5 executive education programmes to future-proof your sales career

Do you want to future-proof your sales career? Staying relevant entails being agile in adapting to changes in the workplace that is continuously being shaped by technology. 

A McKinsey report, for instance, has found that digital interactions will be twice as important in sales. 

As the buying process changes, so does the selling process. Pundits in the field believe that technology may automate part of the selling process and drive specialisation within the area. 

Give your sales career a boost with an executive education 

Sales professionals who want a cost-effective solution to upskill themselves without taking too much time off work might want to look into executive education programmes for a more targeted approach for their professional development. 

Executive education does not culminate with a degree, but they help you to develop new hard and soft skills in specific areas to stand out from the competition. 

Here are some executive education programmes that could be useful for sales professionals:

Negotiation Dynamics

Negotiation is an important skill in any sales career. This programme by INSEAD examines stumbling blocks that cause a negotiation to fail and what can be done. It also teaches you how to become a better, more effective negotiator, able to build sustainable, relationship-enhancing deals.

In three intensive days, you will improve your negotiation outcomes, be equipped with the necessary knowledge to navigate any negotiation and acquire hands-on practice enabling you to strengthen weak points, among others.

The programme is ideal for executives with many different roles, including C-suite professionals, as well as sales and procurement managers.

High-Impact Sales Strategy in a Digital World

If you’re looking to improve your sales strategy, you might want to consider this course by Kellogg.

Seasoned practitioners and thought leaders will guide you through an in-depth exploration of leading sales strategy practices for maximising profitable organic growth in today’s B2B selling environment. 

The programme is designed for senior leaders’. It focuses on the sales strategy decisions that most impact revenue and profit growth and precede tactical decisions related to sales force management and operations. 

You’ll come away with a deep understanding of how to develop and implement a holistic sales strategy for maximum impact.

Winning Sales Strategies

If you need help developing powerful, profitable relationships with new and current customers, especially in complex environments with diverse selling cycles, this programme by the Schulich School of Business is for you.

This online sales training course is ideal for account managers, sales people and small business owners in helping them to engage clients, think on their feet, make fast decisions, and generate profitable sales. 

“It will build your revenues by illustrating that achieving sales is not mysterious, and that anyone can learn to be successful, dynamic and indispensable to their customers. Participants will be able to immediately apply the skills they learn in daily sales work environments,” it said. 

Strategic Sales Management

This intensive online executive education programme by Harvard will equip you with proven sales management strategies and techniques to lead yourself, your direct reports, and your organisation.

In addition to this, you will also explore characteristics of exceptional sales managers, and get ideas on how you can boost your team’s success and drive your organisation’s revenue through your role as a sales manager whether in a business-to-business (B2B) or a business-to-consumer (B2C) setting.

By the end of the course, you will learn techniques to drive your professional growth and career development; explore proven methods to effectively coach, train, and lead a highly effective sales organisation; and explore techniques for more effective communicating, coaching, and training, among others.

Foundations of Sales Leadership

New or aspiring sales leaders who are looking to raise their level of self-sufficiency and control over their sales environment will find this course by the Smith School of Business ideal. 

Held fully online, it equips new and aspiring sales leaders with a powerful management model, which includes the tools, practices and learning experience they need to own, control and lead in a fast-changing sales world.

You will walk away with an understanding of how to lead sales from a position of strength and control; set your own sales management model, cadence and calendar to orchestrate a team; and understand the most important sales KPIs and how to apply them with a team.