Baylor Takes 3rd Place out of 40 Universities at the National Sales Challenge

This past weekend, Baylor’s Professional Selling program took 3rd place in the National Sales Challenge, sponsored by the Russ Berrie Institute at William Paterson University, involving a field of 80 competitors from 40 universities.

Represented by three Juniors, Alicia Pace, Madison Solano, and Matt Galvin, Baylor’s team was led by Coach Chuck Fifield and student coaches Robert McCandlish and Luke Thompson.

Alisha Pace took the top spot overall in the speed selling competition and also won the Viewers’ Choice Award. “I was personally blessed by the friendships I made with competitors from 40 stellar university teams.” In addition to growing through the competition experience, Pace noted that the greater New York City-based competition offered another advantage. “Putting the competition aside, the concluding cruise around Lady Liberty is an experience I will never forget.”

Professional Selling professor, Chuck Fifield, prepared these competitors with assistance from ProSales student coaches, Robert McCandlish and Luke Thompson, who are seniors at Baylor. Sales competitions impact student development in profound ways. According to Fifield, “This competition gave each of these students the opportunity to better prepare themselves for a productive and successful career. As D. Everett said in The Columbian Orator in 1797, ‘large streams from little fountains flow, tall oaks from little acorns grow.’”

Part of the development process embedded in the Professional Selling program involves development students receive as student coaches. In this case, Robert McCandlish traveled with the team to New Jersey to provide on-site coaching. As a peer coach, McCandlish made sure that the team took advance of every learning opportunity that the competition had to offer. “The Baylor team was delighted to take advantage of the networking opportunities through the career fair, table talks, and corporate presentations. The competition was an outstanding test of our all-around sales skills and we truly enjoyed the format,” according to McCandlish.

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.