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J. Daniel and Nancy Garrison Sales Innovation Program

SIP Curriculum

The Sales Innovation Program 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 them for influential roles in sales or related positions.

Students accepted into SIP will complete three required classes across three semesters - Professional Selling (MKT 3250), Applied Selling I (MKT 4220), and Applied Selling II (MKT 3980). Blending theory with application, these three foundational courses offer students real-world challenges and foundational role-play exercises while ensuring frequent interaction with industry executives.

To earn the SIP sales certificate and get exposure to leadership opportunities, students must also complete the optional MKT 4240 course (Sales Management). SIP students also have the exclusive opportunity to enroll in Selling in Healthcare (MKT 4350) as an optional course.

Students can start down their pathway to becoming an active SIP Member (see our SIP Application). Please note business majors may enroll in Professional Selling (MKT 3250) before joining SIP.

Required Courses

Semester 1

Professional Selling - MKTG 3250/3240

  • Principles
  • Role Plays
  • Sales Processes
  • SPIN

Semester 2

Applied Selling I - MKTG 4220

  • Digital Selling
  • Go-to-Market Tactics
  • Large Account Strategy
  • Technology Applications

Semester 3

Capstone Course - Tiger Paw Classic MKTG 3980

  • Customer Leads
  • Qualification
  • Quota
  • Sponsorship Sales

Optional Courses

Sales Management - MKTG 4240

  • Coaching Role Plays
  • Sales Management Tactics
  • Sales Organization Strategy
  • Simulated Sales Leader Environment

Selling in Healthcare - MKTG 4350

  • Applications in Provider Settings
  • Intro to Healthcare
  • New Product Intros
  • Selling Clinical Value
Sam Moody

“From learning the basics of SPIN selling in professional selling (MKT 3250) 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 Moody
Senior Marketing Major
Female student sitting at desk

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 3250/3240 course. Required Courses: MKT 3250/3240, MKT 4220, MKT 4240, and MKT 3980

SIP Application

Orthopedic 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 3250/3240 and MKT 4360) along with bioengineering coursework.

More Information
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Click each course for more info.

  • Marketing 3250 - 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 will 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 3250 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 3240 course (Professional Selling for Non-Business Majors) that can replace MKT 3250 and does not require prerequisites for enrollment. However, because there is no prerequisite for this course, students need to be accepted into the SIP Ascent Track to enroll.

  • 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.

  • Marketing 4220 - Applied Selling

    Building on the foundations class (MKT 3250), this course focuses on the 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.

  • 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.

  • Marketing 4360 - 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.

Brooke Miller

“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 Miller
Senior Marketing Major
Sam McConnell

“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 McConnell
Junior Marketing Major
J. Daniel and Nancy Garrison Sales Innovation Program
J. Daniel and Nancy Garrison Sales Innovation Program | Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of Business, 225 Walter T. Cox Blvd., Clemson, SC 29634