Program Overview

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Department of Marketing

The Department of Marketing offers a Professional Selling Certificate program, which provides students with a comprehensive understanding of the sales process and prepares them for careers in sales.

Overview of Certificate Program

The Professional Selling Certificate program offers several benefits, including:

• Notoriety: Less than one percent of universities in the United States have a sales program, making this certificate highly distinctive.
• Student Careers: Many graduates from various majors are hired into sales positions, and earning this certificate gives them a competitive edge.
• Retention: Sales force turnover rates exceed twice the national average, and hiring students from a sales program can lower turnover by 30% and shorten the time to meaningful revenue production.
• Purpose: The certificate program benefits non-marketing students who want to gain an understanding of the sales process and non-degree-seeking individuals who want to use the program for career development.

Program Outcomes

Through completing the 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

Professional Selling Certificate Requirements

The Professional Selling Certificate requires 12 hours of coursework. The required courses are:

• MKT 3840 Professional Selling (3 credit hours)
• MKT 3950 Business-to-Business Marketing (3 credit hours)
• MKT 4850 Advanced Selling (3 credit hours)

Electives

Students must choose one elective course from the following options:

• ACTG 3000 Survey of Accounting for General Business (3 credit hours)
• FIN 3000 Survey of Finance (3 credit hours)
• FIN 3010 Principles of Corporate Finance (3 credit hours)
• MKT 3825 Marketing Analytics (3 credit hours)
• MKT 3830 Retailing and E-Commerce (3 credit hours)
• MKT 3850 Digital Marketing and Promotion (3 credit hours)
• MKT 3855 Product Management (3 credit hours)
• MKT 3900 Social Media Marketing (3 credit hours)
• MKT 3910 Consumer Behavior (3 credit hours)
• MKT 4510 Global Marketing (3 credit hours)
• MKT 4800 Sales Management (3 credit hours)
• MKT 4870 Services Marketing (3 credit hours)

Course Descriptions

MKT 3840 Professional Selling

Prerequisites: MKT 3820; admission to the College of Business; junior standing. Principles, problems, and role of personal selling in the business environment. Buying motives, persuasion techniques, and steps of selling process are considered as they relate to different types of sales activities and products.

MKT 3950 Business-to-Business Marketing

Prerequisites: MKT 3820; admission into the College of Business; junior standing. Survey of managerial decisions involved in the business-to-business marketing of goods and services.

MKT 4850 Advanced Selling

Prerequisites: MKT 3840; admission into the College of Business; junior standing. The sales function as it relates to business-to-business selling and strategic relationship development. Topics include relational selling, account management, negotiation, team selling, handling conflict and ethical dilemmas, and selling to buying committees. Learning through interactive lecture, role-playing, and sales force automation software.

ACTG 3000 Survey of Accounting for General Business

Prerequisites: A college-level math course; ENGL 1010; sophomore standing. Accounting cycle given minor emphasis; financial statement analysis and managerial uses of accounting given major emphasis. May be used for general business minors or M.B.A. candidates who have had no previous accounting courses.

FIN 3000 Survey of Finance

Prerequisite: Junior standing. Will not substitute for FIN 3010. An overview of the fundamental concepts and tools for financial decision making within a business firm.

FIN 3010 Principles of Corporate Finance

Prerequisite: Junior standing. Theory of corporate finance, emphasizing wealth creation, valuation, risk, capital budgeting, and cost of capital.

MKT 3825 Marketing Analytics

Prerequisite: MKT 3820; junior standing; admission to the College of Business. A survey of the metrics most commonly used to measure marketing performance with special emphasis given to marketing mix metrics, market share metrics, and customer lifetime value.

MKT 3830 Retailing and E-Commerce

Prerequisites: MKT 3820; admission into the College of Business; junior standing. Provides an overview of the strategies involved in retailing. Covers critical retail determinants that consist of management of merchandise assortments, merchandise planning systems, buying strategies, pricing strategies, financial strategies, technological strategies, and store management.

MKT 3850 Digital Marketing and Promotion

Prerequisites: MKT 3820; admission to the College of Business; junior standing. Psychological, sociological, legal, and marketing environments of promotion; the promotion mix consisting of advertising, publicity, personal selling, and sales promotion; and the development of promotion objectives, strategies, and plans.

MKT 3855 Product Management

Prerequisites: MKT 3820; MATH 1530 or PSY 3020 or BIA 2610; admission into the College of Business; junior standing. Issues pertaining to marketing of products. Examines topics of interest to product managers including product life cycle, sales forecasting, new products, product positioning, and brand management.

MKT 3900 Social Media Marketing

Prerequisites: MKT 3820; admission into the College of Business; junior standing. Discover how to leverage the power of social media to impact an organization at various levels. Focuses on crafting quality content to execute a successful marketing strategy.

MKT 3910 Consumer Behavior

Prerequisites: MKT 3820; admission into the College of Business; junior standing. Buyer behavior as an influence in marketing decisions; special attention given to the processes of motivation, perception, attitude, learning, and interaction.

MKT 4510 Global Marketing

Prerequisite: MKT 3820; admission to the Jones College of Business; junior standing. Helps students understand and assess global market opportunities, development of market strategies in the international marketplace, and techniques of entering the international market.

MKT 4800 Sales Management

Prerequisites: MKT 3820; admission into the College of Business; junior standing. Management functions as applied to field sales force. Includes sales organization structures, selection and training of sales personnel, sales compensation, supervision and stimulation of the sales force, and evaluation of sales performance.

MKT 4870 Services Marketing

Prerequisites: MKT 3820; admission into the College of Business; junior standing. The role and scope of marketing in service entities, including impact, issues, and domestic and global trends.