March 21, 2022
K-State Sales Team takes home sixth place at National Collegiate Sales Competition
The K-State Sales Team competed in the National Collegiate Sales Competition March 4–7. The competition was hosted by Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia, with Gartner as the product sponsor. Sixty-seven universities and 133 competitors participated, with more than 35 companies on hand to hire the next generation of sales talent.
The K-State Sales Team had two students compete in the role-play competition. The team consisted of Jacqueline Anzalone, senior in marketing and supply chain management, Kansas City, Missouri, and Lydia Johnson, junior in professional strategic selling and Spanish, Prior Lake, Minnesota. Natalie Beck, junior in marketing, Jefferson City, Missouri, was selected as a student alternate to travel with the team and compete in speed selling events.
Students competed in role-play scenarios selling Gartner for CIOs to various industries. Each role-play was 20 minutes, where students were tasked with uncovering the needs of the prospect through effective questioning and selling the prospect on the value Gartner could provide them in their current situation. Johnson advanced to the semifinals, placing in the top 12 in the competition, and Anzalone advanced to the quarterfinals, placing in the top 54. The team took home sixth place overall in the competition.
“I want to thank Terry Loe, professor of marketing at Kennesaw State University and executive director of the National Collegiate Sales Competition, as well as Gartner and many others for providing this opportunity for our students,” said Kellie Jackson, managing director of the National Strategic Selling Institute and sales team coach. “After being virtual the past two years, it was great to see everyone back in person once again, as it makes the experience that much more memorable for the students and company representatives. I’m extremely proud of our students’ efforts and hard work leading up to and during the competition to secure another top 10-team placing.”
The K-State Sales Team is in the College of Business Administration’s National Strategic Selling Institute, which has been named one of the top sales programs in the country for 10 straight years by the Sales Education Foundation. The team consists of students who are enrolled in the certificate or major in professional strategic selling. In fall 2018, Kansas State University became one of 19 universities in the U.S. to offer a major in professional strategic selling. Students can also earn a certificate in professional strategic selling, which is open to all majors at the university. The professional strategic selling program introduces students to the fundamentals of sales and the innovative curriculum and sales labs allow students to develop the skills needed to be successful.
The K-State Sales Team will be competing in several competitions throughout the school year across the country. For more information on the National Strategic Selling Institute or the K-State Sales Team, please contact kstatesalesprogram@k-state.edu.
The National Collegiate Sales Competition is the largest and longest-running university sales role-play competition in existence. It is also the most prominent sales role-play competition for college students who wish to pursue careers in professional sales, while providing students with unparalleled sales training. This event was built on the core values of professionalism, talent match, skill enhancement and communication, which are still in place today.