BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Nearly 100 students representing 24 universities and colleges from across the country traveled to Indiana University Bloomington to compete Oct. 11-12 in the National Team Selling Competition at the Kelley School of Business.
Emerging as the winner of the rigorous, two-day sales competition was a team from the University of Richmond, followed by teams from the Kelley School and Michigan State University. Students competed for $6,000 in prize money.
The National Team Selling Competition provides participants with an opportunity to apply their classroom knowledge, experience, and skills toward a selling situation that is realistic and relevant in today’s market.
Teams were judged on their performance during two rounds of role-playing exercises, based on a hypothetical case involving a sports drink, outlined in a 15-page document that they received about two weeks before the competition. The top three finalists competed in the final round.
This was the 12th consecutive year that the Kelley School has hosted the competition, which grew this year to include more participating institutions, including those from Big Ten schools such as Michigan State and Purdue, as well as from other national universities.
The 96 students and their coaches came from one coast to the other to participate – from Florida International University to the University of San Diego.
The competition also provides unique networking opportunities with corporate partners, students, and faculty. Kelley’s Center for Global Sales Leadership organizes the competition, which is made possible through the generous financial and volunteer support of 3M, Altria, and mediasite.
Feedback is given to students during the competition. All faculty coaches and participants receive a video of their school’s performance as well as a video of the case debrief, so they can continue to learn from the National Team Selling Competition experience. Winning presentations from past competitions are available for viewing on the event’s website.
More than 60 Kelley students competed in an earlier, one-on-one competition in order to be selected to participate in the National Team Selling Competition. Kelley’s team was coached by Dennis Spahr, a new faculty member at the school who is the author of more than 100 speeches and articles on sales compensation and sales performance.
Kelley is the only top 10 undergraduate program to offer a professional sales major. Fewer than 25 business schools nationwide offer such a degree.
In addition to organizing the competition, the Center for Global Sales Leadership works closely with corporate partners to create programs and events that get students excited about careers in professional selling and sales management. Each semester, the center provides multiple opportunities to partner with different student groups at Kelley, including the Global Sales Workshop, Sales Club and professional sales majors.