Sales students take on ICSC

Six students from the Zeigler College of Business recently attended the International Collegiate Sales Competition — a competition that enhances the skills needed in a sales profession in a fun and competitive environment.

Among these competitors were:

• Andrew Bergey (case management)
• Alyssa Daives (speed sell)
• Brendan Matthews (role-play)
• Kimberly Oaster (case management)
• Nicholas Paesano (role-play)
• Bradley Randall (alternate)

These six students were selected from Monica Favia’s Advanced Sales Class, based on their performance in a sales role-play done in class.

ICSC features three different forms of competitions each of which focus on a different kind of selling. In the role-play competition, students are given a product or service and are required to go through the selling cycle to a mock-buyer. An advancement in the role-play competition is dependent on the competitor’s success in identifying their buyer’s needs, overcoming any objections, and advancing the sales call to the next step. Paesano and Matthews both advanced to the wild card round where Matthews placed second and Paesano placed third.

“I valued the opportunity to not only compete but to grow and develop my skills all while gaining valuable insight from successful sales professionals,” said Paesano.

In the sales case-management competition, competitors team up in groups of two and are given a hypothetical problem within a business. The team then works together to prepare a solution to the problem that was presented in the case. This year, Bergey and Oaster had 24 hours to prepare a solution to the onboarding issue and present it to a panel of judges where they were critiqued on their interpretation of the problem, their recommended solution, and their presentation.

As opposed to the role-play competition, the case management competition did not allow any outside help from fellow students or faculty. Therefore, all of the ideas presented to the judges were researched and developed by Bergey and Oaster.

Bergey said, “Participating in the case management competition really helped me envision what a career in sales might actually be like. Kim and I had to work together as a team to come up with a solution to a realistic problem that a company is facing and had to offer solutions, yet there was no correct or incorrect answer.”

In the speed sell competition, competitors had to sell the most crucial thing: themselves. Competitors were required to prepare a 90-second elevator pitch and present it to four different company representatives. The goal of this competition is to advance to the next round in the interview process.

“In the speed sell, I was put under pressure and had the opportunity to showcase my abilities to companies that I would like to work for,” said Davies. “Getting to actually give an elevator pitch to a company that is top on your list rarely happens; ICSC gave me the opportunity to connect with the leading companies in sales.”

While BU did not place in any of the competitions, the attendees took a lot away from their time in the competition.

“Attending ICSC was a really valuable experience for me,” said Randall. “Having the opportunity to come face to face with so many great companies’ recruiters and ask them questions, obtain their advice on success was truly rewarding.”

Randall was offered and accepted a job with a sales position Herk and Associates, which he will begin upon graduation next May. In addition, Davies was offered a position with Qualtrics.