What professional tools or software are used during the programme?
The MSc in Business Development & Sales Management at EDC Paris Business School integrates professional tools directly into its teaching, ensuring that students enter the workplace with practical skills and real-world habits, rather than theoretical knowledge alone.
Sales management and CRM tools
The programme includes a module dedicated to Customer Engineering and CRM, placing customer relationship management at the heart of the learning experience. In practical terms, students learn to use the tools that structure the day-to-day work of any sales professional: pipeline tracking, contact management, interaction history, follow-up reminders and performance reporting.
The customer management software most widely used by companies, such as Salesforce, HubSpot CRM and Pipedrive, all follow the same principle: centralising sales information to improve efficiency and responsiveness. Becoming familiar with these tools before starting a job helps students avoid the adjustment period that many junior professionals experience when they first enter the workplace.
The sales tools covered in the MSc enable students to:
* build and manage a sales pipeline in a structured and rigorous way;
* segment a customer portfolio and prioritise actions based on account value;
* produce clear reports for a manager or sales leadership team;
* automate certain repetitive tasks and focus on higher-value activities.
Analysis and reporting tools
Making sound sales decisions without data means operating in the dark. The programme develops a strong culture of commercial analysis, training students to use data to assess the effectiveness of their actions and guide their strategy.
The analysis and reporting tools covered during the programme include several levels of complexity:
* Advanced Excel: pivot tables, sales forecasting models and KPI tracking;
* Power BI or Google Data Studio: creating visual dashboards to monitor performance in real time and present insights clearly to management.
These business development reporting skills are directly valuable in job interviews: a candidate who can demonstrate the ability to interpret data and turn it into concrete commercial decisions immediately stands out from profiles whose strengths are purely relationship-based.
Prospecting and digital marketing tools
Prospecting has changed dramatically. Unprepared cold calling is no longer enough — today's high-performing sales professionals combine structured digital approaches to generate qualified leads. This is precisely what the programme's "Prospecting & Social Selling" module teaches.
The digital marketing and prospecting tools covered in this context include:
* LinkedIn Sales Navigator: identifying decision-makers, building targeted prospect lists and personalising outreach;
* Emailing and sequencing tools: creating multichannel prospecting campaigns, monitoring open rates and optimising messages;
* Sales intelligence and monitoring platforms: tracking business signals such as fundraising rounds, recruitment activity and industry news in order to approach the right prospects at the right time.
These MSc sales prospecting tools enable students to move from an ad hoc approach to a structured and scalable process — exactly what recruiters expect from modern sales teams.
Support and hands-on practice with professional tools
Discovering a tool during a lecture is useful. Using it on a real project, with genuine constraints, is what truly embeds the skill. The programme adopts a blended learning approach, combining face-to-face teaching, the use of digital tools and educational videos to provide a flexible and progressive learning experience.
Transferable skills are developed through several complementary approaches:
* Practical workshops led by industry professionals who use these tools every day in their own companies;
* Team projects in which students are required to use the tools to produce a tangible deliverable, such as a prospecting plan, performance report or client presentation;
* Flipped classrooms that allow students to familiarise themselves independently with key functionalities before applying them in class.
Learning to use professional tools during the MSc is not limited to technical proficiency. The objective is for every student to understand why they are using a particular tool, in which context and in support of which commercial objective.
The business development tools taught throughout the MSc — including CRM, analytics, social selling and reporting — are precisely those mentioned by recruiters in their job advertisements. Mastering them before even securing a first position is a tangible and immediate advantage. To view the full list of professional software integrated into the programme and understand how these tools enhance graduate employability, explore the full MSc programme details on the EDC Paris Business School website or request the brochure from the admissions team.