Out of 70 teams, Elon placed sixth overall in the sales role play competition.
The Elon Sales Team finished in the top 10 at the 2017 International Collegiate Sales Competition (ICSC) hosted by Florida State University.
The performances of Jesse O’Brien ‘18 and Helena Zaeh ’18 earned Elon sixth place overall. Individually, O’Brien and Zaeh finished #6 and #31, respectively.
ICSC, which aims to enhance the selling profession by encouraging the development of critical skills needed by today’s collegiate sales graduates, brought together 140 students representing 70 universities, including Kansas State University, University of Central Florida, Texas State University, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Kent State University and Ohio University.
The competition’s role play was based on a potential sale of Citrix XenDesktop to an international staffing company. Competitors were judged on the different elements of the sales process, including needs identitification, product presentation, overcoming objections and gaining customer commitment.
"I enjoyed working with the sales team and am so proud to have represented the university,” said Zaeh, an international business major from Schopfheim, Germany. “I learned a lot throughout the entire experience and was able to strengthen my personal and professional development."
Zaeh and O’Brien were coached by Will Shiebler ’18, Daniela Hernandez ’18, Assistant Professor Nawar Chaker and Assistant Professor Erin Gillespie.
“Professors Chaker and Gillespie were instrumental in our success through their constant coaching, feedback and encouragement,” said O’Brien, a marketing major from Wayne, New Jersey. “I was blown away at the caliber of the competition, and left having gained great networking exposure and applicable knowledge of the sales process.”