Sales and Business Development
Whether you’re an aspiring sales manager, senior sales executive, or a business development professional, you can gain the skills needed to develop sales strategies, set targets, expand into markets, launch new products, manage key relationships, and more with a GetSmarter online course.
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Register for a sales or business development course
Most companies have dedicated sales and business development departments responsible for identifying and pursuing business opportunities that will increase revenue.1
Business development professionals bring critical consumer, product, and market insight to organizations, enabling better decision-making with regards to strategy, partnerships, project management, costs, market development, and sales.2 A business development manager creates opportunities for the entire business, thereby enabling long-term growth.
By contrast, sales professionals focus on a specific market, consumer, or product, and often have clearly defined targets to achieve.3 A sales manager typically leads and guides a team of sales professionals, sets their goals, builds sales plans, analyzes data, monitors training needs, and mentors the sales professionals in their teams.4 They’re also responsible for personnel management, which includes recruitment, career development, and dismissals.
Whether you’re an aspiring or seasoned sales manager, taking a sales or business development course with GetSmarter will give you the skills to lead a team, implement best practices, and solidify your own sales techniques. You’ll deepen your knowledge about forecasting, people management, interpreting sales data, and managing customers, and you’ll gain tools for recruiting staff and doing performance evaluations.
If you work in a business development, account management, or relationship management capacity, and you’re looking to improve your ability to prospect for new business opportunities, your confidence to pitch and negotiate effectively, and your relationship management skills to nurture relationships for long-term value creation, then GetSmarter’s university-backed online courses in sales and business development are also for you.
What skills are needed for sales?
Effective sales managers reap the rewards of a team that has adopted a culture of learning, self-improvement, and skills development to achieve their goals and targets.5 In order to be effective, the following skills are important for sales professionals:6
- Strategic prospecting skills, such as referrals or reviving previously lost opportunities, can supersede cold calling and are often more effective
- People skills help to build rapport with prospective clients
- Communication skills ensure that telephonic, written, or direct communication is effective and includes active listening skills where focused listening and asking meaningful questions can help to understand customer pain points better
- Time management means more gets done in less time
- Objection handling allows sales professionals to understand the root cause of a client’s objection by asking questions and offering clarity
- Presentation skills are needed to present demos and sales pitches
- Closing techniques refer to the application of pressure combined with value offered to ensure that a sale is completed
- After-sales relationship management ensures that relationships are maintained after the sale as part of a positive customer experience. This also increases the opportunity for future sales
What skills are needed for business development?
Business development is an important part of any company’s growth, as this function explores innovative business ideas and activities that are necessary for market expansion.7 These activities touch on the entire ecosystem of the business, including sales, marketing, project management, product management, and vendor management, and are aligned to the business developer’s primary goal: business growth.8
How business developers reach their goals depends on the nature of the industry, organization, and the business developers themselves. However, there are some common skills that all business development professionals should master:9
- Market research skills help sales professionals to understand the state of the market and anticipate and identify new prospects to facilitate business growth
- Strategy development capabilities are necessary for new business prospecting, new product development, and further market expansion
- Presentation skills facilitate the pitching of new ideas to the business and clients
- Communication and negotiation skills are vital to building strong relationships and include written, verbal, and nonverbal skills
- Sales and marketing skills facilitate and guide the negotiation process towards a successful closing
- Relationship management capabilities are required to nurture and retain new and existing business relationships for long-term value creation
- Project and program management skills enable these professionals to introduce new initiatives and projects to the business successfully
A career in sales
A career in sales can be incredibly rewarding, with some positions offering perks like flexibility and job security. Your earning potential also rests mostly on your efforts.10 Some sales professionals earn far above the average salary for all occupations, depending on the career or field.11 Here are some of the higher-earning sales roles:
- Real estate brokers help clients sell, purchase or rent property, be it residential, commercial or industrial12
- Sales engineers sell scientific or technological services and products13
- Financial services sales agents connect sellers with buyers in financial markets14
- Advertising sales agents sell advertising space to people and organizations15
- Insurance sales professionals16 contact potential customers and offer the different insurance products available17
- Wholesale and manufacturer’s representatives18 sell products or services to businesses, governments, and other organizations19
- Medical and pharmaceutical sales representatives sell medical equipment or medicines to medical practitioners20
- Software sales agents sell software to businesses and people21
- Consumer packaged goods sales agents sell products to grocery stores and other retail outlets22
Whether you’re a sales professional wishing to secure a promotion into a sales management position, or an existing sales manager who wants to move into a business development role, you’ll gain the skills and knowledge you need by taking one of the sales or business development courses available from GetSmarter.
