Sales Management and Negotiations
| Code | School | Level | Credits | Semesters |
| BUSI4625 | Business | 4 | 10 | Spring UK |
- Code
- BUSI4625
- School
- Business
- Level
- 4
- Credits
- 10
- Semesters
- Spring UK
Summary
Entrepreneurial sales and negotiations are two of the most important skills for entrepreneurial success. After all, as is often said 'nothing progresses until you make a sale'. To this could be added the need for repeat high quality sales. Sometime the most successful companies don't have the best offering, they have the best negotiations outcomes and sales acquisition processes. The two topics are highly synergistic, developing key listening and communications skills, an understanding of the tactical use of information, as well as helping form customer empathy and customer centric thinking. The module therefore addresses both the theory and the practice of sales and negotiation. Accordingly, the learning objectives range from analytical/conceptual/cognitive to behavioural to attitudinal and metacognitive. Class sessions are highly interactive: students will not only read and talk about sales and negotiation, they will also do it. Most class sessions will centre on sales/negotiation simulations and other interactive exercises. Students will learn from their own negotiating experiences inside and outside the classroom, and from their classmates' experiences. To help guide students' experiential learning, and in the spirit of Kurt Lewin's observation that there is nothing so practical as a good theory, students will also study a number of sales and negotiation concepts, theories, and frameworks. As sales and negotiation are inherently inter-disciplinary, the theoretical component of the module draws from a variety of traditional disciplines, including business, law, psychology, management, economics, game theory, and philosophy.
Target Students
Available for MSc Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Management students, OR MSc Marketing students OR MSc Management students AND MSc Exchange students.
Classes
- One 2-hour lecture each week for 11 weeks
This module is taught through a series of lectures.
Assessment
- 100% Coursework: 2,500 words.
Assessed by end of spring semester
Educational Aims
The purpose of this module is to help students better understand the theory and processes of entrepreneurial sales and negotiation to develop the skills to sell and negotiate successfully in a variety of business settings. Readings, exercises, and examples relate to the broad spectrum of negotiations that business professionals face with colleagues, employers, employees, clients, competitors, and others. These include a range of substantive issues such as purchase and sale transactions, contract negotiations, salary negotiations, workplace disputes, inter-organisational relationships, multiparty private/public negotiations, and negotiations regarding organisational change. Sales theory and exercises build the basic understanding required to plan and successfully execute a sales revenue stream for entrepreneurial organisations.Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and understanding:
This module develops a knowledge and understanding of:
- Marketing and sales and different approaches for segmentation, targeting, positioning, generating sales, and the need for innovation in product and service design.
- Customers and stakeholders - customer expectations, service, and orientation.
- The management of resources.
- Communications and the comprehension and use of relevant communications for application in business and management, including the use of digital tools.
- Strategic management - the development and implementation of appropriate strategies. within a changing environment.
Intellectual Skills:
This module develops:
- Being able to think critically and be creative: manage the creative processes in self and others organise thoughts, analyse, synthesise and critically appraise. This includes the capability to identify assumptions, evaluate statements in terms of evidence, detect false logic or reasoning, identify implicit values, define terms adequately and generalise appropriately.
- Being able to solve complex problems and make decisions: establish criteria, using appropriate decision-making techniques including identifying, formulating and solving business problems and the ability to create, identify and evaluate options the ability to implement and review decisions.
Professional Practical Skills:
This module develops:
- The ability to utilise creative problem solving and to negotiate complex scenarios based on professional case studies.
Transferable (key) Skills:
This module develops:
- Effective communication: networking, listening, oral and written communication of complex ideas and arguments, using a range of media, including the preparation of business reports.
- High personal effectiveness: critical self-awareness, self-reflection and self-management time management conflict resolution, displaying commercial acumen, the ability to continue to learn through reflection on practice and experience.
- Soft skills: understanding the needs of others and empathy towards them sensitivity to diversity in people and in different situations.