Advertising senior Maria Sasinowski is a few months away from graduating and already has accepted a job with Microsoft. She attributes this success to concepts she learned through a sales competition last fall.
But even after landing a job, Sasinowski still isn’t done competing.
Sasinowski was the winner of the sales competition held Friday at MSU’s Henry Center for Executive Development.
About 36 MSU students and 18 companies participated in the competition. Corporations included companies such as Ford, Sherwin-Williams, Quicken Loans, Reynolds and Reynolds and Kohl’s.
There also were nine firms present that sponsor MSU’s Sales Communication Specialization, a joint initiative of the Eli Broad College of Business and College of Communication Arts and Sciences.
Each round of the competition had three students who presented sales pitches to a company manager playing the part of a buyer. After the students presented, they were immediately judged, and the top two from each room moved into the quarter finals, semifinals and then finals.
“Students who join this program want exposure to companies and something to set them apart from other students – this is a great opportunity (for that),” associate professor of marketing Doug
Hughes said.
The competition gave students practice meeting with prospective customers, hearing client responses and trying to match the product they’re selling to the needs and problems they’ve been given. It essentially is what these students will be doing after graduation, Hughes said. It also gives students a chance to get their name out to potential employers and make new contacts.
“It’s really useful because as you go through each round, there are three judges with you in each room,” Sasinowski said. “They give you instant feedback so you know what you did right and wrong and what you can fix. You can then implement what they told you and know what your weaknesses are.”
She received a $1,000 scholarship and the opportunity to travel to the national competition in Kennesaw, Ga., along with other top competitors. She said she didn’t think she would have gotten the position at Microsoft after graduation had she not done the competition.
“We try to make the scenarios as real life as possible – it’s all about understanding the problems and also dealing with different personalities,” Hughes said. “The students have to overcome objections and demonstrate value to this prospect. It gives (these students) experiences that other students won’t have and opportunities for students to grow and get better.”
Vice President of Sales at Thomson Reuters, Rick Kursik, who attended the competition as both a judge and a buyer, said he thinks this a great way to prepare students for the world of business.
“The situations are very real, and I think employers will recognize this,” Kursik said.
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