Business Studies student, Amanda Nye, is one of only 20 students to progress successfully through three rounds of the World Collegiate Sales Open to reach the finals held in the USA in February. 

120 competitors from around the world registered for the competition, which is designed for undergraduate students studying courses with a sales option.   Twenty-one year old Amanda was one of 60 to make it through to the second round and is now one of the final 20 who will travel to Chicago next month.

She said:  “I wanted to do something different in my final year and really make the most of it.
My original interest lay in project management but then I had some sales experience in my placement year and it appeared to be one of my strengths.  But I didn’t think I’d get so far in the competition so I’m very excited.”

The World Collegiate Sales Open is a world-wide competition designed to provide an educational opportunity for sales students regardless of their location in the world.  Tasks mimic real activities that a sales representative would need to master and may not be part of many course curriculums.

The competition is based on communicating with a ‘prospect’ in different ways to achieve a sale.  In round one Amanda had to leave two voicemail messages in a pitch to a prospective customer.  As part of the second round she then faced a live telephone call with a receptionist acting as a robust ‘gatekeeper’ for the client.

The final challenge involves multiple activities including two 15 minute role play exercises.  At all stages the contestants are judged on several criteria including creativity, articulation and creating a value proposition while demonstrating industry knowledge – all valued sales skills.

Amanda, who is in her final year of studying, said: “You have no idea what scenario you’ll be faced with or what the customer will say so it’s important to be prepared for everything.  But the bottom line is that selling is all about understanding individual needs and being resourceful.

“My placement year transformed my understanding of the sales environment and allowed me to develop and build on the knowledge I learned from my Business Studies course.  The blend of academic and practical knowledge has been the best possible combination.”

Amanda travels to Chicago in February where she will compete for the top prize of $2000.

Beth Rogers, Sales expert and Amanda’s tutor, said:  “Our undergraduates have the opportunity to study professional selling and key account management, which Amanda has combined with her natural flair and creativity to make the crucial difference.

“Sales is also about perseverance and Amanda worked hard to get through against stiff competition from students from across the globe.  It’s a fantastic experience and I wish her every success.”

Beth Rogers, principal lecturer in sales management at the Business School, received the accolade in a ceremony today at the Chartered Institute of Marketing headquarters in Berkshire.

She joins honorary fellows Neil Rackham, a globally recognised consultant on sales topics and visiting Professor at Portsmouth, and Emeritus Professor Malcolm McDonald of Cranfield School of Management, who has also been a visiting speaker on Portsmouth programmes.

The Association was established in 1954 to promote the exchange of ideas and best practice on the topic of sales performance. It brings together sales professionals from a diverse range of industrial, service and consumer industries along with a number of training consultancy businesses.

Ms Rogers was awarded the fellowship in recognition of her many years of influential contribution to the sales profession and her commitment to sales education. She chaired the National Sales Board from 2005-2009, which established national occupational standards for sales, and has held a number of other roles for professional institutes, including being an advisor to the committee of the Global Sales Science Institute.

Adrian Logan, Chairman of the SPA said: “Beth has been developing and disseminating knowledge relevant to the SPA for many years and is a popular member of the sales performance community.  The committee decided to recognise her and her work which has been influential in raising the aspirations of sales professionals and demonstrating to other professions that selling and sales management is a discipline in its own right. 

“We would also like to thank the University of Portsmouth Business School for pioneering sales education.  It is an outstanding centre of excellence in Europe for our profession.”

Professor Malcolm McDonald spoke to an audience of business people and students, including this year’s cohort of MA Sales Management students, about the ten questions boards are asking their senior marketing colleagues and the answers they should be receiving.

Professor McDonald said: “Following the latest DeLoitte report setting out the deep unease felt by Chief Executives and Finance Directors over the widespread lack of financial accountability for their often substantial marketing budgets, this session will address this issue head on.”

