The primary objective of this course is to introduce students to the fundamentals of how to sell. The course is appropriate for anyone who wants to understand and show proficiency with the skills required in different selling situations, both traditional (i.e., direct sales of products and services) and non-traditional (e.g., selling oneself in an interview, raising money for a new venture, convincing a job candidate to join your company, etc.). The course looks at the entire selling process of prospecting, qualification, discovery, understanding value, customizing presentations, objection handling, and closing. This is not a typical GSB case-study-based course. Students who have taken previous versions of this class describe it as a practical, hands-on, skills-based class. Students will work by themselves outside of class to prepare for group exercises and role-plays that will take place in class. These exercises are designed to give students practice with selling fundamentals in each stage of the selling process, and to give them the opportunity to observe and provide feedback to others. Our goal is to provide students the time in class to focus on doing stuff (e.g., practice using curiosity) rather than just thinking about and talking about stuff. After taking this course, you should understand what is involved in all of the following steps of the selling process: Preparing a value-based prospecting script. - Using an advanced questioning methodology and note-taking strategy for discovering a customer's most important business priorities and motivations. - Developing a curiosity-based approach to handling objections in all stages of the selling process. - Creating and delivering effective customized presentations. - Understanding the most effective ways to create engagement and interaction when selling. - Developing a strategy and building the confidence to ask the hard questions when closing a deal. - Using a value-based mutual plan to control the sales cycle and move a deal forward. - Identifying the most valuable categories for qualifying an opportunity. - Accelerating the process of relationship building. Understanding a customer's entire decision making process (DMP). - Discovering limiting beliefs and seeing how they impact your ability to accomplish your objectives. - Applying these fundamentals of effective selling to your personal selling situations with confidence.
2 units · GSB Letter Graded
The primary objective of this course is to introduce students to the fundamentals of how to sell. The course is appropriate for anyone who wants to understand and show proficiency with the skills required in different selling situations, both traditional (i.e., direct sales of products and services) and non-traditional (e.g., selling oneself in an interview, raising money for a new venture, convincing a job candidate to join your company, etc.). The course looks at the entire selling process of prospecting, qualification, discovery, understanding value, customizing presentations, objection handling, and closing. This is not a typical GSB case-study-based course. Students who have taken previous versions of this class describe it as a practical, hands-on, skills-based class. Students will work by themselves outside of class to prepare for group exercises and role-plays that will take place in class. These exercises are designed to give students practice with selling fundamentals in each stage of the selling process, and to give them the opportunity to observe and provide feedback to others. Our goal is to provide students the time in class to focus on doing stuff (e.g., practice using curiosity) rather than just thinking about and talking about stuff. After taking this course, you should understand what is involved in all of the following steps of the selling process: Preparing a value-based prospecting script. - Using an advanced questioning methodology and note-taking strategy for discovering a customer's most important business priorities and motivations. - Developing a curiosity-based approach to handling objections in all stages of the selling process. - Creating and delivering effective customized presentations. - Understanding the most effective ways to create engagement and interaction when selling. - Developing a strategy and building the confidence to ask the hard questions when closing a deal. - Using a value-based mutual plan to control the sales cycle and move a deal forward. - Identifying the most valuable categories for qualifying an opportunity. - Accelerating the process of relationship building. Understanding a customer's entire decision making process (DMP). - Discovering limiting beliefs and seeing how they impact your ability to accomplish your objectives. - Applying these fundamentals of effective selling to your personal selling situations with confidence.
Offered in Autumn 2026 at Stanford University.