Sell it, win it

UW undergrads Hayden Krall, Hannah Hanson, Hanna Klemm, and Megan Smith beat out 20 other schools and won the 2012 “Can’t Beat the Experience” National Team Selling Competition at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.

Guest post by Megan Smith, UW undergrad and Sales Certificate student

We received the case approximately two weeks before the competition. The case was an internal sale and we were a “special task team” of employees that needed to make a presentation to our company’s CEO and VP of Human Resources. Our company was a research firm called “Abaci.” As the special task team, we were charged with creating a Workplace Wellness Program that introduced a new fitness device: the GetFit wristband.

The two weeks leading up to the competition were filled with preparation, devising plans, and a lot of coaching. We had fantastic support from our coaches and advisers: Jack Rhodes, Jeff Lehman, Joe Vandahey and last year’s NTSC team (Eric Hotaling, Dorine Rassaian, Julie Reynolds, and Neil Carter).

The competition day was split into two presentations: a morning session for needs analysis (15 min) and an afternoon sales presentation (20 min). The need analysis was a meeting with the VP of HR, “Casey” whom we were able to talk to about the issues facing the company, the data we were given, and uncover any other information that wasn’t included in the case description. Discovering all of the company’s needs was vital for success in the afternoon presentation. In the three hours between our morning session and afternoon presentation, we modified our presentation to incorporate the needs uncovered in the morning session and fit in as much practice as we could. We presented our Wellness Program to the company CEO, “Doug,” and our VP of HR, Casey. We addressed all their questions and received approval to implement the program.

Winning was surreal. There are not words to describe the feeling of having many late nights and hours of practice pay off. It is impossible for us to give enough credit to our coaches for their unparalleled support and guidance. Their support in combination with how well our team was able to work together made it possible for us to create a comprehensive and creative Wellness Plan that pulled us through to win. The amount we learned and the enjoyment and excitement of the competition truly made the experience unbeatable. Watch the morning and afternoon sessions.

The Sales Certificate Program at the Foster School provides students with the knowledge and real-world experience necessary to be successful in sales.