About Our Certificate

The Certificate in Sales and Customer Development prepares undergraduate students for careers in the highly professional and dynamic field of sales. Through the certificate's required coursework and internship, students gain vital skills as well as knowledge of current best practices in the sales profession and sales management. This certificate will serve as tangible evidence of a strong background in sales for potential employers.

Students who finish the 16-18 credit-hour curriculum will receive the Certificate in Sales and Customer Development upon completion of their bachelor's degree.

See Course Listings in the MU Course Catalog 

Careers in Sales

  • Medical Device Sales Representative
  • Commercial/Consumer Real Estate Agent
  • Sales Engineer
  • Software Sales Representative
  • Commercial/Consumer Insurance Sales Agent
  • Pharmaceutical Sales Representative
  • Business Development Representative
  • Financial Advisor/Wealth Management
  • Inside Sales Professional
  • Technical Sales Representative
  • Industrial Sales Representative
  • Merchandising Sales

Are You Eligible?

This certificate program is available to all degree-seeking and nondegree-seeking students.

How to Declare a Minor or Certificate

12 credit hours - A minimum 3.20 cumulative GPA is required for the following three courses: MRKTNG 3410, MRKTNG 4420, and MRKTNG 4430.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONCOURSE DETAILS

MRKTNG 3000: PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING

Institutions, processes, and problems involved in producing and transferring goods and services from producer to consumers; emphasis on economics and social aspects.

  • 3 Credit Hours
  • Pre-requisite: 45 completed credit hours
  • Course offered in the Spring, Summer and Fall semesters.

MRKTNG 3410: PERSONAL SELLING 

Modern selling methods that focus on solving customer problems rather than using manipulative techniques. Principles underlying the sales process. Practical methods for building long-term customer relationships in business-to-business contexts are emphasized.

  • 3 Credit Hours
  • Co-requisite: MRKTNG 3000.
  • Course offered in the Spring and Fall semesters.

MRKTNG 4420: SALES MANAGEMENT 

Methods and tools employed by salespeople and field sales managers; emphasis on underlying behavioral and quantitative theory.

  • 3 Credit Hours
  • Pre-requisite: MRKTNG 3000
  • Course offered in the Spring and Fall semesters.

MRKTNG 4430: ADVANCED PROFESSIONAL SELLING 

Emphasis on the analytics approach to sales. Reflects the overall trends in business practice, and specifically in the world of sales with increasing reliance on Sales Force Automation (SFA) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools.

  • 3 Credit Hours
  • Pre-requisite: MRKTNG 3410 and 4420
  • Course offered in the Spring and Fall semesters.

 3 credit hours - Choose one of the following courses on this section:

COURSE DESCRIPTIONCOURSE DETAILS

MRKTNG 3510: PROCUREMENT PROCESSES AND ANALYTICS

Overview of the procurement process used by retailers; execution of pricing strategies, negotiations, retail planning at the category and item level; use of software to analyze data and make procurement decisions.

  • 3 Credit Hours
  • Pre-requisite or Co-requisite: MRKTNG 3000
  • Students should check with their advisor to find out when this course is offered.

MRKTNG 4220: CONSUMER BEHAVIOR 

Dimensions of the consumer market and decision-making process of consumers; analyzing economic, psychological and socio-psychological influences on consumer market and buying behavior.

  • 3 Credit Hours
  • Pre-requisite: MRKTNG 3000
  • Course offered in the Spring, Summer, and Fall semesters.

MRKTNG 4250: RETAIL MARKETING 

Strategies, policies, tactics, and procedures of marketing in a retailing environment. 

  • 3 Credit Hours
  • Pre-requisite: MRKTNG 3000
  • Course offered in the Spring, Summer, and Fall semesters.

MRKTNG 4440: SERVICES MARKETING 

Challenges, problems, and strategies specific to marketing in service industries. Topics include the unique characteristics of services and managing service-oriented businesses, service design and service recovery, and others.

  • 3 Credit Hours
  • Pre-requisite: MRKTNG 3000
  • Course offered in the Spring and Fall semesters. 

MRKTNG 4510: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & MACHINE LEARNING APPLICATIONS IN SALES & MARKETING

This course is intended to introduce students to cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI&ML) applications in the domain of sales and marketing. Students will use a proprietary, cloud-based software tool to learn about underlying models, but prior knowledge of programming languages is not required.

