It’s
an event which is as exciting and rewarding for the sales professionals who
serve as mentors and judges as it is for participating professional sales students.
“ESSPS is very engaged
with the business community, as is the entire UT College of Business and
Innovation,” noted Dr. Ellen Pullins, ESSPS director. “Company recruiters, who
serve as coaches, judges and buyers in the role play sessions, are also
interested in obtaining the best sales talent for their organizations. We are here to help them achieve their goals
while preparing our students for great success in the field of professional
sales.”
“The
Edward Schmidt School of Professional Sales is consistently recognized as one
of the top professional sales programs in the United States,” Pullins said.
“Our students are always in high demand and are being successfully placed. In
fact, our career placement rate is approaching 100%, which is a particularly significant achievement given recent
economic conditions. In the past,
70% of the students in this competition received job offers following the event
from the attending firms. ”
“The ESSPS
Invitational Sales Competition is a tremendous event,” said Kevin Donahue,
District Manager, The Sherwin-Williams Company. “The organization and attention
to detail made it great for both the sales students and for the participating
companies.”
The senior division of this Sales Competition is
open to students who have successfully completed their basic sales class and
who have not accepted a job offer. All
other professional sales students, freshmen through juniors, who are also
available for internships are eligible for the junior division of the
competition. The professional sales
faculty team reviews the applicants and selects the top 36 based on
demonstrated conceptual selling skills, academic performance, professionalism,
and career placement status.
A study by the Sales
Education Foundation (SEF) reported that firms are deliberately seeking out
professional sales students because they “ramp up 50% faster” than non-sales-educated
peers, experience less turnover, and actually save money for employers.
Pullins explained that
among the benefits provided within professional sales education are the use of
role playing and simulations which offer hands-on training; internships which
build competence and confidence; and a faculty with sales experience providing
knowledgeable guidance.
There are 50 corporate recruiters attending
the Sales Competition from 30 companies. Corporate spots at this competition
were ‘sold out’ in December with no advertising and there was even a waiting list of companies hoping to
participate. Among the companies participating are 3M,
Cleveland Cavaliers, Hilti, Huntington Bank, MassMutual, Northwestern Mutual,
Shrader Tire and Oil, SSOE, The Sherwin
Williams Company, TEK Systems, Tenneco, ThermaTru, and Verizon Wireless.
