PSE Pro-Am Sell-a-Thon

PSE Pro-Am Sell-a-Thon celebrates our 17th Year 1992-2009

Presented by

Vector Marketing, Kodak, Miller Heiman and Northwestern Mutual Financial Network have joined forces with the PSE National Educational Foundation to develop the selling skills of college students by sponsoring the annual PSE Pro-Am Sell-A-Thon.

PURPOSES OF THE PRO-AM:

The primary purpose of the year-long competition is to train and develop students in all aspects of the B2B sales process, not just in preparing them to make one sales call.  The year long approach also emphasizes that the pursuit of sales excellence is a journey, not a destination.  Through program and partner revisions, we want to help students understand the value of approaching a sale as a deliberate and repeatable process. Students will become uniquely exposed to the way world class sales organizations approach sales.

The secondary purpose of the year-long competition is to award the top true “students” of sales, and not just those who makes an extraordinary sales call on one day of competition.  The student has to study and perform throughout the school year in order to garner the top prizes and be called the PSE Pro-Am winners.

PSE Pro-Am Key Objectives:

• Emphasize the importance selling skills play in everyday life.
• Dispel negative perceptions associated with selling.
• Many students enter the workforce in a sales capacity; therefore provide a program that demonstrates real life selling situations.
• Provide a vehicle to teach students about selling in a logical, process oriented approach.
• Involve professional salespeople in the program to mentor and coach these students during the program to provide real life sales experiences.
• Provide a program that allows students to compete in real life selling situations with all of the variables of a real life situation.

PSE Student Learning Objectives:

• Appreciate the role of the sales professional.
• Comprehend the Sales Process in a B2B setting.
• Demonstrate the ability to perform in a competitive environment.
• Communicate effectively both verbally and non-verbally.
• Assess performance strengths and areas to improve.

HOW THE PRO-AM WORKS:

Only Pi Sigma Epsilon college students from a recognized PSE Chapter are eligible to compete.  Students must register online at www.pse.org and then commit to participating in the program either through the regional conference or the national conference. 

Students are then given licensed materials from Miller Heiman that includes an online manual, The Miller Heiman Sales System® Overview and eLearning sessions and corresponding workbooks.  These sell for $50 retail, but being given to the Pro-Am contestants. 

After reviewing the required materials, the students make a telephone call requesting an appointment with a company buyer.  Next, the competition moves to the fall regional conference.  In the morning of the regional conference, a Miller Heiman certified sales professional will review the concepts for the students and their coaches, who are sales professionals.  These professionals mentor and critique the student on his/her prepared sales call.  The next step of the program is the actual competition. This is a simulated sales presentation in which each student is evaluated on his/her ability to successfully move the customer through the sales process and obtain commitment. Each role-play is judged by a panel of sales professionals and recorded onto a DVD so that the student can review it at the end of the event.

After the regional conferences, the students are trained to develop a Request for Proposal (RFP) and must submit this to the buyer in February.  The final step is to compete in the sales competition at the PSE National Convention. 

In each of these activities, the student receives points for his/her efforts and after the National Convention sales call, the points are added to determine the national Pro-Am Sell-a-Thon winners for the 2009-2010 year.

Point Assignment for each of the following:
1 to 10 points – Student makes a phone call to set the appointment and graded on criteria
50 points each – Student reviews the eLearning Module on Conceptual Selling and Strategic Selling
50 points - Regional Conference Participation
0 to 10 points - Working with his/her coach at the conference, the coaches will rank the students based on criteria.
5, 10 or 20 points - Regional Conference Placement (5 points to a finalist, 10 points to 2nd place, 20 points to 1st place.  Those who place do not get both points for being a finalist and placing )
50 points each - eLearning Module – If the student did not complete both modules before the regional conference, they should complete both before the national convention

Student registers for the National Convention

0 to 50 points - RFP submitted via email and graded on criteria (March 1st deadline)
1 to 10 points – Student makes a phone call to set the appointment and graded on criteria
50 points - National Convention Competition Participation
0 to 10 points - Working with coach at nationals.  Coaches rank the students based on criteria.
10 or 50 points – After the tapes are reviewed and the 1st through 5th places are assigned, points are given for their performance at Nationals.  

For more detailed information on the steps of the Pro-Am Sell-a-Thon year-round competition, go to Pro-Am on the left hand toolbar and click on the Training Materials.  For additional questions, please email Ann.Devine@pse.org.

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF A SALES COACH/JUDGE?

As a sales coach, you are asked to review the Miller Heiman materials, sales scenario and criteria provided to you.  We then ask that you commit to a Saturday morning at a PSE regional conference in your area.  At the conference, a Miller Heiman certified sales professional will review the materials. You will then be paired up with no more than two students. You will work with the students during the remainder of the morning on developing and/or refining their sales call.  Your goals are to:

1. To guide one to two students through the sales scenario.
2. To review the features and benefits of the product.
3. To practice the 12 minute sales call.
4. To offer constructive feedback and suggestions.
5. To answer questions and provide advice.
6. To prepare the student for the judging criteria.

As a Judge, we ask that you commit to stay at the conference after lunch.  After coaching in the morning, you will become a judge in the afternoon. In this capacity, you will watch the students compete and critique their sales call using the established criteria. You will not judge any of the students that you coached.

Register to coach/judge for a regional conference here.
Register to coach/judge for the PSE National Convention here.

