MAR-310-OL


	Syllabus for MAR-310-OL

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Principles of Sales is a comprehensive introduction to the principles of selling and the role of the professional salesperson in the marketing process. The course covers the characteristics and skills necessary for success in sales; techniques for identifying sales prospects and qualifying buyers; the importance of relationship building, product knowledge, and postsales service in long-term, consultative-style selling; territory and sales management; and selling in the global market.

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COURSE OBJECTIVES

With the aid of the video programs and through studying the telecourse study guide and textbook, you should be able to:

Explain the role of personal selling in the application of the marketing concept.

Outline how personal selling skills can become assets in performing "knowledge work."

Develop strategies for obtaining and sustaining relationships with customers, secondary decision makers, support staff, and relevant managers.

Achieve versatility in selling through exhibiting flexibility in your communication style.

Evaluate your sales behaviors in order to maintain high ethical standards.

Analyze customer situations and problems in order to provide successful product or service-related solutions.

Create value-added selling strategies that include dynamic product positioning and yield a competitive advantage.

Differentiate among buyer attributes and behaviors that influence the consumer buying process.

Develop prospecting and forecasting plans that provide a solid pool of current and potential customers.

Design sales approaches that will result in convincing customers to buy.

Diagnose specific customer concerns or problems and provide consultative selling.

Select and customize tools and methods to create winning sales presentations.

Apply negotiating skills in complex or challenging customer situations.

Demonstrate successfully the sales closing.

Create strategies for establishing mutually satisfactory long-term partnerships with customers.

Demonstrate self-management practices that are essential in developing sales opportunities.

Devise a set of guidelines for key approaches to successfully managing a sales force.

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COURSE MATERIALS

The following materials are required to do the work of the course. The text and the telecourse guide are available from the textbook supplier, MBS Direct.

Telecourse Study Guide

The Sales Connection Telecourse Study Guide by Marcy M. Rothenberg (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2007)—to be used with the 10th edition of the text Selling Today: Creating Customer Value.

Textbook

Selling Today: Creating Customer Value, 10th ed., by Gerald L. Manning and Barry L. Reece (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2007).

Video Programs

The Sales Connection (INTELECOM; 26 half-hour video programs).

Two Notes about Materials:
The video programs are being offered via streaming video technology through this course site. Each video assignment will include the necessary links for accessing the video stream.

The textbook publisher provides a Web site (http://wps.prenhall.com/bp_manning_selling_10). Click "Self-study quizzes." Select a chapter and take the quizzes as often as you like. Both the Concept Check and Concept Challenge quizzes have multiple-choice, true/false, and essay questions that you can answer to help you check your knowledge and to prepare for your examinations. By clicking the Submit Answers for Grading button at the end of each quiz, you will receive immediate feedback on whether you answered correctly. If you did not answer an item correctly, you will be given the correct answer and directed to a page in the textbook to go for further information. Do not submit these quizzes to your mentor. They are for your study only. A link to this Web site is provided in each study assignment.

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COURSE STRUCTURE

Principles of Sales is a three-credit, online course based on the telecourse The Sales Connection. The course consists of eleven units grouped into six modules and covers 26 lessons in the telecourse study guide and their associated video programs and textbook readings. Unit study assignments include one or more lessons in the telecourse study guide as well as video programs and textbook readings. You must also complete six written assignments, participate in five graded online class discussions, and take a proctored midterm exam and an unproctored online final exam.

The purpose of the telecourse study guide is to help you synthesize and integrate the materials presented in the text and video programs. Each lesson in the guide contains Learning Objectives followed by Overview, Assignments, Key Terms, Self-Test, and Extend What You Have Learned (from which section the written assignment questions are drawn). Please follow the sequence of the steps under the "Assignments" head in each lesson of the telecourse study guide. These steps will tell you in what order to do your reading and viewing. For the specific lesson, chapter, and page numbers you are to read in the telecourse guide and textbook and for the videos you are to view for each unit study assignment, click Assignment Modules in the navigation bar to the left of your screen. That will take you to a list of the individual modules that you can then click for the relevant assignments. Besides giving you reading and viewing assignments, this area of the course Web site gives you details on the online discussions and written assignments.

