Diploma in Sales and Marketing

Duration: 6–9 Months | Level: Diploma – Advanced Practitioner Standard

Course Introduction

Sales and Marketing are the twin engines that turn a good product or service into a sustainable business yet they remain two of the most commonly under-invested skill areas among Zambian entrepreneurs and employees alike, often treated as instinct or “talking ability” rather than a genuine, learnable discipline built on strategy, data, and process. This diploma treats sales and marketing with the rigor they deserve: covering marketing strategy and consumer behavior, the full marketing mix, digital marketing and media buying, branding, and the complete sales process from prospecting through negotiation and closing each grounded in worked calculations (customer acquisition cost, sales pipeline conversion, advertising ROI, pricing break-even) rather than vague generalities.

Every module combines internationally recognized marketing and sales theory with genuine, worked Zambian business examples mobile money, informal retail, media buying across radio, TV, and digital platforms, and the practical realities of running a sales team or marketing function in a price-sensitive, mobile-first market. By the end of this diploma, you will not just understand marketing and sales concepts you will be able to build a segmentation strategy, price a product defensibly, run and evaluate a media buying campaign, manage a sales pipeline, and negotiate a deal using a recognized framework.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this diploma, you will be able to:

• Develop a complete marketing strategy grounded in market research and consumer behavior analysis
• Apply the extended marketing mix (Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process, Physical Evidence) to real business decisions
• Design and execute digital marketing and media buying campaigns, and calculate their return on investment
• Build and manage a brand strategy and brand equity over time
• Apply the full professional sales process, from prospecting through objection handling to closing
• Manage a sales pipeline and sales team using CRM principles and sales forecasting
• Negotiate deals using a recognized, structured negotiation framework
• Calculate and interpret core marketing and sales metrics (CAC, LTV, conversion rates, ROAS)
• Integrate sales and marketing functions strategically, and apply ethical principles throughout

Who this course is for: Marketing and sales professionals seeking formal, structured grounding in their field, business owners and entrepreneurs, media and advertising professionals, and anyone pursuing a career in brand management, digital marketing, media buying, or sales leadership. No prior formal marketing background is required, though the Business Administration diploma’s Marketing module (if completed) provides a useful head start.