Welcome to BUS633: Sales Management

Specific information about this course and its requirements can be found below. For more general information about taking Saylor Academy courses, including information about Community and Academic Codes of Conduct, please read the Student Handbook.

Course Description

In this graduate-level course, learn the importance of the sales function for the survival and growth of the organization.

Course Introduction

In this graduate-level course, we will explore the entire selling process, from learning about your customers through the entire sales process, including follow-up, to maintaining customer loyalty. We will discuss different selling strategies to assess the customer's needs and how we, as consultative salespeople, can solve their problems with our product or service. Remember that marketing is all about the customer's needs: without sales, the company would not exist.

In addition to the sales process, we will address how business technology has influenced sales practices. Business technology refers to the digital tools that help companies and their sales teams improve productivity and convert leads into actual customers. A sales force can utilize many digital tools to enhance their productivity; these include CRM (customer relationship management) systems, sales prospecting tools, lead enrichment tools, outreach and email platforms, scheduling software, live chat, sales reporting tools, and many others.

This course includes the following units:

  • Unit 1: The Importance of the Sales Function
  • Unit 2: Prospecting and Qualifying
  • Unit 3: The Pre-Approach
  • Unit 4: The Approach
  • Unit 5: The Presentation and Demonstration
  • Unit 6: Handling Objections
  • Unit 7: Closing the Sale
  • Unit 8: Follow-Up
  • Unit 9: Selling Strategies
  • Unit 10: Selling Yourself

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

  • Demonstrate the impact and importance of sales for a company's success;
  • Demonstrate the seven steps in the selling process;
  • Define and explore various careers in the sales and service industry;
  • Apply selling strategies to the four different customer types;
  • Demonstrate the basics of sales and the importance of building long-term relationships;
  • Analyze the impact of technology on sales and service processes, including eCommerce, social media, and globalization;
  • Demonstrate the process of SPIN selling with written probing questions; and
  • Develop a personal brand to sell yourself to future employers.

Throughout this course, you will also see learning outcomes in each unit. You can use those learning outcomes to help organize your studies and gauge your progress.

Course Materials

This course's primary learning materials are articles, lectures, and videos.

All course materials are free to access and can be found in each unit of the course. Pay close attention to the notes that accompany these course materials, as they will tell you what to focus on in each resource and will help you understand how the learning materials fit into the course as a whole. You can also see a list of all the learning materials in this course at this link.

Some parts of this course may have been created or reviewed with the support of artificial intelligence (AI). To make sure you receive accurate, high-quality, and academically sound learning materials, all AI-assisted content is carefully checked and approved by Saylor Academy's faculty and subject matter experts.

Evaluation and Minimum Passing Score

Only the final exam is considered when awarding you a grade for this course. To pass this course, you will need to earn a grade of 70% or higher on the final exam.

Your score on the exam will be calculated as soon as you complete it. Be sure to study in between each attempt! If you do not pass the exam, you will not complete this course or receive a certificate of completion. You can attempt the exam as many times as you want.

There are end-of-unit assessments in this course that are designed to help you study and do not factor into your final course grade. You can take them as many times as you want until you understand the concepts they cover.

You can see all of these assessments at this link.

Continuing Education Credits

The certificate earned by passing this self-paced course displays the program hours you completed and continuing education credits (CEUs). CEUs document successful completion of courses that are designed to improve the knowledge and skills of working adults. Many industries value CEUs, and now your certificate reflects them clearly, and they may be used to support career advancement or to meet professional licensing standards. This course contains 2.9 CEUs.

Tips for Success

BUS633: Sales Management is a self-paced course, meaning you can decide when to start and complete the course. We estimate the "average" student will take hours to complete. We recommend studying at a comfortable pace and scheduling your study time in advance.

Learning new material can be challenging, so here are a few study strategies to help you succeed:

  • Take notes on terms, practices, and theories. This helps you understand each concept in context and provides a refresher for later study.
  • Test yourself on what you remember and how well you understand the concepts. Reflecting on what you've learned improves long-term memory retention.

Technical Requirements

This course is delivered entirely online. You will need access to a computer or web-capable mobile device and consistent internet access to view or download resources and complete auto-graded assessments and the final exam.

To access the full course, including assessments and the final exam, log into your Saylor Academy account and enroll in the course. If you don't have an account, you can create one for free here. Note that tracking progress and taking assessments require you to log in.

For more details and guidance, please review our complete Technical Requirements and our student Help Center.


Optional Saylor Academy Mobile App

You can access all course features directly from your mobile browser, but if you have limited internet connectivity, the Saylor Academy mobile app provides an option to download course content for offline use. The app is available for iOS and Android devices.

Fees

This course is entirely free to enroll in and access. All course materials, including textbooks, videos, webpages, and activities, are available at no charge. This course also contains a free final exam and a free course completion certificate.

Last modified: Friday, October 3, 2025, 1:00 PM