Commercial and Sales Management

Objectives

• Gain knowledge of new trends and strategies in business management.
• Prepare to work in competitive environments, with the ability to analyze commercial strategies, provide value through distribution channels and the sales team, and place customers at the center of the entire strategy.
• Acquire a comprehensive and practical understanding of the tasks of sales and commercial management.
• Be able to carry out a comparative analysis of commercial distribution companies in the field of marketing.
• Be able to analyze extensive articles on commercial and logistical aspects.

Learning outcomes

• Work as a team to analyze, synthesize and present the most relevant commercial information about a company.
• Evaluate the relevance and rigor of a long article in relation to the commercial and logistics field, commercial distribution or a market.
• Organizes the work of a team.
• Knows how to analyse and present current information in the commercial and sales field, distinguishing between information and opinion.
• Knows how to combine commercial and sales arguments and data to obtain a diagnosis.

Competencies

General skills

• Be a skilful innovator and entrepreneur.
• Be able to analyze and summarize.
• Be able to communicate orally and in the languages of the community.
• Be able to engage in criticism and self-criticism.
• Be able to make reasoned and coherent presentations.
• Be able to organize and plan.
• Be able to put basic knowledge of the profession into practice.
• Be able to use information: seek, analyze, select, organize and exploit information effectively.
• Be able to work in a team and a multidisciplinary network.
• Be able to work in an international context.
• Be environmentally and socially aware at work.
• Be skilled at adapting to new situations.
• Have an ethical commitment at work, with respect for democratic principles and values.

Specific skills

• Be able to analyze and understand the operation of the market and its influence on the activities of a company.
• Be able to apply market research theory and instruments to implement business strategies.
• Be able to critically evaluate business situations, and manage an organization effectively and efficiently.
• Be able to devise and implement business initiatives in global markets.
• Be able to lead and manage processes of change in organizations, in particular in contexts of innovation and crisis.
• Be able to plan sales activities focused on customers, and lead and manage sales teams.
• Understand and be able to convey the importance of an organization's approach to the market and customer relations.

Basic skills

• Students can apply their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional manner and have competencies typically demonstrated through drafting and defending arguments and solving problems in their field of study.
• Students can communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialists and non-specialists.
• Students have demonstrated knowledge and understanding in a field of study that builds on general secondary education with the support of advanced textbooks and knowledge of the latest advances in this field of study.
• Students have developed the learning skills necessary to undertake further studies with a high degree of independent learning.
• Students have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (usually within their field of study) in order to make judgments that include reflection on relevant social, scientific and ethical issues.

Core skills

• Be a critical thinker before knowledge in all its dimensions. Show intellectual, cultural and scientific curiosity and a commitment to professional rigor and quality.

Content

• Introduction: business management, marketing and strategy
• Sales
• Commercial distribution and commercial networks
• Marketing channels
• Business strategy: segmentation of the customer portfolio
• Business Intelligence
• Business Activity Dashboard

Evaluation

Students of the Marketing and Business Communication degree must make a presentation of the combined synthesis by topic to be presented from the book by Sergio Románe Inés Küster and the book by C. Shane Hunt and others, "Professional Sales" (see them in the bibliography). The eight chapters are distributed among the students and presentations are carried out that cover the first hour (45 min) and a subsequent debate (2nd hour) related to real situations. The professor evaluates the quality of the presentation, both in content and form, and the participation of each student to provide suggestions, criticisms and particularities observed in the real world of the company. This part corresponds to a 30% of the total grade. Anyone who has failed the subject and this part at the same time has the opportunity to recover it with a test on the book during the recovery period set by the head of studies.

Controlled presence in the classroom: 10% of the total grade. Given the way the subject is developed, with most of the work oriented and carried out in classes, It is essential to attend 70% of the sessions in order to be evaluated.

Study and synthesis of an extensive article on commercial and/or logistics, individually (at least 10 pages per student) or in a group of a maximum of 3 students (at least 30 pages in total), at the discretion of the teacher, with a follow-up in which the teacher interacts in the presentation in class. This part corresponds to a 30% of the total grade.

Group work on a Spanish commercial distribution company, with analysis, synthesis and monitoring by the teacher. This part corresponds to a 30% of the total grade.

Students of the degree in Advertising and Public Relations are excluded from presenting chapters of the book and their corresponding assignments. In this case, the weight of the evaluation varies:

• Long article (see description above): 40 %
• Group work (see description above): 50 %
• Attendance in class: 10 %

Methodology

• Classroom interaction between teacher and students to develop analyses and prepare presentations.
• Individual or group discussions of selected articles or group work.
• Group work on the analysis project of a commercial distribution company.
• Simulation of commercial situations.

Bibliography

Key references

• ASTRE, EGUERRAN (2017). VENDRÉ A L'ERE DIGITALE: AMELIORER SA PERFORMANCE COMMERCIAL DAN'S LA NOUVELLE ECONOMIE. DUNOD.
• BUCHET, F. Y CARON, N. (2010). Les Tableaux de bord de la fonction commerciale (2 ed.). DUNOD.
• FOSSIER, ALAIN, LETRILLART-BENARD, ODILE (2017). PROFESSION MANAGER COMMERCIAL: MOTIVER, COACHER ET PILOTER UN EQUIPE DE VENTE (2 ed.). DUNOD.
• HUNT, C. SHANE, DEITZ GEORGE D.& HANSEN, JOHN D. (2023). VENTAS PROFESIONALES: PORQUE TODOS SOMOS VENDEDORES. Mc Graw Hill.
• ROMAN, Sergio y KÜSTER, Inés (2015). Gestión de la venta personal y de equipos comerciales. Paraninfo.

Further reading

Teachers will provide complementary bibliography and compulsory reading throughout the course via the Virtual Campus.