Flexible, easy-to-use, and designed for professionals on the go, the GetSmarter online learning platform provides everything you need to enrich your knowledge and update your skill set, empowering you to close that deal, make that career move, or land that promotion.
Sources
1(Nd). ‘Business development’. Retrieved from LinkedIn. Accessed June 10, 2020.
2Seth, S. (May, 2019). ‘Business development: the basics’. Retrieved from Investopedia.
3Seth, S. (May, 2019). ‘Business development: the basics’. Retrieved from Investopedia.
4(Nd). ‘What does a sales manager do?’. Retrieved from CareerExplorer. Accessed June 10, 2020.
5Rotenberg, Z. (Nd). ‘14 inside sales skills every sales rep must master’. Retrieved from InsightSquared. Accessed June 10, 2020.
6Rotenberg, Z. (Nd). ‘14 inside sales skills every sales rep must master’. Retrieved from InsightSquared. Accessed June 10, 2020.
7Seth, S. (May, 2019). ‘Business development: the basics’. Retrieved from Investopedia.
8Seth, S. (May, 2019). ‘Business development: the basics’. Retrieved from Investopedia.
9Doyle, A. (Apr, 2020). ‘Important business development skills that employers value’. Retrieved from The Balance Career.
10Phelps, T. (Jul, 2019). ‘Why you should choose a career in sales’. Retrieved from The Balance Career.
11(Apr, 2020). ‘Sales occupations’. Retrieved from BLS.
12(Apr, 2020). ‘Real estate brokers and sales agents’. Retrieved from BLS.
13(Apr, 2020). ‘Sales engineers’. Retrieved from BLS.
14(Apr, 2020). ‘Securities, commodities and financial services sales agents’. Retrieved from BLS.
15(Apr, 2020). ‘Advertising sales agents’. Retrieved from BLS.
16(Apr, 2020). ‘Sales occupations’. Retrieved from BLS.
17(Apr, 2020). ‘Insurance sales agents’. Retrieved from BLS.
18(Apr, 2020). ‘Sales occupations’. Retrieved from BLS.
19(Apr, 2020). ‘Wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives’. Retrieved from BLS.
20Bortz, D. (Nd). ‘10 high-paying jobs for natural-born salespeople’. Retrieved from Monster. Accessed June 10, 2020.
21Bortz, D. (Nd). ‘10 high-paying jobs for natural-born salespeople’. Retrieved from Monster. Accessed June 10, 2020.
22(Apr, 2020). ‘Sales occupations’. Retrieved from BLS.
Register for a sales or business development course
Most companies have dedicated sales and business development departments responsible for identifying and pursuing business opportunities that will increase revenue.1
Business development professionals bring critical consumer, product, and market insight to organizations, enabling better decision-making with regards to strategy, partnerships, project management, costs, market development, and sales.2 A business development manager creates opportunities for the entire business, thereby enabling long-term growth.
By contrast, sales professionals focus on a specific market, consumer, or product, and often have clearly defined targets to achieve.3 A sales manager typically leads and guides a team of sales professionals, sets their goals, builds sales plans, analyzes data, monitors training needs, and mentors the sales professionals in their teams.4 They’re also responsible for personnel management, which includes recruitment, career development, and dismissals.
Whether you’re an aspiring or seasoned sales manager, taking a sales or business development course with GetSmarter will give you the skills to lead a team, implement best practices, and solidify your own sales techniques. You’ll deepen your knowledge about forecasting, people management, interpreting sales data, and managing customers, and you’ll gain tools for recruiting staff and doing performance evaluations.
If you work in a business development, account management, or relationship management capacity, and you’re looking to improve your ability to prospect for new business opportunities, your confidence to pitch and negotiate effectively, and your relationship management skills to nurture relationships for long-term value creation, then GetSmarter’s university-backed online courses in sales and business development are also for you.
What skills are needed for sales?
Effective sales managers reap the rewards of a team that has adopted a culture of learning, self-improvement, and skills development to achieve their goals and targets.5 In order to be effective, the following skills are important for sales professionals:6
- Strategic prospecting skills, such as referrals or reviving previously lost opportunities, can supersede cold calling and are often more effective
- People skills help to build rapport with prospective clients
- Communication skills ensure that telephonic, written, or direct communication is effective and includes active listening skills where focused listening and asking meaningful questions can help to understand customer pain points better
- Time management means more gets done in less time
- Objection handling allows sales professionals to understand the root cause of a client’s objection by asking questions and offering clarity
- Presentation skills are needed to present demos and sales pitches
- Closing techniques refer to the application of pressure combined with value offered to ensure that a sale is completed
- After-sales relationship management ensures that relationships are maintained after the sale as part of a positive customer experience. This also increases the opportunity for future sales
What skills are needed for business development?
