Tennessee Student Named Top Seller At Baylor Contest

by Alan Hunt

WACO, Texas -- Rebecca Wilkins, a 22-year-old marketing major from Middle Tennessee State University at Murfreesboro, won the overall championship award and a check for $1,500 at the second annual National Collegiate Sales Competition at Baylor University.
Wilkins, who is from Antioch, Tenn., was honored at an awards banquet Saturday evening at the conclusion of the two-day contest.
Believed to be the only tournament of its kind in the nation, more than 40 students from 21 major universities in America and Canada competed in the contest, which is sponsored by Baylor's Center for Professional Selling.
Wilkins and her fellow team members from Middle Tennessee State University also won the team award. Other team members were Barbara S. Kellgren, Tiffany Douglas, and their coach, Professor Scott A. Inks, of the university's management and marketing department.
Students from Baylor also were successful. April Mims, a senior management/marketing major from Katy, won the service sales category award, and Baylor placed second in the team contest. Team members were Mims; Brian Garrie, a senior international business/marketing major from Laporte; and Karen Thomas, a sophomore interdisciplinary studies/English major from San Antonio.
Other successful students were Tracy Baker of the University of Akron, who received the first runner-up award; Adrianne Kirby of Western Carolina University, second runner-up award; and Alex Gerken of the University of Toledo, who won the product sales category award.
Prizes were presented by Tom Willis, senior manager of sales training at Office Depot. Keynote speaker at the banquet was Baylor graduate David Alexander, a director of Acclivus Corporation, a Dallas-based consulting company.
Baylor marketing professor and contest director, Dr. Terry W. Loe, described the contest as a "world series of professional selling." He said students had to prove themselves as "true movers and shakers" before some of America's best sales experts who judged their performances.
"This, probably, was the most challenging sales call they'll ever face," Loe said. "Selling
to a professional buyer, before a video camera, being judged by sales professionals, and having to compete against so many others similarly qualified keeps them on their toes. It's tough."
The sponsoring firms included Arrow Electronics, Office Depot, Elk Corporation, WilsonArt, Edward Jones, Carlton-Bates, Prudential, Xerox Business Services, Concentra Health Services, Wallace, IBM, Andersen Consulting, Novartis Animal Health, and Federal Express.
For more information, call Loe at (254) 710-4244 or by e-mail, Terry_Loe@baylor.edu .