Sales & Negotiation

This practical minor is for anyone who wants to convince people! Do you want to work in a commercial position in a company or perhaps start your own business? Do you want to work in a business-to-business environment or rather in a business-to-retail/consumer environment? Do you want to work at an advertising agency, or would you rather work at a tech company? Do you want to become an account manager, broker, or perhaps a fashion buyer, for example? 

Whatever you want to do, you will always have to convince other people of your ideas, vision, services, and/or products! Whether they are colleagues, managers, suppliers, and/or customers. 

The commercial world is becoming increasingly complex for companies. Therefore, the importance of managing good customer contact and creating partnerships is paramount. To make the right choices and be able to convince in such a dynamic commercial environment, you need to have expertise about sales strategies, and you need to have good skills to deal with different interests and perspectives. 

This minor Sales & Negotiation provides knowledge of important sales processes and strategies within a commercial environment and contains a lot of training in sales skills and negotiation techniques that can make these processes a success. You will learn skills that you can use throughout your life in both business and private situations!

The Minor consists of two modules of 10 weeks, each of which includes 15 ECTs. Both modules consist of three major parts:

1.      Sales Training  

Learning to sell and convince is something you must do and experience! This part is very practical in nature, and you will be trained and coached by teachers who have worked in sales practice for many years. ‘Learning by doing’ is the key approach in this minor. To be able to give as much personal attention and coaching as possible, we work with groups of a maximum of 16 students. You really learn the tricks of the profession based on real-life cases and practical experiences of your trainer. You can follow the theory at your own pace and at your own time by means of digital video clips. During the weekly physical training sessions, you really get to work on your conversation skills, especially through role plays.  The elaboration of a project forms the context of the final sales conversation of the sales training courses. For the project, we have a well-known A-brand in a Business-to-Retail environment as the client.

·        In the first module of the minor, the focus of the training courses is on conducting structured sales conversations and creating convincing sales support materials.

·        The second module focuses on negotiation. Here you will learn how to negotiate in a structured way, how to convince people, and how to increase the effectiveness of your sales conversation and negotiations.

2.      Sales in practice

Sales in Practice consists of a Ride a Day and an interview with a sales professional. A Ride a Day with a salesperson offers a unique opportunity to gain insight into the dynamic and challenging profession of sales. Not only is it an opportunity to observe the day-to-day tasks and responsibilities of a salesperson up close, but it also opens the door to valuable learning moments that can help you develop your own skills, regardless of your background or experience. During a Ride a Day, you get the chance to see the practice in action. Additionally, the Ride a Day offers the opportunity to speak with the salesperson, so you can ask questions, share insights, and receive valuable feedback. This interactive learning environment allows you to learn from practice and immediately understand the relevance of theory.

Sales Challenge

Sales is known as a competitive field. Very result-driven because of the directly measurable results in turnover, margins, but also smaller KPIs such as the number of appointments, the number of offers you have made, and so on. So very goal-oriented! So, you also expect some form of competition in the Sales & Negotiation program! And there is! In a challenge of 3 rounds, you will compete for the title of "Best Student Sales & Negotiation" of the semester. The challenge is supported by our partner SalesRESPECT®, a professional sales training agency.

3.      Support Courses

To be successful in sales, a certain theoretical basic knowledge is required. That is why there are two courses per module that support the training courses. Within these courses, various topics are discussed that you need to know about to be able to optimally carry out sales within the company and to give substance to the sales conversation. These courses are supported with digital clips and various workshops. In addition, guest speakers with hands-on experience from the business community will give their insights from daily practice, and we will work with clients from the Business-to-Business environment. Within the courses, you work with a group on real sales assignments.

The modules consist of the following courses:

1.      Module 1:

·        Demand Generation – The acquisition process is central to this. You will learn everything that is needed for the start of a successful sales process!

·        Trade Marketing – here you will learn all the ins and outs of sales and category management in a Business-to-Retail environment.

2.      Module 2:

·        Sales Strategy – In this course, you will learn the importance of a good sales strategy in a Business-to-Business environment and how to implement it.

·        Account Management – This course revolves around all aspects that are important for good relationship management.

Assessment is by means of a portfolio and an assessment.

Learning objectives

In this minor you will learn more about, among other things:

·        Conducting a persuasive and structured sales conversation

·        Developing negotiation skills and competencies

·        Developing and executing an (international) sales and account strategy.

Admission

Students have obtained 120 ECTS in an undergraduate or bachelor’s programme, for which they are enrolled at the time of application.

Would you like more information about the minor?

Please contact minoren.IB.CE.ORM.denbosch@avans.nl

Literature

No use is made of books as literature. We work with various digital videos and materials for this minor and these are always in English.

Assessment 

Both individual and group assignments. Assessment is by means of a portfolio and an assessment.

Important:

Additional information

Avans-opleiding gekoppeld aan de deze minormodule is:

Ondernemerschap & Retail Management Den Bosch (ORM-H)

Deze informatie heb je nodig voor de inschrijving in Studielink.

You can choose which language you want to follow in this minor! For the Training, Sales in Practice and Support Courses, a choice can be made from two options:

·        Dutch. You follow all training courses and lessons in Dutch. The assignments are also in Dutch. However, the literature and the various digital materials for this minor are in English. You will only be in a group with Dutch students (from inside and outside Avans).

• In English. You follow all training courses and lessons in English. The assignments are also in English. You are in the group together with students from other universities of applied sciences, which gives a super fun, interesting, and educational international dynamic!

The minimum requirement for English is European Framework B2. The Language Proficiency Report must be preferably completed by an English Language lecturer and accompanied by the application form. For more information: http://www.toefl.org. If you have any doubts, we offer you the option of having an interview to determine whether your level of spoken English is sufficient. The interview can be held via MS Teams.

Please note: there are a limited number of places available for this study programme. You are advised to submit your application as early as possible as admissions will be granted on a first-come, first-served basis.

Would you like more information about the minor?

Please contact minoren.IB.CE.ORM.denbosch@avans.nl

 

Link voor kiesopmaat.nl: https://www.kiesopmaat.nl/modules/avans/AWO/144118/