SIP Curriculum
The Sales Innovation Program (SIP) coursework helps prepare students for a demanding and rewarding career in sales. With openings in professional selling positions on the rise, our sales courses provide Clemson students with a competitive edge to stand out among other job applicants. Classes are tailored to develop students' business acumen, selling frameworks and presentation ability to equip students for influential roles in sales or related positions.
For students interested in a sales certification, SIP offers a sales certificate where students partake in real-world challenges, foundational role-play exercises, and leadership opportunities. Professors blend theory and application in the program while also ensuring frequent interaction with industry executives. Students begin their pathway to SIP courses at Clemson through two steps:
- Becoming an Active SIP Member (see our SIP Application)
- Completing the pre-requisite MKT 4200 course
“From learning the basics of SPIN selling in professional selling (MKT 4200) to learning how to effectively and efficiently handle objectives in applied selling (MKT 4220), these courses have enabled me to perform at a high level in a high-pressure sales competition environment. I cannot stress the importance of the curriculum that we have learned in our sales classes. It has not only helped me in our internal sales competitions but outside of the classroom in job interviews and other activities as well.”
Sam MoodySenior Marketing Major
Sales Certificate
For students interested in a sales certification, SIP offers a sales certificate where students partake in real-world challenges, foundational role-play exercises, and leadership opportunities. Professors blend theory and application in the program while also ensuring frequent interaction with industry executives. Students begin their pathway to SIP courses at Clemson by becoming active SIP members and by completing the prerequisite MKT 4200 course. Required Courses: MKT 4200, MKT 4220, MKT 4240, and MKT 3980
SIP ApplicationOrthopedic Medical Device Product Specialist Certificate
Clemson’s Sales Innovation Program, Department of Marketing and Department of Bioengineering have partnered to offer the Orthopedic Medical Device Product Specialist certificate. The certificate is aimed at providing students with core competencies within various aspects of the orthopedic medical device industry. Through the certificate, students will take sales coursework (MKT 4200 and MKT 4950) along with bioengineering coursework.
More Information
Click each course for more info.
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Marketing 4200 - Professional Selling
Foundational selling class focused on an introduction to selling careers, sales process, product positioning and presentation skills. Students implement what they learn in role-plays with real-world case studies. Upon completion, students understand how to break down a sales call, plan for a customer presentation and overcome objections.
SIP faculty help demystify the selling industry and break down many stereotypes that often exist regarding the selling profession. At the same time, students gain their first exposure to selling principles and practices that often open up greater curiosity about the possibilities of selling as a career choice. Importantly, MKT 4200 is a prerequisite course for taking any SIP coursework. Active SIP member students can register for an array of advanced selling courses designed to improve their critical thinking, presentation skills and business acumen in various selling contexts.
NOTE: For students outside the Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of Business, we offer an MKT 4210 course (Professional Selling for Non-Business Majors) that can replace MKT 4200 and does not require prerequisites for enrollment. However, because there is not a prerequisite for this course, students need to be accepted into the SIP Ascent Track to enroll.
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Marketing 4220 - Applied Selling
Building on the foundations class (MKT 4200), this course focuses on real-world application of complex selling principles such as B2B buyer behavior, interpersonal communication, technology, sales planning, presentations, team selling and sales leadership. Additionally, a large portion of the class is dedicated to role-playing practice and preparation for sales competition(s). At the end of this course, students will be able to identify potential customers, perform problem discovery, develop innovative solutions and present effectively while coordinating relationships within selling and buying organizations. Students will also visit industry sites to get an up-close perspective of these frameworks in contemporary sales contexts.
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Marketing 4240 - Sales Management
In tandem with understanding individual salesperson frameworks, students in this course are introduced to a more in-depth look at the selling environment. Students in this course will view sales through a leadership lens and understand how individual salespeople contribute to the larger success of a sales organization. Students will learn sales management concepts such as leadership, coaching, incentives, quota, sales force structure and motivation. As a class project, student teams apply their knowledge in a live sales management simulation to hire, train and develop their own sales force.
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Marketing 3980 - Creative Inquiry/Capstone Course
This certificate capstone class is an outside educational opportunity monitored by sales professors. Students are tasked with managing and working as a team to raise money for a non-profit event. Throughout the semester, students must monitor their progress toward an assigned quota while getting exposure to industry representatives from across the region. Find out more about the Tiger Paw Classic, our current non-profit project.
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Marketing 4950 - Selling in Healthcare
The course introduces students to the healthcare industry with a focus on developing and selling new healthcare innovations. Our goal is to provide students from interdisciplinary backgrounds a ground-level view of the healthcare marketplace and the development processes healthcare suppliers undertake to introduce a new offering successfully. Because new innovations create uncertainty in the marketplace, students will spend time learning and implementing various selling frameworks, processes and skills for promoting new innovations. Students will also hear from industry speakers across functional areas in healthcare that are involved in the new product development and selling process.
This course also serves as a requirement to receive the Orthopedic Medical Device Product Specialist certificate. View more information about this certificate.
“The sales simulation in our sales management course was a great opportunity to understand how to motivate employees and think strategically to accomplish sales objectives. We worked weekly in teams through hiring individuals for roles, placing them in territories and setting up their training and compensation packages to encourage excellence. It gave me a broader view on how to effectively manage a sales force and incentivize members to benefit the company.”
Brooke MillerSenior Marketing Major
“The Sales Innovation Program, along with the creative inquiry golf tournament, has provided me with an opportunity to apply a variety of high-level skills that I have been taught through this program. I have been able to take learned skills and apply them to a tangible real-world setting. It has allowed me to see how academic skills, personal skills and relational skills can all be used to achieve both individual and team goals. The realization of the studying and learning coming together with our role-plays and hands-on experience makes me excited and thankful for the opportunities SIP has provided and for what is to come in my future application of these skills.”
Sam McConnellJunior Marketing Major
