COMM 461 - Business Development

Business Development is the link between the internal segments of a firm including marketing, sales, product development, customer service, and the external segment involving partners, new business opportunities, and clients. Whether we are developing business for a product, a professional service practice, a campaign or a not-for-profit, selling and non-sales selling is a significant component of how we expand and develop our business.  

Eight out of nine workers earn a living persuading, convincing and influencing others: non-sales selling. An important responsibility for anyone doing business development is creating, developing and nurturing relationships with new potential clients. 

This course is focused on developing foundational skills and concept knowledge in Business Development and Sales to enable you to create successful selling encounters in your career. The experience gained from this course can be broadly applied to a variety of careers: business development or sales roles; marketing (brand management or marketing communications), a professional skills practice (law, engineering, healthcare), not-for-profit (partnerships, programs) or as an entrepreneur.  This experience can supplement any career where influencing and persuading others is required. 

Class time is used to fit concepts to concrete situations, to develop foundational selling skills, and to understand how business development, sales, and building relationships create value for both parties. 

This course is open to all 3^rd and 4^th year Commerce students.  Non-Commerce students are also eligible.

Learning objectives

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

1. Identify and explain the essential challenges and strategies required for driving results through effective sales force leadership.  This will apply to various go-to-market structures, sales channels, organization structures and compensation
2. Apply various analytical techniques to deliver effective sales strategies including optimizing revenue, using compensation to incent behaviour and understand the linkages from sales to corporate profitability to create holistic solutions.
3. Apply selling skills to real world situations to deliver on revenue, profit, and client satisfaction.

Note: COMM 461 was formerly titled Sales Management.