TESTIMONIALS FROM PREVIOUS PRO-AM PARTICIPANTS

“The regional competition was great. I felt confident going into it, but even more so after hearing Jennifer Zerbe of Miller Heiman discuss aspects of the Miller Heiman sales process during the morning session. I also had a great coach, Ms. Ryan Long from Vector Marketing, she made me think creatively about the buyer's needs. Overall, it was a great event and I was honored to win the award!”
Sean Simone, Louisiana State University

"The Pro-Am Sell-a-Thon was the best experience I've had since joining PSE. It allowed me to utilize learned skills, professionally network, represent Delta Tau, and even land two interview offers for a career after college. I am so thankful for this opportunity!"
Jacqueline Judd, University of North Carolina-Wilmington

"My experience in the Pro-Am competition was really positive. I really didn't know what to expect since it was my first role play competition, but after our lesson and meeting with the coaches, I felt much more confident that I could do a good job. I found that just participating in a competition like the Pro-Am gave me a good taste of what a career in sales would be like. I also found how important it is to be able to communicate effectively, even if it's in an artificial setting."
Jillian Daidone, The College of New Jersey

“The Pro-Am is the one place where you can see sales done right! PSE put academics, street knowledge, and passion into sales like no other organization I’ve ever seen."
Tony Parinello, award-winning salesman, sales trainer for Fortune 500 companies, and best selling author of Selling to Vito, Getting the Second Appointment and Think and Sell Like a CEO.

ON SITE INFORMATION TO PLAN FOR THE PRO-AM

Regional Conferences: Click here for the schedule at the regional conferences.

National Convention: Click here for the schedule at the National Convention.

WHO IS VECTOR MARKETING?

Vector Marketing Corporation is an international direct sales firm that markets Cutco Cutlery, a line of kitchen cutlery, accessories and sporting knives of the highest quality. Headquartered in Philadelphia, PA, Vector is a wholly owned subsidiary of Alcas Corporation, which has been manufacturing Cutco Cutlery for 52 years. Handcrafted in the United States of the finest materials, Cutco products have a Forever Guarantee that protects the consumer's investment. As the sole distributor of Cutco, Vector has offices across the United States and Canada, as well as overseas. Vector's sales for 2001, in the U.S. alone, amounted to over $200 million dollars; a compelling testament to the fundamentals of our business: People, Products and Programs. In 2002 Vector will have over 400 offices in the U.S. and Canada.

Sarah Baker Andrus, Director of Campus Relations, Vector Marketing said, “we are proud to be part of the Pro-Am Sell-a-Thon, Vector Marketing has always placed a high value on the experiences that college students have before they enter the workforce and we believe the PSE’s Pro-Am Sell-a-Thon is one of the best programs we have seen to develop the professional selling skills of its membership.”

WHO IS KODAK?

Kodak is the world's foremost imaging innovator. Kodak's Graphic Communications Group, one of Kodak's strategic business units, provides technologies, products, and services that help print providers streamline processes, optimize efficiencies, broaden services, and improve the quality of their printing. As a major force in transforming the graphic arts industry from analog to digital, you see the results of our technology every day as magazines, catalogs, newspapers, books, brochures, packaging, and transactional statements.

Kodak helps businesses all over the world deliver a complete print communications strategy. One of the most expansive portfolios in the market includes solutions for digital printing, workflow, repress, high-volume and wide-format inkjet printing, and document imaging. For more information, visit www.graphics.kodak.com

WHO IS MILLER HEIMAN?

Miller Heiman is a global leader in sales performance solutions with more than 30 years of documented results. With over 10,000 client engagements world wide and more than 1 million alumni, the company works with leading organizations to improve sales effectiveness through issue-based consulting, training seminars and proprietary intellectual property. The annual Miller Heiman Best Practices Study, the largest study of sales performance, defines characteristics of World Class Sales Organizations and benchmarks year-over-year trends.

Headquartered in Reno, Nevada, Miller Heiman has additional corporate offices in the United Kingdom and Australia and offers programs in more than 30 countries. Regular updates on new Miller Heiman articles, events and products are on Twitter at @MillerHeiman.

WHO IS NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL FINANCIAL NETWORK?

For over 150 years, Northwestern Mutual has consistently focused on one ambition: to do the right thing for the people who put their trust in us. The products and services offered through carefully selected subsidiaries and affiliates, offer a network of solutions to address needs for financial security and protection, capital accumulation, asset distribution and estate preservation. As a mutual company, Northwestern Mutual exists for the benefit of its policy owners and clients, helping them protect against financial risk and achieve financial security. Northwestern Mutual was voted as “America’s Most Admired” life/health insurer in 2007 by Fortune magazine.

Their world-renowned internship program provides outstanding career opportunities to college students who want to “test drive” a career in sales. Northwestern Mutual Financial Network has been named a Top 10 Internship in America for 12 consecutive years according to Vault, Inc. 2008 edition. The financial representative intern position is an opportunity to build your own business while providing financial security for clients.

These representatives provide expert guidance and innovative solutions to clients to develop a customized plan that meets long term financial goals. Full-time financial representative positions are
also available.

2009 PSE Pro-Am Sell-A-Thon National Convention Finalists (In no particular order)

2009 PSE Pro-Am Sell-A-Thon National Convention Winners

1st Place Casey Comeau Indiana University	2nd Place Pat Delahanty University of WI-Eau Claire	3rd Place Marisa Coords University of Connecticut
4th Place Danielle Matus University of Toledo		5th Place Alexa Likens Indiana University