April 23, 2012
Closing the deal: Three business students win Victaulic Sales Competition
Submitted by Communications and Marketing
Three students from the College of Business Administration at Kansas State University are winners of the Victaulic Sales Invitational.
The competition was a part of K-State Sales Week, a four-day event organized by Dawn Deeter-Schmelz, director of the National Strategic Selling Institute in the college. It featured students from K-State, Oklahoma State University and Fort Hays State University.
Each student competed in a selling role-play for cash prizes.
"The quality of students in this competition surpassed all my expectations. Congratulations, Dawn and K-State on a successful event," said Kane Navarro, competition judge and district manager for Victaulic Corporation.
First place honors and $300 went to Sophie Mans, a senior in marketing from Garden Plain. Second place and $200 went to Monica Klawuhn, senior in marketing from Lee Summit, Mo. Third place and $100 went to Tyler Miles, a senior in pre-professional secondary education from Tonganoxie.
"The quality of the sales and marketing programs at K-State, Oklahoma State and Fort Hays State was apparent and confirmed," said Nora Elmanzalawy, with Victaulic Corporation's university relations. "We thoroughly enjoyed our time and sincerely appreciate the effort put forth by everyone involved."
"The level of sales talent possessed by our K-State students is phenomenal. All of our students did an outstanding job preparing for and performing in the Victaulic Sales Invitational," said Deeter-Schmelz, who is also the J.J. Vanier distinguished chair in relational selling and a professor of marketing at K-State.
Sales competitions provide an outlet for students to demonstrate their selling skills and network with firms; many students have been offered jobs and internships as a direct result of their involvement with the competitions, according to Deeter-Schmelz.
In addition to the Victaulic Sales Invitational, students were able to attend a sales career fair and a variety of professional development workshops during Sales Week. They covered how to conduct successful telephone sales calls, network, pick the sales job to match their skills, dress for success and develop their prospecting skills.
The week concluded with a keynote speech by Alex Sayago, director of the corporate business division and government sales for John Deere Ag and Turf Division.
"We thank our many business partners who assisted us during this inaugural event for the National Strategic Selling Institute and look forward to holding more such events in the future," Deeter-Schmelz said.