Corporate Sales and Business Development Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Corporate Sales Managers, Business Development Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-S-039

Before you join: Participants should have at least one year of experience in a customer-facing commercial, account management, sales support or business development role.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Corporate sales teams face long buying cycles, multiple decision-makers, procurement controls and pressure to defend margin while meeting growth targets. Business development professionals must identify worthwhile opportunities early, convert market intelligence into account priorities and build credible value cases for executives, technical users and commercial buyers. Weak qualification, unclear account strategy and unstructured opportunity management waste selling time and produce unreliable forecasts.

This course develops the sales and business development disciplines required to win complex B2B opportunities. Participants analyse markets and target accounts, define ideal customer profiles, qualify opportunities using MEDDICC, map buying committees and shape value propositions. They build account plans, discovery questions, stakeholder engagement plans, proposals and negotiation strategies. The course also addresses pipeline governance, sales forecasting, cross-functional pursuit management and practical use of CRM data.

Teaching combines focused instructor briefings with corporate sales cases, account-planning workshops, discovery and negotiation simulations, peer review and individual application planning. Cases reflect common commercial situations in banking, technology, infrastructure, professional services, manufacturing and public-sector procurement. Participants leave with a completed strategic account plan, an opportunity qualification scorecard, a stakeholder map, a value proposition canvas and a 90-day business development action plan that can be adapted to their live portfolio.

The course suits professionals already responsible for revenue growth, client relationships or new-business pursuits. It is particularly useful where sales involve several stakeholders, formal tenders, long decision cycles, technical solutions or negotiated commercial terms.

What you will be able to do

  • Assess target markets and accounts using segmentation, ICP criteria and account potential scoring
  • Qualify complex sales opportunities using MEDDICC evidence and disqualification criteria
  • Conduct structured discovery conversations using SPIN questioning and stakeholder hypotheses
  • Build strategic account plans with growth objectives, relationship maps and pursuit actions
  • Create quantified value propositions using customer pain, gain and business-case evidence
  • Manage sales pipelines using stage definitions, probability weighting and forecast categories
  • Prepare negotiation strategies using BATNA, concession planning and trading variables
  • Produce a 90-day business development plan linked to account and pipeline priorities

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Stronger preparation for executive customer meetings and discovery conversations
  • Clearer decisions on which opportunities to pursue or exit
  • More credible account plans for internal sales and management reviews
  • Greater confidence defending price, scope and commercial terms
  • A practical 90-day plan for improving personal pipeline performance

For your organisation

  • Higher-quality pipeline through consistent qualification and exit criteria
  • Improved forecast reliability from defined stages and evidence-based probabilities
  • Better coverage of economic buyers, users, influencers and procurement stakeholders
  • Stronger commercial cases linking offers to customer financial and operational outcomes
  • Reduced margin erosion through planned concessions and negotiation governance

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can distinguish strategic business development work from day-to-day opportunity selling and set commercial priorities.

  • Corporate sales roles across acquisition, expansion, retention and strategic partnerships
  • Business development mandate defined through revenue, margin and market-entry objectives
  • Sales process architecture from targeting through renewal and account expansion
  • Revenue growth choices assessed using market attractiveness and competitive position
  • Commercial priorities translated into territory, account and opportunity objectives
  • Leading and lagging sales indicators connected to management decisions

Participants can select target segments and accounts using explicit commercial attractiveness criteria.

  • Segment markets by customer need, buying behaviour, value and accessibility
  • Ideal customer profile defined through firmographic, operational and trigger criteria
  • TAM, SAM and SOM estimates used for market prioritisation
  • Score target accounts against potential, fit, access and competitive position
  • PESTLE analysis identifies external factors affecting sales priorities
  • Porter's Five Forces tests sector profitability and buyer power

Participants can qualify, prioritise or disqualify opportunities using verifiable deal evidence.

  • MEDDICC criteria tested against evidence from active customer opportunities
  • Economic buyer access assessed before committing expensive pursuit resources
  • Decision process mapped from problem recognition to contract approval
  • Identify compelling events that create urgency and fund change
  • Apply bid-no-bid criteria to tenders and unsolicited opportunities
  • Opportunity scorecards separate evidence, assumptions, risks and required actions

Participants can lead discovery conversations that uncover business problems, priorities and decision criteria.

  • SPIN questions sequence situation, problem, implication and need-payoff conversations
  • Discovery agendas balance customer priorities, hypotheses and meeting outcomes
  • Map current-state processes to locate cost, risk and performance gaps
  • Quantify customer pain through baseline metrics, incidents and opportunity costs
  • Use active listening, probing and summarising to test assumptions
  • Document discovery findings in a problem statement and success criteria

Participants can build account plans that coordinate relationships, growth goals and pursuit actions.

  • Buying committees mapped by influence, attitude, authority and information needs
  • Power-interest grids prioritise stakeholder engagement and relationship investment
  • Account penetration assessed across business units, products and contract value
  • White space analysis identifies adjacent needs and expansion opportunities
  • Mutual action plans define customer commitments, owners and decision dates
  • Account plans connect objectives, stakeholders, risks and next actions

Participants can create differentiated value propositions supported by customer-specific commercial evidence.

