Sales Planning & Operations (Edexcel)

Who is the course for?

This course is aimed at people who are currently involved in a sales operation or those that are Sales Managers.

What will I study?

1. Understand the role of personal selling within the overall marketing strategy

Promotion mix: personal and impersonal communication; objectives of promotional activity; push-pull and profiling strategies; integrating sales with other promotional activities; evaluating promotion; allocation of promotion budget.

Understanding buyer behaviour: consumer and organisational purchase decision-making processes; influences on consumer purchase behaviour (personal, psychological, social); influences on organisational buyer behaviour (environmental, organisational, interpersonal, individual); purchase occasion; buying interests and motives; buyer moods; level of involvement; importance and structure of the DMU (Decision Making Unit); finding the decision-taker; distinction between customers and users

Role of the sales team: definition and role of personal selling; types of selling; characteristics for personal selling; product and competitor knowledge; sales team responsibilities (information gathering, customer and competitor intelligence, building customer databases, prospecting and pioneering, stock allocation, maintaining and updating sales reports and records, liaison with sales office); sales team communications; the role of ICT in improving sales team communications

2. Selling Process

Principles: customer-oriented approach; objective setting; preparation and rehearsal; opening remarks; techniques and personal presentation; need for identification and stimulation; presentation; product demonstration and use of visual aids; handling and pre-empting objections; techniques and proposals for negotiation; buying signals; closing techniques; post sale follow-up; record keeping; customer relationship marketing (CRM)

3. Sales management

Sales strategy: setting sales objectives; relationship of sales, marketing and corporate objectives; importance of selling in the marketing plan; use of marketing information for planning and decision making (sources and collection methods); role of sales forecasts in planning; quantitative and qualitative sales forecasting techniques; strategies for selling

Recruitment and selection: importance of selection; preparing job descriptions and person specifications; sources of recruitment; interview preparation and techniques; selection and appointment

Motivation, remuneration and training: motivation theory and practice; team building; target setting; financial incentives; non-financial incentives; salary and commission-based remuneration; induction training; training on specific products; ongoing training and continuous professional development (CPD); training methods; preparation of training programmes; the sales manual

Organisation and structure: organisation of sales activities (by product, by customer, by customer type; by area); estimation and targeting of call frequency; territory design; journey planning; allocation of workload; team building; creating and maintaining effective working relationships; sales meetings; sales conferences

Controlling sales output: purpose and role of the sales budget; performance standards: performance against targets (financial, volume, call-rate, conversion, pioneering); appraisals; self-development plans; customer care

Database management: importance of database building; sources of information; updating the database; use of database to generate incremental business and stimulate repeat purchase; use of database control mechanisms; importance of ICT methods in database management; security of data; Data Protection Act

4. Sales Environments and Contexts

Sales settings: sales channels (retailers, wholesalers, distributors, agents multi-channel and online retailers); importance of market segmentation: business-to-business (BTB) selling; industrial selling; selling to public authorities; selling for resale; telesales; selling services; pioneering; systems selling; selling to project teams or groups

International selling: role of agents and distributors; sources, selection and appointment of agents/distributors; agency contracts; training and motivating agents/distributors; use of expatriate versus local sales personnel; role, duties and characteristics of the export sales team; coping in different cultural environments; the role of ICT in communicating with an international sales team

Exhibitions and trade fairs: role, types and locations of trade fairs and exhibitions; how trade fairs and exhibitions fit in with corporate strategy and objectives; setting objectives for participation in an exhibition; audience profile and measurement; qualification and follow-up of exhibition leads; evaluation of exhibition attendance; setting budgets; financial assistance for exhibition attendance; principles of stand design

How will the course be delivered?

Through classroom based activities alongside a tutor and other delegates at a similar level.

Assessment: Use of Case studies – scenarios, mini-cases, factual (real) and manufactured (from fact). Assessment is by way of Portfolio submission (work-based learning), Written assignment (academic) and Presentation (communication, selling and audience awareness skills)

Course Entry Criteria

No specific entry criteria for this course however the course is aimed at people who are currently involved in a sales operation or those that are Sales Managers.

The college operates a no refunds policy as detailed below. Cancellations and transfer requests are subject to the following conditions:

• More than 4 weeks notice – no charge
• 4 weeks notice – 30% of the cost
• 2-3 weeks notice – 50% of the cost
• 1-2 weeks notice – 75% of the cost
• Less than 1 weeks notice – 100% of the cost

All cancellations must be made in writing and are subject to a £10 administration charge. The full fee’s policy is available on request.

What will I get at the end of the course?

You will receive an Edexcel Certificate.

What can I do next?

You may be interested in our other sales courses:

Sales Training – Personal Selling
Sales Training – Sales Management

These courses can be viewed here

How much does it cost?

The course fee for the 16 week course is only £700.00 per delegate including all tuition and a Blackburn College Certificate of Attendance.

(Prices are subject to change)