The assistant professor of marketing has been named director of the Chandler Family Professional Sales Center.
Erin Gillespie, assistant professor of marketing in the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business, has been named the director of Elon University’s Chandler Family Professional Sales Center.
As director, Gillespie is responsible for recruiting and managing sales center partnerships, working with the center’s advisory board, developing and maintaining employer relationships, coaching the Elon Sales Team, and further developing Elon’s sales program.
Since joining Elon’s faculty in 2013, Gillespie has taught courses in marketing principles, professional sales and sales management, as well as coached the Elon Sales Team.
Gillespie’s career includes positions as a pharmaceutical sales representative in Northwest Alabama and as an assistant media strategist for an advertising agency.
Gillespie has a Ph.D. in Business Administration (Marketing) from the University of Mississippi and both a B.S. and M.B.A. from Auburn University. Her primary research interest is in sales, specifically salesperson-product attachment, effort level and team-selling. Her work has been published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, the Journal of Business Research, and the Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice.
“I am delighted that Dr. Gillespie has agreed to serve as director of the Chandler Family Sales Center,” said Raghu Tadepalli, dean of the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business. “Given her experience in sales and her keen interest in teaching and mentoring students interested in sales careers, I am sure she will provide strong leadership to the center.”
The Chandler Family Center prepares students to jump-start their careers in professional sales through national sales competitions, workshops led by high-profile executives and industry advancing research. The center was established in 2008 by an endowment gift from Elon Trustee Thomas E. Chandler, owner of Chandler Concrete Company, and his family, and is a full member of the University Sales Center Alliance, a consortium of sales centers located in universities throughout the U.S.