Silicon Valley Business School

Contents of SVBS Course: Sales & Business Development

This course module covers the following topics: Organizing the Sales Team, Business Development, Sales Skills & Techniques, CRM ~ Customer Relationship Management Systems, Online Meetings and Sales Presentations and Sales in a Startup Venture. The sales function for a startup company is somewhat different from that of a large, established corporation. This module covers the special characteristics of the sales operation and organization in a startup company.

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

Upon completion of this course you will be able to:

Prepare a sales and business development plan.
Appreciate how customer relationship management (CRM) systems are being adopted in various organizations.
Organize a sales team.
Prepare a plan to install and operate a customer relationship management system for use in sales and business development.
Appreciate how online meeting and presentation capabilities are being adopted in startups and other business organizations.


Course Sections

The course is organized into the following sections:

Sales: Organizing the Sales Team
Sales: Business Development
Sales: Sales Skills & Techniques
Sales: CRM ~ Customer Relationship Management Systems
Sales: Online Meetings and Sales Presentations
Sales: Sales in a Startup Venture
Sales: Prospecting
Sales: Customer Acquisition Management
Sales: Sales Metrics
Sales: Growing the Sales Team
Sales: Sales Force Management

Sales: Sales Skills & Techniques
  • Video ~ The Written Sales Plan
  • A written sales plan will help you to monitor and track your progress as well as furnish you with information that you can use to improve your performance.

  • Video ~ Getting Your First Customers
  • Video ~ The 5 Step Sales Process
  • Video ~ How Flash Sales Can Enhance Your Business
  • Video explains what a “flash sale” is, and outlines how it can help your business.

  • Video ~ Keys to Successfully Pitching Your Product
  • Video ~ Famous Sales Techniques
  • Video ~ Sales Driver
  • Video ~ Sales Training - Closing the Sale
  • Video ~ Selling Your Idea, Not Just Your Product
  • Video ~ Insider Sales Secrets
  • Video ~ How to Close a Sale
  • Video ~ 3 Things Sales Teams Can Do To Succeed
  • Do you call every lead that you receive? Do you promptly call every lead? Are you being persistent enough with your leads? In this video, you will learn tips about the things that sales teams can do to succeed.

  • Video ~ 3 Common Mistakes Sales Teams Make
  • Video ~ Science Of Persuasion
  • How can people be persuaded? What are the factors that influence us to say “Yes” to the request of others?

  • Video ~ Blocking Objections
  • Video ~ Overcoming the Price Objections
  • Video ~ 5 Tips for Brokering Deals with Huge Companies
  • Optional Video Playlist ~ Tips from Experts on Sales Skills
  • Optional Video Playlist ~ Sales Skills & Techniques
  • Sales: Organizing the Sales Team
  • Video ~ Inside Sales People Aren't Sales People
  • Video ~ Sales Territory Alignment
  • Introduction to Sales Team Organization
  • The most common ways a sales team can be organized is by geographic region, product line, channel or customer type. In this article, you will learn how Sales Teams are organized.

  • Reading ~ What Is Sales Force Organization?
  • How do you avoid duplication of efforts by your salespeople? How do you avoid redundancies? How do you organize your sales force to be as efficient and effective as possible?

  • Reading ~ Sales Force Evaluation
  • It is important to evaluate individual and team performance in order to determine how the sales force can best be improved.

  • Reading -- Organizing a Sales Compensation Plan
  • In this article, you will get acquainted with how to write and implement a Sales Compensation Plan. You will also get acquainted with Sales Compensation formulas.

  • Reading -- Organizing a Sales Force by Product or Customer
  • How do you build a sales organization for a company with a broad product portfolio? Should the sales organization be built around customers or products?

  • Reading -- Inside Sales
  • What is Inside Sales? How is it different from telemarketing?

    Sales: Business Development
  • Video ~ Business Development of Corporate Accounts
  • How can you sell more to your existing corporate accounts? Are you maximizing the opportunities that are available from your existing corporate accounts?

  • Video ~ The Art of Business Development: Tips for Building Relationships
  • Video ~ How to Be Great at Business Development
  • Do you understand your target audience? Do you understand the market that your business operates in? Do you know how to be persistent in a polite way? In this video, you will learn tips about how to be great at Business Development?

  • Video ~ How to Connect with Your Customer
  • This video recommends that you need to know the background of your customers (e.g. Do they have kids? Where do they like to spend their time?): Knowing these background information will help you build a relationship and connect with your customer. Two other tips for connecting with your customers are shared in this video.

  • Video ~ How to do Business Development 2.0
  • How do you do Business Development online?

