Course 2012-2013 a.y.

Course Objectives

This course deals with personal selling. After reviewing the major trends in the evolution of the role played by salespeople in nurturing relationships with customers, methods and practical tools to make sales-related decisions and manage customer relationships are presented.

The goal of this course is twofold:

• helping students getting a deep and comprehensive understanding of managerial approaches and tools that salespeople can adopt for establishing long-lasting relationships with customers, while maximizing efficiency in selling processes;
• fostering analytical, behavioural and decision-making skills of the students, by means of the use of theoretical models, role plays and decision-support tools.

Course Content Summary

The role and contribution of salespeople in the selling firm’s processes are addressed.

The focus is on the following topics:

• Managing the selling process: from transaction to relationship
• The changing role, nature and activities of salespeople and sales managers
• Key competencies, skills and behaviours of salespeople
• Managing interpersonal relationships with customers
• Listening skills
• Negotiation skills

Detailed Description of Assessment Methods

There will be no midterm exam

Attending  and  Non - Attending students
Written exam.
Mix of open questions, multiple choice questions and short exercises (it is recommended to bring a calculator).
Attending students must prepare all materials used in class (e.g. cases and guest speakers sessions, too) and the related book chapters.
Non attending students must prepare all book chapters.

Textbooks

Attending students

• Castleberry,Tanner, Selling: Building Partnerships, McGraw-Hill Irwin, 8th Edition
• Slides by the Professors

Non - Attending students

• Castleberry,Tanner, Selling: Building Partnerships, McGraw-Hill Irwin, 8th Edition

The distinction between Attending and Non-Attending student is valid only for the exam sessions on December (exchange students only), January and February