Accessibility
DE / EN

MKT 615: Sales Management

Contents
The module deals with the primary sales tasks of customers’ acquisition and retention as well as sales objectives and necessary sales instruments from an instrumental and strategic perspective. Accordingly, the lecture is covering five central areas of sales management. First, the foundations and objectives of sales management are discussed, as well as the concept of sales strategy and its core elements are introduced. Second, the key sales instruments which are essential for achieving sales objectives are discussed. Third, the fundamentals of sales channel design are presented, followed by the discussion of the management of external sales partners. The final chapter covers the fundamentals of managing the internal sales force.

Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, students can understand the foundations and objectives of sales management and can apply the key sales instruments necessary for the achievement of sales objectives. They are aware of the importance of efficient management of external sales partners and internal sales force. At the end of this module, students are able to apply the acquired knowledge about sales strategy, concepts, and key sales instruments in practice.

Necessary prerequisites
Not taken MKT 611

Recommended prerequisites
Module MKT 510

Forms of teaching and learningContact hoursIndependent study time
Lecture2 SWS9 SWS
ECTS credits4
Graded yes
Workload120h
LanguageEnglish
Form of assessmentWritten exam (60 min, 60%), group work (Cases) (40%)
Restricted admissionno
Further information
Examiner
Performing lecturer
Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. mult. Christian Homburg
Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. mult. Christian Homburg, Janina Riether, M.Sc.
Frequency of offeringSpring semester
Duration of module 1 semester
Range of applicationM.Sc. MMM, M.Sc. Bus. Edu., M.Sc. Econ., M.Sc. Bus. Inf.
Preliminary course work
Program-specific Competency GoalsCG 1
Literature
  • Homburg, C., Schäfer, H., and Schneider, J. (2016), Sales Excellence – Systematic Sales Management.
  • Coughlan, A., T., Anderson, E., Stern, L., W., El-Ansary, A., I. (2006), Marketing Channels, 7th edition.
  • Spiro, R., L., Stanton, W., J., Rich, G., A. (2008), Management of a Sales Force, 12th edition.
Course outlineFoundations in Sales Management
Definitions and scope of sales management
Objectives of sales management
Sales strategy
Competitive advantage in sales
Key sales instruments
Interaction with customers
Key account management
E-commerce
Design of selling activities
Complaint management
Customer cards
Relations­hip modeling
Channel Design
Sales entities
Channel configuration
Managing External Sales Partners
Understanding the partners business
Power & dependence
Conflict
Cooperation
Managing the Internal Sales Force
Organization of the sales force
Sales planning and control system
Staffing, training and directing the sales force