Baylor University's Sales Team Attains Success at National Collegiate Sales Competition

by Amanda Sawyer

Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business student sales team placed third at the 9th Annual National Collegiate Sales Competition (NCSC) held March 15 to17 at Kennesaw State University near Atlanta, Ga. Both Baylor contestants made it to the semi-final round before being eliminated, finishing at the top of the 88 person field.

Team members include business students Michael Smith and Daniel Powell, with alternates Amy Abendschein and Brian Chao, and were coached by Professor Charles Fifield. It is fairly rare for competitors to repeat on the Baylor Sales Team, and Smith did better than he did the year before, according to the Director of the Keller Center for Professional Selling, Dr. Chris Pullig.

All of the competitors are the top students in the Baylor Professional Selling program's fall Sell-Off, and begin in January to prepare for the spring competition. "The Sell-Off is open to all students with sales experience. Even students that have just taken their first sales class can compete with their peers," Dr. Fifield said.

After qualifying and agreeing to participate, the team members put in long hours to prepare for the rigorous competition. Beginning in January, the team meets twice a week a minimum of two hours each meeting. More often, they meet four times a week to break down the concepts, re-orient them towards a professional model, role play, and practice selling the fictitious product to local businesses.

Each team is given the same case study to prepare for the March competition. It is their job to orient themselves with the product or service to sell. This year's products included ACT Software and UPS shipping, which had to be sold to a small company entitled the West Sisters.

This preparation time helps calm the nerves of the Baylor Sales team, and gives them a competitive edge. "Going into the competition and knowing what I'm going to do and feeling confident in my capabilities helped me keep my head on straight and not lose focus," Smith, a Professional Sales major, said.

Taking the basics of professional selling with them, the Sales Team works to gain a mutually beneficial solution to the client's problem. Through diagnostic-style selling, the salesperson acts as a doctor would in curing the patient's ailment. People like to visit the doctor just as much as they like feeling sold, according to Dr. Fifield.

The NCSC uses a bracket-like system where six students go head-to-head with other top sales students in the nation. The students in each room are then ranked from first to last, and only the top two competitors move on to the next round, the other four move to the loser's bracket to compete.

"Michael and Daniel finished at the top in each room that they were in," Dr. Pullig said. "They do only rank the top students in each room, but Michael and Daniel had been finishing first in every room up to the semifinals."

Not only does the competition supply a venue for students to use the salesmanship skills learned in the classroom, but places students in contact with actual buyers and representatives of various companies. Being judged by industry professionals gives students the simulation of a real-life sales meeting.

"Each sales call is broadcast live to a room full of judges, who are corporate sponsors scouting for the next top players in sales. Just as basketball scouting camps bring the best players to one location, the NCSC brings the top sales students together with professionals from the business world to create exclusive networking opportunities," according to the NCSC Web site.

During the competition, corporate sponsors participate in a job fair to recruit the top undergraduate sales students in the country. "Students are guaranteed job offers," Dr. Fifield said. "There's a general consensus that Baylor students are above and beyond other students in ability, integrity and quality."

In addition to competitive honors, all of Baylor's participants walked away with multiple job offers from numerous industry leaders. Currently, Smith has been hired full-time by 3M, while Powell and Abendschein will join as summer interns for 3M. Chao has received numerous offers, but has yet to decide on one company in particular.

"Knowing that corporate recruiters wanted me to work for them was an amazing feeling. Most of the time, my friends are very nervous about graduating because they do not know what they are going to do when they are gone. I am eager to graduate because I know that I have many options waiting for me when I leave Baylor," Powell, a double Major in Professional Sales and Operations Management, said.

Previous Sales Team participants have also gone on to see great success in their careers. Opportunities like the National Collegiate Sales Competition show future employers evidence of skills in salesmanship and professionalism.

"When employers see this National Collegiate Sales Team on the resume, it's a major issue. It demonstrates leadership skills, initiative, and willingness to learn. It's important to provide students with those opportunities," Dr. Pullig said.

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