Baylor Well Represented at Chicago-area Sales Competition
Northern Illinois University (DeKalb, Illinois) hosted its third annual World Collegiate Sales Open (WCSO) this past weekend and Baylor University was again well represented among the finalists.
A group of 30 students from around the world was identified as finalists and alternates (20 and 10 respectively) and Baylor had five of those students – more than any other school. Of the 20 finalists, three Baylor Professional Selling majors represented the ProSales program at Baylor University well when awards were announced Saturday night.
Juniors Simeon Brown and Tyler Kopas competed along with Sophomore Olivia Offringa in the final round of the competition. The WCSO competition began in October with around 300 competitors.
“Friday was an exciting and event-filled day as we started at 7 am and went straight until 5 pm,” shared Offringa, who drew the #1 slot and was the opening competitor.
In the first event of the Open, Tyler Kopas competed with the rest of the finalists leaving a voice mail to gain a meeting with an executive. Although he would not know until the following evening, Kopas won the voice mail competition.
“The voicemail event required a lot of planning and tweaking over the past few months. All three of us worked hard to make sure we had good scripts that would allow us to deliver a captivating and informative message,” remarked Kopas as he praised his teammates. “Without their help, there is no way I would have been able to perform as well as I did.”
After the voice mail competition, competitors participated in a series of competitive events until 4:30 pm when the reverse job fair ended. In the reverse job fair, Simeon Brown and Kopas showed their skills of selling themselves taking 2nd and 3rd place respectively. Brown’s booth revolved around the theme “What Can Brown Do for You” playing off the popular UPS slogan.
“The opportunity to network and build relationships with fellow sales students and executives in Chicago was great and it allowed me to sell my brand to those around me,” remarked Brown.
On Saturday, students engaged in one additional sales role-play and then heard from CDW and Sure Payroll executives. The top four students were selected based on a combination of all Friday and Saturday competitions and announced after lunch on Saturday. All competitors were able to watch the final round of four and then the group congregated Saturday evening for the Awards Dinner and a speech from Terry Horan, President and CEO of Bosch.
“The WCSO was a great experience,” said Kopas. “We also had the opportunity to network with other talented sales students from around the world. Overall, the WCSO was one of the best experiences I’ve had in my college career.”
About the Center for Professional Selling
Dedicated to excellence in sales education and based in the university’s Hankamer School of Business, the Center for Professional Selling is recognized as one of the premier global information resources for the sales profession. For more information on the Center for Professional Selling, visit https://hankamer.baylor.edu/prosales.