Self-Paced Online Course
Sales & Business Development
How startups build a sales engine from scratch — organizing the team, filling the pipeline, and turning early traction into real, repeatable revenue.
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Building the startup sales engine
The sales function in a startup is different from the sales operation of a large, established corporation. This course examines those special characteristics — how you organize a sales team, prospect for and qualify potential customers, manage the customer acquisition process, and drive business development through partnerships and channels. From there it works through the practical sales skills and techniques that turn prospects into paying customers.
The course then moves into growing and managing the sales force, adopting customer relationship management (CRM) systems, and tracking the metrics that reveal what is and isn't working. It covers the online meeting and presentation capabilities now central to modern selling, and closes with a focused look at what makes sales in a startup venture distinct — so founders can build momentum from the very first deal.
A certificate of completion is awarded when you successfully complete the course.
Learning Objectives & Outcomes
What you'll be able to do
- ✓Prepare a comprehensive sales and business development plan.
- ✓Organize and structure a sales team suited to a startup venture.
- ✓Prospect systematically to build and qualify a pipeline of potential customers.
- ✓Manage the customer acquisition process from first contact through to a closed deal.
- ✓Drive business development through partnerships, channels, and strategic relationships.
- ✓Apply core sales skills and techniques to advance and close opportunities.
- ✓Grow and scale the sales team as the venture builds momentum.
- ✓Lead and manage a sales force — setting territories, quotas, and incentives.
- ✓Appreciate how CRM systems are adopted across organizations, and plan to install and operate one for sales and business development.
- ✓Define and track the sales metrics that measure performance and forecast revenue.
- ✓Run effective online meetings and sales presentations, as now adopted in startups and other organizations.
- ✓Recognize the special characteristics of selling in a startup versus an established corporation.
Course Sections
Eleven sections, in sequence
- 01Organizing the Sales Team
- 02Prospecting
- 03Customer Acquisition Management
- 04Business Development
- 05Sales Skills & Techniques
- 06Growing the Sales Team
- 07Sales Force Management
- 08CRM — Customer Relationship Management Systems
- 09Sales Metrics
- 10Online Meetings & Sales Presentations
- 11Sales in a Startup Venture
Goes Well With
Round out your growth toolkit
Sales doesn't work in isolation. These SVBS courses extend the demand and growth side of the founder's toolkit, from positioning the product to funding the expansion it earns:
Sherpa · Your AI Startup Guide
Take the journey for real, with Sherpa
Customer traction and sales momentum are among the clearest signals that a startup is on course. Sherpa turns what you learn here into your route. As your AI guide, Sherpa helps you target your destination, plot your milestones, and track your momentum stage by stage, drawing on the same "Zero to IPO" methodology to keep you climbing toward your summit.
Sherpa is included with the Entrepreneur subscription ($50/month), which adds startup guidance and the Milestone Progress tracker on top of the full course library.
Get Sherpa →Ready When You Are
Start the Sales & Business Development course today
Self-paced, 18 study hours, included with your SVBS subscription alongside the full course library and Prof, your AI course tutor — and you earn a certificate of completion when you finish.
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