Important Registration, Payment and Financial Aid Updates. Learn more

Harper College

Customer Success and Sales Certificate

Connect with consumers through effective sales strategies and marketing

Program facts Business icon


  • Credit hours: 18
  • Stackable to degree: No
  • Potential job outcomes: Account representative, marketing associate, sales associate

Do you enjoy helping people solve problems? Do you like to work on your own schedule and build a career path based on your own performance? Prepare for a career in sales with this 18-credit-hour certificate program. This is an ideal program for individuals interested in obtaining entry-level sales positions, along with people who want to expand their selling and account servicing skills. Sales careers are experiencing continuous growth and have a bright career outlook for the future.

Our program focuses on helping you understand your target market and how best to reach them, how to use social media as a tool to grow your customer base and complete sales, and how to use your smartphone as your sales support. Learn social commerce techniques that will escalate your sales career to the next level.

Completing this certificate program is a convenient and affordable way to determine whether a career in customer success and sales is right for you. Some students may qualify to graduate debt-free by participating in Harper’s Sales and Retail Management Apprenticeship program.

This program is available in an accelerated Fast Track format, giving you added flexibility, and a great start in Spring 2021. Or join our fully online program that will allow you to honor your commitments and get your education staring this Fall.

Certificate program requirements

This 21 credit-hour certificate program, tailored for both seasoned and aspiring sales professionals, prepares for a career in sales and customer success. Students will engage in a practical curriculum designed to sharpen skills in modern sales and customer service. Whether you're eager to master strategic communication for the digital realm, delve into customer relationship management with Salesforce, or explore the dynamics of social commerce, our program equips you with a comprehensive skill set for success. This certificate will help redefine student success in the world of professional selling and account servicing.

To achieve an individualized program designed to complement the student's industrial and educational background, the selection of electives should be made in consultation with the coordinator.

The Associate in Applied Science in Business Administration includes a specialized study area for Customer Success and Sales. Please refer to Business Administration in this section of the catalog if you are interested in pursuing a degree in this discipline.

Required:

Number Course Title Credits
MGT 111 or

Description:  Introduces the nature of business and the environment in which it operates. Forms of business ownership, introduction to operative and facilitating facets of business operation, management, marketing, accounting, statistics, business law, finance, investments, insurance and labor-management relations.

Class Schedule:  Summer 2024 | Fall 2024

MGT 154 3

Description:  Investigates positives and negatives of entrepreneurship and the process of concept to new venture. Analyzes typical venture errors and focuses on strategic management. Evaluates business ownership and franchising, pricing strategies, financing, location selection and human capital management. Discovers personal leadership traits. Assesses the personal entrepreneurial mindset.

Class Schedule:  Summer 2024 | Fall 2024

MKT 140 3

Description:  Focuses upon the principal factors of successful selling of goods or ideas. Examines buying motives, sales psychology, customer approach and sales techniques.

Class Schedule:  Summer 2024 | Fall 2024

MKT 146 3

Description:  Master verbal, non-verbal, and listening techniques crucial in the customer service profession. Cultivate the ability to build and maintain relationships, navigating through diverse customer behaviors and addressing service breakdowns with adept recovery strategies. Explore the intersection of technology and customer service to stay ahead in a dynamic landscape. Develop strategies for retaining customers, focusing on encouraging loyalty through personalized approaches. Delve into special topics like time and stress management, while also enhancing customer service through written communication. Empowers students with the knowledge and skills needed for a successful and fulfilling career in customer success.

Class Schedule:  Summer 2024 | Fall 2024

MKT 147 3

Description:  Delve into the intricacies of Salesforce, a cutting-edge Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, by leveraging the Trailblazer platform. Navigate seamlessly through customer service, sales, and marketing Salesforce content and training to cultivate advanced skills essential for diverse career paths. Engage in hands-on Salesforce assignments, applying theoretical knowledge to real-world scenarios and perfecting your expertise. Earn prestigious badges from Salesforce, validating your mastery and symbolizing advanced training in the CRM tool. Emerge well-equipped for dynamic roles in customer relationship management, empowered by the experiential learning provided throughout the course.

Class Schedule:  Summer 2024 | Fall 2024

MKT 180 3

Description:  Introduces the fundamental skills needed to develop Web-appropriate written content that can be leveraged for strategic marketing purposes on multiple digital platforms. Evaluates platform requirements and explains the nuances of multimedia writing. Presents techniques to identify success metrics, assess and report content performance and make data-driven recommendations.

Recommended: ENG 101 or placement options into ENG 101: english-placement-grid.php

Class Schedule:  Summer 2024 | Fall 2024

MKT 243 3

Description:  Provides an introduction to social commerce and how to use the major social platforms on a smartphone to market and increase sales. Reviews sales initiatives including programs and alerts to increase sales with targeted customers. Explains the importance of using reward programs in social commerce to increase sales, referrals and customer loyalty.

Class Schedule:  Summer 2024 | Fall 2024

Electives: Select three credit hours from the following courses:

Number Course Title Credits
ACC 211 3

Description:  Presents the history of the source of law, civil and criminal wrongs, law of contracts, agency, employment, property, and related topics. Problems and case materials are used. (NOTE: Transfer students should check with the school they will be transferring to regarding the transferability of this course.)

Class Schedule:  Summer 2024 | Fall 2024

MKT 217 3

Description:  Purposes of advertising, how advertisements are prepared and delivered in media, and how effectiveness of advertising is measured and evaluated in relation to the selling and marketing process. IAI MC 912

Class Schedule:  Summer 2024 | Fall 2024

MKT 247 3

Description:  Reviews and analyzes areas of consumer and organizational buying behavior that guide marketing management decisions. The focus of the course will be directed toward the application of concepts on buying behavior to specific functional areas of marketing management in both the industrial and consumer markets.

Class Schedule:  Summer 2024 | Fall 2024

MKT 252 3

Description:  Presents techniques on how to design, maintain, and market effective digital storefronts. Focuses on communicating, selling, and providing content to Web-based stores and other Internet businesses.

Class Schedule:  Summer 2024 | Fall 2024

Related programs

Students interested in business may also be interested in:

Resources

Next steps

For more information about courses in sales and management at Harper, contact Admission Outreach at 847.925.6700, or submit a request information form. You can also apply online.

Last Updated: 4/8/24