  • Value Proposition Canvas links customer jobs, pains, gains and offerings
  • Translate product features into operational, financial and risk-reduction outcomes
  • ROI calculations compare investment, benefit timing and payback period
  • Total cost of ownership exposes acquisition, operation and maintenance costs
  • Differentiation claims supported by customer evidence rather than generic assertions
  • Executive value messages tailored for finance, operations, technology and procurement

Participants can shape proposals and tender responses around customer requirements and win themes.

  • Win themes connect customer priorities, differentiators and proof points
  • Requirements matrices trace tender criteria to response content and evidence
  • Solution positioning addresses alternatives, incumbent strengths and switching barriers
  • Proposal storylines sequence executive summary, solution, evidence and commercial terms
  • Proof points selected from cases, references, data and implementation plans
  • Red-team reviews test compliance, clarity, differentiation and commercial exposure

Participants can manage pipeline health and produce evidence-based sales forecasts.

  • Pipeline stages defined by observable customer commitments and exit criteria
  • Stage conversion rates reveal bottlenecks and coaching priorities
  • Probability weighting combines historical conversion data with opportunity evidence
  • Forecast categories distinguish commit, best case, pipeline and upside
  • Pipeline coverage ratios compare qualified demand with revenue targets
  • CRM hygiene standards improve activity records, next steps and forecast accuracy

Participants can prepare and conduct negotiations that protect value, margin and implementation feasibility.

  • BATNA analysis establishes alternatives, walk-away points and bargaining power
  • Negotiation objectives separate target, reservation and aspiration positions
  • Concession matrices trade value, timing, scope, price and contractual risk
  • Package offers create choices without premature discounting or unilateral concessions
  • Procurement tactics anticipated through stakeholder intelligence and negotiation planning
  • Deal desks govern approvals, margin thresholds and non-standard terms

Participants can convert account and pipeline priorities into a measurable 90-day business development plan.

  • Territory plans allocate time between prospecting, pursuits and account growth
  • Weekly sales cadence tracks meetings, actions, evidence and decision milestones
  • Leading indicators set for outreach, discovery, proposals and stakeholder access
  • Opportunity reviews challenge assumptions, risks, actions and resource requirements
  • Cross-functional pursuit teams coordinate sales, technical, legal and delivery inputs
  • Ninety-day action plans assign priorities, milestones, measures and review dates

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Ideal Customer Profile scoring template
  2. MEDDICC opportunity qualification scorecard
  3. Strategic account plan template
  4. Buying committee stakeholder map
  5. Customer value proposition and ROI model
  6. 90-day business development action plan

Who should attend

  • Corporate Sales Managers — improve account coverage, pipeline quality and team forecasting
  • Business Development Managers — focus prospecting effort on qualified strategic opportunities
  • Key Account Managers — grow revenue and defend relationships within major clients
  • Sales Executives — structure discovery, proposals and negotiations for complex deals
  • Commercial Managers — coordinate customer pursuits and protect profitable deal terms
  • Technical Sales Specialists — connect solution capabilities to customer business outcomes

Skills and tools covered

Strategic account planningOpportunity qualificationConsultative discoveryValue proposition designPipeline forecastingCommercial negotiation

Tools and standards

MEDDICC, SPIN Selling, Value Proposition Canvas, BATNA

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce methods, followed by case analysis, group exercises, sales simulations and structured feedback. Participants work with realistic account and opportunity information to practise qualification, discovery, stakeholder mapping, value-case development and negotiation planning. Facilitators use peer challenge and review checkpoints to test assumptions, evidence and commercial choices. Individual application planning converts course outputs into actions for participants' current territories, accounts or business development targets.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have at least one year of experience in a customer-facing commercial, account management, sales support or business development role. They should be familiar with their organisation's products or services, typical customer types and basic sales terminology such as pipeline, prospect, proposal and margin. Experience of managing an account, tender or sales opportunity is helpful because course work uses realistic commercial situations. No formal sales qualification, advanced finance training, CRM administration skills or prior knowledge of MEDDICC, SPIN or negotiation frameworks is required.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should have basic experience in a customer-facing commercial, account management or business development role. The course assumes familiarity with your offer and customers, but no formal sales qualification is required.

Bring a current or recent sales opportunity, target account or business development objective where confidentiality permits. You may also bring account data, pipeline reports or proposal material to inform your application plan.

It is designed for professionals selling products, services or solutions to organisations rather than consumers. It is especially relevant for complex sales involving several stakeholders, long decision cycles or formal procurement.

General sales courses often concentrate on interpersonal communication and closing techniques. This course focuses on corporate account strategy, opportunity qualification, buying committees, value cases, tenders, forecasting and negotiated deals.

Participants leave with reusable templates and a 90-day action plan for live accounts or opportunities. The methods can be used in account reviews, pipeline meetings, customer discovery and proposal preparation.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. Time is divided between instructor input, case work, group analysis, simulations, feedback and application planning across ten teaching modules.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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