Students Practice Sales Skills in Juried Competition
Center for Professional Sales
SUMMARY: JMU gears up for the national competition in Georgia later this spring with an Inside Sales contest that brings in a bevy of corporate sponsors.
Held at JMU’s College of Business (CoB) and organized by the Center for Professional Sales, the contest was supported by members of the Sales Club and a record 26 representatives from 13 corporate sponsors, including TEK Systems, Ethos Group, Gartner, ALKU Government Solutions, The Standard, Aerotek, Paycom, memoryblue, Tom James, CH Robinson, ADP, Fastenal, and Signature Consultants.
The format is a fifteen-minute role-play where individual students try to sell a product or service to professionals from the industry. Their performance is filmed for a group of other professionals who judge the students on categories such as professional introduction, uncovering needs and closing.
This year, the 24 students used automotive service product seller Ethos Group as the ‘product’ they sold, with members of the Ethos Group team acting as buyers on the receiving end of the pitch. Senior Ryan Suchland took top honors, with junior Alexandra Cole grabbing second. An open dinner discussion followed with the 26 representatives and 50 students.
“It was probably our best one, for a number or reasons,” remarked Richard Tate, the Director of the Center for Professional Sales. “It puts a lot of opportunities in front of the students who are participating. The companies give us some feedback while they are here, so it also improves our program here. There’s value to the students who participate, and value for the College of Business to have that corporate interaction.”
