how companies earn money. Sales activities and processes that leads to revenues have changed dramatically due to competition and digital opportunities. Sales is a consequence of well-thought strategies that must be combined with understanding business models. Modern sellers are often business consultants with strategy and management as special fields. The digital age also demands competences that sellers must take into account. The traditional seller therefore becomes one of many promotors working with channel choices and marketing mix decisions, and competences in customer communication, both analog and digital, are a challenging and critical success factor. In addition, today’s sellers must create revenues by finding and using strategic information of value to firms. How can the company adapt its sales- and negotiation strategies to each individual customer? How can sales managers plan the sales effort, lead technology and business consultants to achieve competitive advantages and win the contract?
This course is for you that have experience as a seller in b2b/b2c situations, but want new challenges. The goal of the course is that you are able to develop a sales strategy – a sales strategy that reflects the overall business strategy. In addition, you are able to organize, manage, budget, and evaluate a sales force. The course reflects companies’ digital realities, uses the customers’ digital decision journeys as a starting point, and shows how digital customer tools can be used in developing the sales strategy.
Students should:
· Have knowledge about what strategy is and be able to differentiate between overall business strategies and sales strategies
· Know about general traits of digitalization that impact sales strategies
· Have knowledge about different parts of a sales strategy
· Have knowledge about customer decisions journeys, both online and offline
· Have knowledge of offline and online sales processes
· Know about basic principles of CRM strategies and opportunities in the digital age
· Know the basic principles of business communication, both digitally and person to person
· Have knowledge about negation theory
· Know what sales management is and traits of a good sales manager
· Know about different ways to organize a modern knowledge-based sales team
· Know about different management styles and the importance of motivating a sales team
· Know about basic tasks for sales managers: recruiting, compensation polices, sales training, sales evaluation, sales goals, budgeting, and profitability analysis
Students should:
· Be able to develop a sales strategy for a unit of company
· Be able to choose between different options and evaluate advantages and disadvantages of digital CRM solutions
· Be able to choose among different types of online and offline business communication
· Be able to conduct sales negotiations
· Be able to choose among alternative sales organizations and activities as a sales manager
· Be able to evaluate the profitability of sales activities, formulate a sales goals and evaluate sales performance
The students will get experience in seeing the connection between different strategic levels in the company, and be aware of how sales and sales management influence companies’ value creation in a digital age. The course shall not only teach the students about sales strategies and sales management, but also enable them to reflect upon ethical challenges in sales and sales management. Furthermore, the students will get an understanding of and learn to respect how leadership influences other people.
Meeting 1: Sales strategy and digitalization
Day 1:
· Digitalization and sales – a general overview and an introduction
· What is strategy and sales strategy?
· The business model as a premise for success
· Sales processes and customer journeys – offline and online
· Different parts of a sales strategy
Day 2:
· From sales strategy to sales activities
· Customer relations
· Digital CRM strategy and practical use of tools
· Different topics connected with customer relation management: Artificial intelligence (AI), algorithms, apps and automatization
Meeting 2: Business communication and sales negotiations
Day 1:
· Online and offline business communication
· Insight-based communication
· Questions and tools for the modern seller
· Social media and content marketing
Day 2:
· Negotiations: different forms of negotiations, preparation, procedures, and techniques
· Negotiation exercises with cases
Meeting 3: Sales Management
Day 1:
· Introduction to sales management
· Motivation and leadership
· Sales organization
· Recruiting and employment
· Sales training
Day 2:
· Salary, compensation and incentives
· Sales planning and sales quota
· Sales volume and profitability
· Evaluation of sales performance
· Ethics
· Summarizing the course
Six days, 36 course hours.
The course consists of class room teaching, discussions, and practical group exercises
Higher Education Entrance Qualification.
Professional experience
Assessments |
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Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Written submission Invigilation Weight: 100 Grouping: Individual Support materials:
Duration: 3 Hour(s) Exam code: BIK 29461 Grading scale: ECTS Resit: Examination when next scheduled course |
Activity | Duration | Comment |
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Teaching | 36 Hour(s) | |
Prepare for teaching | 161 Hour(s) | |
Examination | 3 Hour(s) |
A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 7,5 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of at least 200 hours.