Program Overview

Professional Selling, Undergraduate Certificate

The Professional Selling Certificate requires 12 hours. Students seeking to complete this certificate should contact the Jones College of Business Advising Center to submit the application form.

Careers

Through completing a Professional Selling Certificate, participants will:

• Develop an understanding of the sales process
• Utilize the Mel Adams State Farm Sales Lab in the completion of role-play scenarios
• Enhance understanding of business-to-business relationship development
• Recognize the importance of customer relationship management database utilization
• Apply coaching, evaluation, and critical feedback skills
• Learn and display proper ethical, professional, and business behaviors

Requirements

The Professional Selling Certificate requires 12 hours.

Required Courses (9 hours)

• MKT 3840 - Professional Selling
• MKT 3950 - Business-to-Business Marketing
• MKT 4850 - Advanced Selling

Electives (3 hours)

Choose one from the following:

• ACTG 3000 - Survey of Accounting for General Business
• FIN 3000 - Survey of Finance
• FIN 3010 - Principles of Corporate Finance
• MKT 3825 - Marketing Analytics
• MKT 3830 - Retailing and E-Commerce
• MKT 3850 - Digital Marketing and Promotion
• MKT 3855 - Product Management
• MKT 3900 - Social Media Marketing
• MKT 3910 - Consumer Behavior
• MKT 4510 - Global Marketing
• MKT 4800 - Sales Management
• MKT 4870 - Services Marketing

Faculty

The faculty members for the Professional Selling Certificate include:

• Dr. Robert B. Blair, Professor and Chair
• Dr. Kaan Canayaz, Assistant Professor
• Dr. W. Randy Clark, Professor
• Mr. Thom Coats, Professor of Practice and Director, Center for Professional Selling
• Dr. Diane R. Edmondson, Professor
• Dr. J. Ricky Fergurson, Assistant Professor
• Mr. Kenneth George, Lecturer
• Dr. Virginia Hemby-Grubb, Professor
• Dr. Ronda G. Henderson, Associate Professor
• Dr. DeAnna Kempf, Associate Professor
• Dr. Natalie A. Marquart, Assistant Professor
• Dr. Lucy M. Matthews, Professor
• Dr. Michael Peasley, Associate Professor and Director, Consumer Research Institute
• Dr. Melodie R. Phillips, Associate Professor
• Dr. Gaia Rancati, Assistant Professor
• Mr. Mark E. Roberts, Instructor and Coordinator, Dale Carnegie
• Dr. Sherry J. Roberts, Associate Professor
• Dr. Don Roy, Professor
• Dr. Rajesh Srivastava, Professor
• Dr. David J. Urban, Professor

Information

There are a variety of benefits for earning a Professional Selling Certificate. Some of these benefits include:

• Notoriety - Less than one percent of universities in the United States have a sales program. This includes both professional selling concentrations and certificates.
• Student Careers - MTSU has over 120 majors. Many of the graduates from these majors are hired into a sales position within their related field of study. Earning a professional selling certificate will give these students a competitive edge and allow them to stand out.
• Retention - Sales force turnover rates exceed twice the national average for other positions. Within the first year, costs for a single new hire fall between $50,000 and $75,000; organizations need to find and maintain qualified sales professionals. Prior research has shown that hiring students from a sales program lowers turnover by 30% and shortens the time to meaningful revenue production, adding tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to the bottom line.
• Purpose - The certificate program benefits the non-marketing student who would like to understand the sales process or a non-degree-seeking individual who would like to use the program for career development.