Business development is an important part of any company’s growth, as this function explores innovative business ideas and activities that are necessary for market expansion.7 These activities touch on the entire ecosystem of the business, including sales, marketing, project management, product management, and vendor management, and are aligned to the business developer’s primary goal: business growth.8
How business developers reach their goals depends on the nature of the industry, organization, and the business developers themselves. However, there are some common skills that all business development professionals should master:9
- Market research skills help sales professionals to understand the state of the market and anticipate and identify new prospects to facilitate business growth
- Strategy development capabilities are necessary for new business prospecting, new product development, and further market expansion
- Presentation skills facilitate the pitching of new ideas to the business and clients
- Communication and negotiation skills are vital to building strong relationships and include written, verbal, and nonverbal skills
- Sales and marketing skills facilitate and guide the negotiation process towards a successful closing
- Relationship management capabilities are required to nurture and retain new and existing business relationships for long-term value creation
- Project and program management skills enable these professionals to introduce new initiatives and projects to the business successfully
A career in sales
A career in sales can be incredibly rewarding, with some positions offering perks like flexibility and job security. Your earning potential also rests mostly on your efforts.10 Some sales professionals earn far above the average salary for all occupations, depending on the career or field.11 Here are some of the higher-earning sales roles:
- Real estate brokers help clients sell, purchase or rent property, be it residential, commercial or industrial12
- Sales engineers sell scientific or technological services and products13
- Financial services sales agents connect sellers with buyers in financial markets14
- Advertising sales agents sell advertising space to people and organizations15
- Insurance sales professionals16 contact potential customers and offer the different insurance products available17
- Wholesale and manufacturer’s representatives18 sell products or services to businesses, governments, and other organizations19
- Medical and pharmaceutical sales representatives sell medical equipment or medicines to medical practitioners20
- Software sales agents sell software to businesses and people21
- Consumer packaged goods sales agents sell products to grocery stores and other retail outlets22
Whether you’re a sales professional wishing to secure a promotion into a sales management position, or an existing sales manager who wants to move into a business development role, you’ll gain the skills and knowledge you need by taking one of the sales or business development courses available from GetSmarter.
Flexible, easy-to-use, and designed for professionals on the go, the GetSmarter online learning platform provides everything you need to enrich your knowledge and update your skill set, empowering you to close that deal, make that career move, or land that promotion.
Sources
1(Nd). ‘Business development’. Retrieved from LinkedIn. Accessed June 10, 2020.
2Seth, S. (May, 2019). ‘Business development: the basics’. Retrieved from Investopedia.
3Seth, S. (May, 2019). ‘Business development: the basics’. Retrieved from Investopedia.
4(Nd). ‘What does a sales manager do?’. Retrieved from CareerExplorer. Accessed June 10, 2020.
5Rotenberg, Z. (Nd). ‘14 inside sales skills every sales rep must master’. Retrieved from InsightSquared. Accessed June 10, 2020.
6Rotenberg, Z. (Nd). ‘14 inside sales skills every sales rep must master’. Retrieved from InsightSquared. Accessed June 10, 2020.
7Seth, S. (May, 2019). ‘Business development: the basics’. Retrieved from Investopedia.
8Seth, S. (May, 2019). ‘Business development: the basics’. Retrieved from Investopedia.
9Doyle, A. (Apr, 2020). ‘Important business development skills that employers value’. Retrieved from The Balance Career.
10Phelps, T. (Jul, 2019). ‘Why you should choose a career in sales’. Retrieved from The Balance Career.
11(Apr, 2020). ‘Sales occupations’. Retrieved from BLS.
12(Apr, 2020). ‘Real estate brokers and sales agents’. Retrieved from BLS.
13(Apr, 2020). ‘Sales engineers’. Retrieved from BLS.
14(Apr, 2020). ‘Securities, commodities and financial services sales agents’. Retrieved from BLS.
15(Apr, 2020). ‘Advertising sales agents’. Retrieved from BLS.
16(Apr, 2020). ‘Sales occupations’. Retrieved from BLS.
17(Apr, 2020). ‘Insurance sales agents’. Retrieved from BLS.
18(Apr, 2020). ‘Sales occupations’. Retrieved from BLS.
19(Apr, 2020). ‘Wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives’. Retrieved from BLS.
20Bortz, D. (Nd). ‘10 high-paying jobs for natural-born salespeople’. Retrieved from Monster. Accessed June 10, 2020.
21Bortz, D. (Nd). ‘10 high-paying jobs for natural-born salespeople’. Retrieved from Monster. Accessed June 10, 2020.
22(Apr, 2020). ‘Sales occupations’. Retrieved from BLS.
