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Pay to Play: Individually Customized Sales Competitions



Author(s)

Christopher J. Kowal, Steven J. M. Russell

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DOI:10.17265/2161-6248/2015.01.004

The Sales Education Foundation acknowledges 58 colleges in the United States (U.S.) that have specific sales programs. As interest in sales education development continues, it should be recognized that there is a gap between what companies want in their sales recruits and what marketing/sales departments are currently delivering. This paper aims to provide direction for any college department in which sales education development is a priority. Through the lens of cross-functional partnerships, sales education can be extended beyond the classroom to focus on opportunities to build efficient learning experiences for students that also provide benefit to outside partners. Preliminary interview data suggest that customized sales competitions sponsored by individual companies and hosted by marketing/sales departments might be an efficient partnership opportunity. This paper offers the steps to initiate this partnership model, with implications for successful programming and further research.

experiential learning, sponsored sales competitions, sales education