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ONLINE DISCUSSIONS

In addition to posting an introduction to the class in Week 1, you are required to participate in five graded online discussions, each focusing on a sales-related issue.

Communication with the mentor and among fellow students is a critical component of online learning. Participation in online discussions involves two distinct activities: an initial response to a discussion question and at least two subsequent comments on classmates' responses. Meaningful participation is relevant to the content, adds value, and advances the discussion. Comments such as "I agree" and "ditto" are not considered value-adding participation. Therefore, when you agree or disagree with a classmate, the reading, or your mentor, state and support your agreement or disagreement. You will be evaluated on the quality and quantity of your participation. Responses and comments should be properly proofread and edited, professional, and respectful.

For additional information on online discussions, see Online Discussions in the Online Student Handbook.

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WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS

Principles of Sales requires that you complete and submit six (6) written assignments. These written assignments are built around associated lessons. Each assignment consists of two essay questions, some of which are multipart. Each response should be no more than four typed, double-spaced pages.

Answer each assignment question as completely as possible. These are critical thinking questions, but you must support your answers with facts from your reading and viewing materials. Do not merely copy your answers from your course materials. Formulate answers in your own words, paraphrasing or quoting the course readings or videos as appropriate. Be sure to cite these references in an appropriate manner by using footnotes or endnotes. If you use outside sources to strengthen your answers, be sure to cite them also.

Before submitting your work, proofread it for correct spelling, grammar, complete sentences and paragraphs, and clarity of expression. Be sure to keep a copy of each assignment for yourself.

Take the time to familiarize yourself with the Assignment Modules area of the course Web site, which is where the written assignments can be found. Read through the written assignment questions before you begin each lesson.

Prepare your written assignments using whatever word processing program you have on your computer. Include your name at the top of the paper, as well as the course name and code and the semester and year in which you are enrolled.

Before submitting your first assignment, check with your mentor to determine whether your word processing software is compatible with your mentor's software. If so, you can submit your work as you prepared it. If not, save your assignment as a rich-text (.rtf) file, using the Save As command of your software program. Rich text retains basic formatting and can be read by any other word processing program.

When satisfied that your assignment represents your best work, submit it to your mentor by means of the

>>View/Complete Assignment

link provided at the bottom of the respective assignment page. Use the Browse button within this link to locate and submit your assignment file.

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EXAMINATIONS

Principles of Sales requires you to take two examinations: a proctored midterm examination and an unproctored online final examination. Consult the course Calendar for the scheduling of these exams.

Both examinations contain multiple-choice questions, short essay questions, and full essay questions. They are both closed-book and two hours long.

Midterm Examination

The midterm exam covers all the material assigned in Modules 1–3. It covers material in the telecourse study guide, as well as the associated video programs and textbook readings.

You may take the midterm examination only during the designated exam week, at an approved location, and with an approved proctor. In this regard, you need to schedule your exam and submit your "Proctor Request Form" with the necessary documentation during the first week of the semester. (See Administrative Forms in the General Information area of the course Web site.)

If you are on a course extension and have not yet taken the midterm exam, you must let your examination proctor know when you plan to take the exam and contact the Office of Test Administration (609-984-1181) two weeks in advance to request that your exam be sent to the proctor.

For more information on scheduling a proctored examination, see the section Examinations and Proctors in the Online Student Handbook.

Final Examination
The final exam covers all the material assigned in Modules 4–6. It covers material in the telecourse study guide, as well as the associated video programs and textbook readings.

The final exam is taken online in Blackboard. An exam link will be activated and made available to you in the Tests & Quizzes area of the course site at the start of final exam week. You may take the exam at any time during that week, but no later than midnight Saturday (eastern time). If you are on a course extension, you will need to arrange with your mentor a time to reschedule the final exam.

Sample Examination
You will find a sample online examination in the Tests & Quizzes area of this course site. Use this sample exam to familiarize yourself with the online testing setting and format before you take your online exam. Keep in mind the following potential differences between the sample exam and your online exam:

The content of your exam will match the content of your course; the sample exam has some generic questions on art history, world history, and environmental science.

Your exam is likely to include only one type or at most several types of questions (such as multiple choice or essays). The sample exam includes all the types that you might encounter in an online assessment at Thomas Edison State College.