  • 3 Credit Hours
  • Pre-requisite or Co-requisite: MRKTNG 3000
  • Students should check with their advisor on when this course is offered.

MRKTNG 4550: INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS 

Design, coordination, and management of marketing communications. Focus on the role of integrated marketing communications in the overall marketing process, with emphasis on advertising and sales promotion strategies and tactics.

  • 3 Credit Hours
  • Pre-requisite: MRKTNG 3000
  • Course offered in the Spring and Fall semesters.

FINANC 4630: INTRODUCTION TO RISK MANAGEMENT AND INSURANCE

Basic principles of risk management and insurance focusing on operational risks faced by organizations. Covers terminology, sources, dimensions, characteristics, measurement, and assessment of risk along with design and implementation of techniques to mitigate and control risk.

  • 3 Credit Hours
  • Pre-requisite or Co-requisite: FINANC 2000 or FINANC 3000
  • Students should check with their advisor to find out when this course is offered.

1-3 credit hours

Students must complete one to three credit hours of a supervised internship that consists of:

  • A minimum of 120 hours on-the-job experience AND
  • Business-to-Business (B2B) sales 
Internship courses that we accept are:
  • BUS_AD 4500: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM - INTERNSHIP*
  • MRKTNG 4940: PROFESSIONAL MARKETING INTERNSHIP*
  • COMMUN 4940: INTERNSHIP*
  • HLTH SCI 4975: INTERNSHIP IN HEALTH SCIENCES*
  • OTHER: (The internship credit hour can be earned in any college at Mizzou)

*Offered in the Spring, Summer, and Fall semesters.

Note: If a business student has already completed BUS_AD 4500 with an internship that does not meet the B2B sales setting requirement of this certificate program, the student should register for 1 to 3 credit hours under MRKTNG 4940  for an internship that would qualify. If a student does not have an internship course offered within their degree program or is not a student in the Trulaske College of Business, that student should enroll in MRKTNG 4940.

**An internship course must be taken at the same time as your internship. If you completed an internship but did not take an internship course simultaneously, it will not be approved for the certificate. 

CHECK OUT OUR  INSIDE SALES LAB  FOR B2B SALES INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES!

1. Please declare the certificate by clicking the "Apply Now" button on this page. This will ensure the Sales Certificate gets added to your academic plan in myZou. Please allow up to seven business days for this to be processed. 

  • Once their declaration has been processed, students will receive a follow-up email that contains important information regarding requirements to complete the certificate. 

2. As soon as you secure an internship, please send us an email with the following information:

  • The job description, which should include the specific business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-consumer (B2C) sales job functions, the name of the company, and dates of the internship. The job description must be written by the company.
  • If you do not have an official offer letter, we accept an official email from the company/supervisor confirming that you were offered the internship.
  • List which internship course you completed or will be completing simultaneously. 

3. Internships will be evaluated and approved by the program director. Once a decision has been made, you will receive a follow-up email regarding your approval status for your internship. 

**Business students will also need to go through a separate internship approval process for BUS AD 4500. If you are a non-business student wanting COMMUN 4940, HLTH SCI 4975, or any other internship course to double count towards your degree AND the Sales Certificate, please contact your assigned academic advisor to get started on this process. If you are a student wanting to take MRKTNG 4940 as your internship course, please send us an email to determine eligibility. 

 

SUMMER SEMESTERFALL SEMESTERSPRING SEMESTER
MRKTNG 3000MRKTNG 3410MRKTNG 4430
 MRKTNG 4420Elective (see list of choices above)

OR

FALL SEMESTERSPRING SEMESTERFALL SEMESTER
MRKTNG 3000MRKTNG 4420MRKTNG 4430
MRKTNG 3410Elective (see list of choices above) 

Have Questions?

We're here to help! 

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Quick Facts

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Program Type

Undergraduate
school

Academic Department

Marketing Department
schedule

Credit Hours

16 hours

Next Steps

Undergraduate Programs

110 Cornell Hall 

University of Missouri 

Columbia, MO 65211

Phone: (573) 884-2823
Email: business@missouri.edu

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