It has been said that salespeople are born, not made.
How about trained?
The Center for Professional Sales at the Naveen Jindal School of Management is specifically designed to improve the sales philosophy and techniques of its students. They recently showcased their skills with a two-day sales training and competition extravaganza, the Pro Sales Challenge, held Sept. 21-22.
People at The University of Texas at Dallas Visitors Center witnessed rows of students with their backs to tables, silent, some confident, some nervous, all anticipating.
Given the green light to begin, they quickly turned to face a prospective recruiter from a top company. This event is Speed Sell. In speed-dating style simulation, students had just minutes to make an impression before moving on to the next table to do it all over again.
Miranda Gross, a marketing senior with a concentration in sales, began with a joke and proceeded to explain her sales philosophy, even including her time in Girl Scouts of the USA.
“My goal was for them to get to know me, not just tell them my résumé,” she said. “I am going to be me and I believe that I can be one of my selling points. I have a personality where I want to help people and sales are about helping people. If I have a product that I know can make their life better, then I am helping them.”
Victoria Jimenez, a business administration senior with a concentration in marketing and sales, even admits it is just a thrill to be a part of it.
“I work full-time as a server and I don’t get to participate in as many events as I would like,” she said. “The fact they did this during a time when we’d have classes is something I really appreciate. I already learned from this part of the event to tell my story with emotion but don’t let the emotion overtake me.”
Carl Beshay, a business administration junior, was encouraged by how much he improved from the first person he talked with to the last.
“Communication skills are vital,” he said. “The first table was so tough but judges helped me with tips, calmed me and helped me see how to build a foundation for my talk. I adapted and that’s important. Being adaptable to any environment that comes my way can help my sales ability.”
Michael Bridie, a sales manager at Southwest Airlines, says this is a strong exercise because pitching oneself is undeniable in sales.
“This is just a great example of what this program does and I actually have two account managers working for me through this program,” he said. “Some had problems from memorizing everything and then when you get stuck you’re trying to remember a script. I tried to encourage them to just have a conversation. And you could see students get better and start to relax.”
Next, it was time for round one of role play, taking students over to the School of Management building. Judges from companies sat back in conference rooms watching on video as a student, in another room, walked into a simulated sales meeting with a potential client.
From how the students started their meeting, to how they qualified the potential client’s needs, to trying their best to end the meeting in the time they were allotted, the students were judged. Could they listen well, persuade that their product was worth further consideration — and do it all before a knock that indicated time was up?
The competition was whittled down to six finalists for the next morning — Round 2 — for a chance to have their name on the winning cup with previous role-play winners. Now it was a simulation where they had to convince someone who was pretending to be a senior vice president of Dell that a sales product from xiQ was a product for them.
But here’s the twist. The man pretending to be the senior vice president of Dell was the actual CEO of xiQ, Usman Sheikh.
At the reverse job fair, the event participants did everything from setting up poster boards to screens to some even having treats, giving them a chance to give judges a sense of themselves, but in a more relaxed setting.
“It’s a lot of fun,” said Kyro Abraham, an information technology and systems senior. “The role plays were much more technical. I had some problems in the first round, part of it was nerves. But I got through to the next round and it was all about reflecting on what I could have done better. If I could win this event, it would prove I’m becoming comfortable with uncomfortable situations — that’s what sales is sometimes.”
Abraham included pictures on his board which showed his connection to IBM, where he interned and now is in the Co-Op Program in which students take on a 20-hour workweek.
Neetin Khadka, a marketing senior, offered a board that revealed 12 sides of his persona. Visitors to his station could roll a 12-sided die and there would be a corresponding spot that could be revealed on a display board. Roll a four and the visitor could find out Khadka was an Eagle Scout. A seven revealed that Khadka played in a community band. All 12 combined to tell the story of a well-rounded student who could contribute to a company’s success.
Enjie Zheng, an information technology and systems senior, showed pictures of his love of travel, a racket and a basketball, to show he enjoys hitting the court, whether pickleball or basketball.
“It’s a nice contrast to talk about what I do outside of school or what my business aspirations are,” he said. “It reminds them that they are hiring me, not just my skills.”
Abraham was announced as the role-play cup winner during lunch at the Canyon Creek Country Club in Richardson.
“I felt I gave myself a chance but I was up against strong competition,” he said. “This gives me the confidence that I’m on the right track and I’m taking the feedback to continue to improve.”
Miranda Gross was the overall winner.
“I was nervous before the competition but I’ve found that I’m able to find calm when I’m in a competition,” she said. “I gave it my best and it means a lot because of how many talented people are here. It feels great to win but even just to get the practice, to get a chance to talk with people from these companies — I gained so much from it.”
Kelly Haney, the university recruiter at Gartner, sat in as a judge during the two-day event. She realized how difficult this kind of event could be and tried to keep students calm even as she was judging.
“I give them a lot of credit just for doing something like this,” she said. “It’s so much coming at you but it can really help your skills.”
Dr. Howard Dover, director of the center, said he hopes students will take away multiple benefits from being part of the event.
“First, skills and recognition of what skills they need to work on,” he said. “Second, connections. Networking with our corporate partners starts their journey to job offers and their future careers in professional sales. Third, camaraderie, our advanced student bond as they prepare for this event. If you look at the social media posts and you visit with the students, most of them are working in groups or pods. They are developing lifelong friendships with their fellow students. Preparing for this event is where the magic and bonding of our program happens.”
“Inspiring,” “informative,” and “nerve-wracking” were words that came up repeatedly as the event marched on.
“It was good that there was so much coming at you because sales is often about knocking on a lot of doors and persistence,” Abraham said. “You never know where that sale is going to come from. You need to continue to improve how you go about it and this is a great way to do that. And, sometimes, it’s just about the fact you found out you could keep going.”
