Course:
Selling and Relationship Marketing
ECTS:
6
Teacher:
Armand Faganel
Course Description
Fundamental to the success of any organization is its relationship with customers. Today,
the relationship between companies and their customers is in a period of profound
change. Technology, globalization, ethical concerns, corporate strategic decisions, and a
host of other issues have created a revolution in the selling process. Customers are no
longer interested in working with companies that cannot add substantial value to their
business. They seek better, more strategic relationships with their suppliers. Changes in
the buyer-seller relationship have also led to dramatic changes in the management of
salespeople. “Home” and “virtual” offices,
communication technology, and demographic changes in the sales force (to name just a
few) have created significant challenges for salespeople and their managers. We'll
integrate the critical tools of the relationship selling process with the unique challenges
managers face working with salespeople in a highly dynamic competitive environment.
Building strong, sustainable customer relationships is no longer optional - it is required
for long-term business success. As the importance of relationships has grown, the selling
function has become assimilated into the rest of the organization. Selling now is truly a
“boardroom topic” as companies realize that effective management of the relationshipselling process is a key to gaining overall competitive advantage. Further topics will be
presented: Cross-Cultural Communication, Key Account Management, Consultative
Selling, Negotiation Skills, and Sales Strategy.
This course focuses on identifying good prospects and customer acquisition, customer
development via up-selling, cross-selling and personalization, customer attrition,
retention, and customer lifetime value. During the course we shall concentrate on the
importance of not just selling, but on how salespeople can add value to customer
relationships. Changes in relationship selling will be discussed, how it has become a
buying concept versus a sales concept. Customer focused selling implies that customer
prescribes the criteria for defining relationships, business requirements and the supplier
decides whether they can adjust or accommodate themselves to that set of requirements.
Students who understand how to add value for clients will ultimately become successful
salespeople, learning that the largest part of income acquired is from repeat, satisfied
customers.
1
Course timetable
Class 1
Class 2
Class 3
Class 4
Class 5
Class 6
Class 7
Class 8
Objectives
Introduction: A model for relationship selling and sales
management (The customer, Information, Value creation,
Ethics, Relationship selling, Sales management); Issues
outside the circles: The selling; Environment (Internal,
External).
Using Information to Understand Sellers and Buyers: The
importance of information; Selling as career; Key success
factors in relationship selling; Selling activities; Technology;
Jobs types; Participants; Organizational buying decisions;
Situation types; CRM
Value Creation in Buyer-Seller Relationships: Adding value;
Clarifying the concept of value; Communicating value
(Product value, IMC, Synergy Sales-Marketing, Trust,
Service quality, Brand equity, Corporate image); Managing
customer expectations
Ethical and Legal Issues in Relationship Selling: Ethical
concerns for sales people and management, Legal Issues, A
code of sales ethics.
Prospecting and Sales Call Planning: Prospecting, Sources of
prospects (Loyal customers, Endless chain referrals,
Networking, Directories, Internet, Telemarketing, Written
correspondence, Trade shows), Prospecting plan, Planning
the sales call (goals, learning about prospect, plan to portray
right image, determine your approach, prepare a sales
proposal); The sales manager role in prospecting and sales
call planning
Communicating the Sales Message: Getting ready for a Sales
presentation; Setting objectives and goals; Approach the
customer; Building the relationship; Keys to a great
presentation (Demonstrations, The value proposition,
Nonverbal communication, What to do when things go
wrong); The sales manager’s role in the sales presentation.
Negotiating for Win-Win Solutions: Negotiating win-win
solutions; Negotiations; Common customers concerns;
Specific negotiation strategies (Question, Direct denial,
Indirect denial, Compensating for deficiencies, Feel-feltfound, Third party endorsements, Bounce back, Defer, Trial
offer); The sales manager’s role in negotiating win-win
solutions.
Closing the Sale and Follow-up: Closing methods
(Assumptive close, Minor-point close, Alternative choice
close, Direct close, Summary up benefits, Balance sheet,
Buy-now, In closing practice makes perfect); Dealing with
2
Class 9
Class 10
Class 11
Class 12
Class 13
Class 14
rejection; Identifying buying signals; Common closing
mistakes; Follow up enhances customer relationships; The
sales manager’s role in closing the sale and follow up.
Self-Management_Time and Territory: The importance of
time and territory management (reasons for salespeople and
sales managers); Salespeople’s role in time and territory
management; Sales manager’s role in time and territory
management
Salesperson Performance_Behavior, Motivation, and Role
Perceptions: Salespersons performance (Role perceptions,
sales aptitude, Sales skill levels, Motivation, Rewards,
Satisfaction); How salespeople influence performance; How
managers influence performance.
Recruiting and Selecting Salespeople: Recruiting and
selection issues (Establish responsibility, Analyze job and
determine selection, Criteria, Find and attract applicants,
Develop and apply selection procedures); Salespeople’s role
in recruitment.
Training Salespeople for Sales Success: Objectives of sales
training; Developing successful sales training programs;
Training needs with time; Sales training topics; Sales training
methods; Measuring the costs and benefits of sales training;
The salesperson's role in sals training
Salesperson Compensation and Incentives: Overview of
compensations and incentives; Stratight salary, straight
commision and combination plans; Sales contests;
Nonfinancial rewards; Expense accounts; Making
compensation and incetive programs work; Deciding on the
mix and level of compensation.
Evaluating Salesperson Performance: Peformance vs.
effectiveness; Objective measures of performance;
Subjective measures of performance; 360-Degree
performance feedback.
Learning Outcomes
Students should be able to develop subject specific competencies:
 To build their knowledge of a rapidly emerging marketing arena - customercentric marketing - which some claim is the beginning of a new business.
 To recognize that there are often two sides to customer-centric marketing or
customer relationship management (CRM) - what is good for the firm may not
always be good for the customer, and that what is desirable from the customer’s
point of view is not always desirable for the firm.
 To identify and examin in detail each of the elements in the relationship-selling
process.
3


To use critical precursors to the relationship-selling process - using information to
understand sellers and buyers and the concept of value creation and
communication, both of which are central to the buyer-seller relationship.
Understand fundamental sales management concepts and learn how to assess
different skills, necessary for successful selling and relationship marketing.
Course Requirements
Learning and teaching methods
frontal teaching
work in small groups of students
lecturing
discusion
working with texts
students' independent work
case studies
role play
Assessment (weights in %)
Class participation
- 10 %
Written seminar - 40 %
Final examination - 50 %
Required literature
Johnston, Mark W. and Greg W. Marshall. 2008. Relationship selling, (2nd Edition).
Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Recommended readings
Jobber, D. and G. Lancaster. Selling and Sales Management (7th Edition), Harlow:
Prentice Hall.
Gummesson, E. 2008. Total Relationship Marketing, Third Edition: Marketing
management, relationship strategy and CRM approaches for the network economy,
Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Berry, M.J.A. and G.S. Linoff. 2004. Data Mining Techniques: For Marketing, Sales,
and Customer Relationship Management, John Willey and Sons.
4