National Sales Challenge

The Russ Berrie Institute for Professional Sales (RBI) at William Paterson University’s Christos M. Cotsakos College of Business is pleased to announce the 2009 RBI National Sales Challenge. In this three-day event, top sales students from across the country meet with representatives from major corporations for an exciting sales competition designed to:

Hone Sales Skills

Students will gain candid feedback on their sales abilities from corporate executives.

Receive Valuable Knowledge 

Students will obtain real-world business knowledge and make valuable contacts with executives from a wide range of companies seeking to hire bright new sales professionals.

Make Connections

Sponsoring companies will get the chance to meet and evaluate up-and-coming sales leaders, showcase their organizations, and network with other firms.

The RBI National Sales Challenge features unique competitive events:

Sales Call Role-Play

Students engage in a fifteen-minute sales call role-play with a business executive. The role-play is then evaluated and scored on various aspects of the sales call, including approach and overall communication effectiveness, as well as ability to gather information, identify needs, provide information, present solutions, resolve concerns, and gain a commitment.

Speed Selling

Students create a two-minute sales pitch about themselves. Then, as pictured above, each student meets individually with an executive and makes a two-minute pitch highlighting the reasons he or she should be hired. A one-minute question and answer session follows; then, the student moves on to the next executive.