You will be able to enter and take your final exam just once—once you have entered the exam you must complete it. The sample exam may be taken as often as you like.

There will be a penalty for exceeding the time limit in your actual exams (see the "Statement about Cheating" below), whereas there is no corresponding penalty with this sample exam.

Statement about Cheating
The final examination in this course is an unproctored exam. That means you will not be supervised while taking the test. You are on your honor not to cheat during the exam. Cheating means:

Looking up any answer or part of an answer in an unauthorized textbook or on the Internet, or using any other source to find the answer.

Copying and pasting or in any way copying responses or parts of responses from any other source into your online test. This includes but is not limited to copying and pasting from other documents or spreadsheets, whether written by yourself or anyone else.

Plagiarizing answers.

Asking anyone else to assist you by whatever means available while you take the exam.

Copying any part of the exam to share with other students.

Telling your mentor that you need another attempt at the exam because your connection to the Internet was interrupted when that is not true.

If there is evidence that you have cheated or plagiarized in your exam, the exam will be declared invalid, and you will fail the course.

Please also note that the exam is time-limited. That means you only have the allotted time in which to complete the exam. If you exceed the time limit on the exam, you will be penalized by having two points deducted for every minute that you exceed the time limit. This may also result in your failing the course.

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GRADING AND EVALUATION

Your grade in the course will be determined as follows:

Written Assignments (6)	40 percent
Online Discussions (5)	10 percent
Midterm Examination	30 percent
Final Examination	20 percent

Letter grades for written assignments, online discussions, and course examinations are based on the following numerical grades:

A	=	93–100	C+	=	78–79
A–	=	90–92	C	=	73–77
B+	=	88–89	C–	=	70–72
B	=	83–87	D	=	60–69
B–	=	80–82	F	=	Below 60

To receive credit for the course, you must earn a letter grade of D or higher on the weighted average of all assigned course work (e.g., exams, assignments, discussion postings, projects, papers, etc.). You will receive a score of 0 for any work not submitted.

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STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS

First Steps to Success
To succeed in this course, take the following first steps:

Read carefully the entire Syllabus, making sure that all aspects of the course are clear to you and that you have all the materials required for the course.

Take the time to read the entire Online Student Handbook. The Handbook answers many questions about how to proceed through the course, how to schedule exams and arrange for proctors, and how to get the most from your educational experience at Thomas Edison State College.

Arrange to take your proctored midterm examination by following the instructions in the Online Student Handbook. Then complete the "Proctor Request Form" and submit it to the Office of Test Administration (OTA). You must make arrangements to take your midterm examination and send in your "Proctor Request Form" to OTA before the end of the first week of the current semester. (See Administrative Forms in the General Information area of the course Web site.)

Familiarize yourself with the Blackboard environment—how to navigate it and what the various course areas contain. If you know what to expect as you navigate the course, you can better pace yourself and complete the work on time.

If you are not familiar with Web-based learning, or specifically with the Blackboard platform, be sure to review the processes for posting responses online and submitting assignments before class begins.

Study Tips
Consider the following study tips for success:

To stay on track throughout the course, begin each week by consulting the course Calendar. The calendar provides an overview of the course and indicates due dates for submitting assignments, posting discussions, and scheduling and taking your examinations. For details on each assignment module and a complete listing of learning activities, go to the Assignment Modules area of the course Web site.

It is suggested that you read the preface to the course textbook, Selling Today, and make use of the glossary at the back of the book. It is also suggested that you answer the end-of-chapter review questions as you study each assigned chapter of the textbook.

To help you check your understanding of course material and also to help you prepare for your exams, you are advised to take the Self-Test that appears in each lesson in the telecourse study guide and to answer the chapter quiz questions in the "Self-study quizzes" section of the textbook's Web site (http://wps.prenhall.com/bp_manning_selling_10). Do NOT submit the answers to any of these self-tests or quizzes to your mentor. They are for your study only. You should try to answer these questions before you check the answers. If you get an answer wrong, reread the pages in the textbook on that topic to reinforce your understanding.

Check the Announcements page and class Discussion Board regularly for new course information.

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Syllabus Index

This document contains the following main sections:

Course Description

Course Objectives

Course Materials

Course Structure

Online Discussions
Written Assignments

Examinations

Grading and Evaluation

Strategies for Success