  • Video ~ The 10 Keys to Business Development
  • Video ~ 5 Keys to Building Rock Solid Partnerships
  • Video ~ 3 Tips for Successful Business Development -- for Entrepreneurs
  • Video ~ Building a Large, Scalable Network of Partners
  • Video ~ How to Court Strategic Partners
  • Video ~ Keys to Account Management
  • Introduction to Business Development
  • What is Business Development? What is the difference between Business Development and Sales?

    Sales: CRM ~ Customer Relationship Management Systems
  • Video ~ What is CRM?
  • Video ~ Sugar CRM's Introduction to CRM
  • Video ~ SugarCRM for Sales
  • Video ~ Watch What Sugar Can Do For Your Business
  • Video ~ Salesforce.com Introduction Demo
  • Introduction to CRM for Sales
  • What is Customer Relationship Management (CRM)? What are the objectives of CRM? How are CRM systems used for Sales Force Automation?

  • Reference ~ Discover SugarCRM
  • Extensive set of videos and materials on SugarCRM. Useful for students wishing to dig into the details of how SugarCRM works.. however this is optional and not required.

  • Reference ~ Salesforce.Videos
  • Extensive set of videos and materials on SugarCRM. Useful for students wishing to dig into the details of how SugarCRM works.. however this is optional and not required.

    Sales: Online Meetings and Sales Presentations
  • Video ~ GoTo Meeting Demo
  • Video ~ Online Meetings with Skype
  • Video ~ Google Hangout Tutorial - How To Use Google Hangouts
  • Video ~ Presentations & Collaboration with Hangouts / Hangouts on Air (HOA)
  • Video ~ PowerPoint Presentation Tips
  • How do you make your PowerPoint presentations engaging for your audience?

    Sales: Sales in a Startup Venture
  • Video ~ Startup Sales
  • Video ~ The Importance Of Hiring Salespeople
  • Video ~ 4 Tips for Doing Business Development at an Early Stage Company
  • Video ~ Creating a Sales and Business Development Strategy
  • Video ~ Business Development Responsibilities During the Early Stages of a Startup
  • Video ~ 4 Keys to Doing Deals with Large Companies
  • Sales: Prospecting
  • Video ~ Successful Prospecting & Boosting Business Sales
  • How can you be successful at Sales Prospecting? In this video, you will learn tips that will enable you to be successful at Sales Prospecting.

  • Video ~ Boost Your Bottom Line: Start Hosting Live Events
  • One way you can generate more business is by holding live events.

  • Video ~ Making Prospecting Enjoyable
  • Video ~ Pro Tips: Simple Prospecting Sales Questions
  • In this video, you will get acquainted with some simple sales prospecting questions, which you can use when you are calling on companies where you do not know anyone, or on companies that you know someone, but you do not know them very well.

  • Video ~ A Couple Reasons You Should Never Cold Call
  • Video ~ Cold Calling - Worth your time? Is cold calling dead?
  • Reading ~ What is Sales Prospecting?
  • Definition of Sales Prospecting.

    Sales: Customer Acquisition Management
  • Video ~ Improving Customer Acquisition
  • How can you improve the number of leads and the quality of leads, as well as organization and management of sales teams? In this video, you will get acquainted with the changes that have been observed in the field, regarding Customer Acquisition.

  • Video ~ Customer Acquisition Cost
  • Reading ~ Customer Acquisition Management
  • Customer acquisition management systems enable organizations to measure the effectiveness of various forms of marketing and lead generation.

    Sales: Sales Metrics
  • Video ~ 4 Key Metrics To Track To Improve Sales
  • Video ~How to Use Salesforce CRM Metrics to Drive Sales Performance
  • Reading ~ The Twelve Sales Metrics that Matter Most
  • Reading ~ The Sales Metrics that Matter Most
  • Sales: Growing the Sales Team
  • Video ~ Pitfall's of Hiring Sales People too Fast
  • Video ~ 3 Requirements for Increasing Sales
  • Video ~ You Can't Outsource Sales & Marketing
  • Video ~ Hyperscaling Inside Sales
  • Reading ~ Build a Stellar Sales Team
  • Your need for additional sales personnel will grow as your business grows. In this article, you will learn how to evaluate the performance of your sales force as well as how to make your sales force more productive.

  • Reading ~ How to Train a Sales Force
  • Your sales force needs knowledge in three major areas--your product, your industry and general sales skills. By offering a well-rounded training program, new staff will be up and running in no time, and old staff members will be able to constantly improve their sales skills.

    Sales: Sales Force Management
  • Video ~ Sales Management & Leadership
  • Video ~ Sales Management Best Practices
  • Video ~ Sales Culture - Introduction - What is it?
  • Video ~ Sales Force - Building a Winning Sales Team
  • Video ~ Motivating the Sales Team
  • Reading ~ Sales Force Tips
  • Certificate Course
    This certificate tracks your progress and tests you in each section. Once you have passed all the quizzes, submitted an assignment and reviewed all the materials, you will be awarded a certificate of completion.