The H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship added a new program to its curriculum.
The Sales Institute, located on the third floor of the Carl DeSantis Building, will teach students the skills needed to succeed in the sales world, be it selling a product or selling an idea.
“We want our students to have a clear, definite competitive advantage getting positions,” said Michael Fields, Ph.D., dean of the business school. “And we want to demonstrate to employers that our students have a market-based education.”
The college added the program after representatives met with approximately 50 Florida companies to determine what was expected of graduates in the sales world.
Courses in the institute’s curriculum include productive approaches to relationship selling, marketing principles and applications, award-winning concepts for business negotiations, and real world management of sales systems.
According to Dennis Dannacher, director of recruitment and admissions in the Huizenga business school, there are only 30 out of 4,000 colleges in the country that offer a sales program.
Andrew Davis, senior business administration and marketing major, said he believes sales skills are essential. He said he is glad NSU is one of the few schools that offer the program.
“Sales is just part of business that you’ll probably have to do whether you like it or not,” said Davis. “As such, I appreciate that NSU has put a focus on sales education because I know that learning these sales skills will help me be more successful in my career.”
With the program, the school added two concentrations to its Master in Business Administration program, one in sales and the other in sales management. The school also added a minor in sales and two required classes to its Bachelor of Science program. There are 38 students already enrolled in the sales minor.
Denise Sharp, freshman marketing major, is one of them. She enrolled in the program because she did not want her lack in sales skills to prohibit her from finding a job.
“I believe the skills I obtain in the sales minor will allow me to be more valuable to a company,” said Sharp. “Yes, I will be fresh out of college, but I would be able to add immediate value to a company without them having to spend dollars on intensive training.”
Students enrolled in the program will be able to take advantage of the 82,000-square-foot facility, which includes 16 mock sales presentation and interview rooms, and an executive conference room.
The presentation and interview rooms are equipped with cameras at different angles: One to film the interviewer, another one on the student, and a camera that films both people at the same time. These cameras provide professors with the opportunity to review the interview or presentation and tell students what they did wrong.
Once students complete the program, Dean Fields said, they will have a video portfolio to show employers their potential.
“It will put you on par with people who have experience,” said Fields.
Many of the rooms are also equipped with video conferencing so that students may speak with potential employers anywhere in the world.
To construct the program the school teamed up with Sandler Training, a company with 35 years of experience training Fortune 500 corporations, as well as small and mid-sized companies. Sandler Training also trained faculty in its methods.
The Sales Institute will host its grand opening on Oct. 13 with two sessions, one at 7:30 a.m. and one at 4:30 p.m.
