UW-Whitewater launches All-Campus Sales Competition

February 11, 2013

Students have the chance to win $3,000 in prize money at the first All-Campus Sales Competition at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

The event, hosted by the Institute for Sales Excellence, is an opportunity for students to network with sales professionals, enhance their resumes, and improve their communication and persuasion skills.

"Employers and organizations prefer hiring individuals with sales experience," said Shannon Cummins, assistant marketing professor and associate director of the institute. "Having that persuasive edge on other applicants will greatly increase students' chances of getting jobs and being promoted quickly."

Registration ends on Feb. 15 and the competition runs Feb. 18-March 15.

Northwestern Mutual is sponsoring the competition, which is open to all students, and will offer training sessions to students with minimal sales experience before the event.

"The purpose of this competition is to build students' sales skills from the ground up," said Cummins. "It's a very realistic event that allows each UW-Whitewater student to work on acquiring sales experience, as well as giving them a look into what the job market is asking for in this day and age."

The first two rounds ask competitors to act as a Northwestern Mutual sales agent calling a potential customer while reading a prepared script. Judges will assign scores based on voice quality, flow, preparation and tone.

The final rounds will test participants' persuasion skills with a sales pitch meeting. Each competitor will be judged on his or her ability to establish rapport with clients, to ask questions about their needs, and get a follow-up meeting.

For more information, visit http://www.uww.edu/cobe/sales/competition.