He went on to discuss the necessity for deep understanding of customers and the ability to measure the contribution that customer relationships make to shareholder value. The session was based on a number of years of cross-functional research at Cranfield School of Management.

Professor McDonald has given similar sessions for the Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. He is author of 43 books, is chairman of Brand Finance plc and five other companies and spends much of his time working globally with the operating boards of the world’s biggest multinational companies

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MA Sales Management

The MA Sales Management is designed for account managers and sales managers with several years work experience. As the pioneer Master’s programme for sales managers in Europe, this course has acquired a national and international reputation that will enable ambitious sales managers to differentiate themselves and advance their careers. Portsmouth is the only UK business school listed by the University Sales Education Foundation.

Over drinks and canapés, the open evening reception will provide an opportunity for business professionals and students to meet lecturers, current and past students and discuss the benefits of studying at one of the south’s best business schools.

The open evening is from 6.00 – 8.00pm in Richmond Building at the Portsmouth Business School.

Please register online at www.sharpenyourcompetitiveedge.com. Any questions, please contact Becky Miles on becky.miles@port.ac.uk or +44 (0)23 9284 4323

Peter takes a particular interest in the role of the client executive, and used his MA in Sales Management to examine how client executives could build close and integrated relationships with clients.

He said: “The key to being successful as a Client Executive is to retain clients. Of course, these relationships need to be profitable and the Client Executive probably has sales targets too. But the fundamental building block for success as a Client Executive is to retain the commitment of clients.”

Peter identified that there was very little prior academic research into client relationships in corporate insurance, so he synthesised academic research from other sectors, cross-sectoral studies and books about best practice in business relationships, service quality and the nature of customer engagement to form a foundation for his research within Marsh.  Peter then interviewed several Client Executives in Marsh and asked them directly how they did their job and the nature of relationships they struck with their clients.  Adding this insight, he built models for Marsh that provide a blueprint for the development of the right competencies for client executives and a programme of action for each client executive to focus on customer commitment.  These are now widely used throughout the company.

The dissertation he submitted in completion of his MA Sales Management was well-received. Supervisor Jill Brown, an expert in services marketing, said “Peter was thorough in every stage of his research and wrote a comprehensive, interesting and actionable thesis.”

Course Leader Beth Rogers added: “One of the principles of the MA in Sales Managers, which is a part-time “top-up” degree, is that the study can be used to address challenges in the workplace.  It is very gratifying to see how Marsh Ltd has made use of Peter’s work.”

Marsh UK provides global risk management, risk consulting, insurance broking, alternative risk financing, and insurance program management services for businesses, public entities, associations, professional services organizations, and private clients. Marsh is a unit of Marsh & McLennan Companies (MMC), a global professional services firm with approximately 52,000 employees and annual revenue exceeding $10 billion.

MA Sales ManagementThe MA Sales Management is designed for account managers and sales managers with several years work experience. As the pioneer Master’s programme for sales managers in Europe, this course has acquired a national and international reputation that will enable ambitious sales managers to differentiate themselves and advance their careers. Portsmouth is the only UK business school listed by the University Sales Education Foundation.

The concept of “world class” is extremely attractive, but carries with
it the enormous managerial challenge of designing and maintaining
standards that are regarded as the best in the world, whether it is a
manufacturing process or an ethical code, while also being sensitive to
local markets. “World class” is usually associated with large companies,
but today it is possible for small companies to “go global” as well:

To read the full article on “Thinking Globally” by Beth Rogers

Click here

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He said academic prejudice about sales needed to be dispelled because the strategic frameworks in selling are very important.

“Sales is a sophisticated profession and sales leaders need better access to the best thinking on current issues. It’s all about selling smarter, rather than selling harder,” he said.

Neil Rackham is renowned internationally for his sales expertise and has worked closely with many leading sales forces such as IBM, Xerox and Citicorp. He also founded Huthwaite International, providers of sales training, negotiation skills training and consultancy worldwide.

Professor Rackham conducted the largest-ever study of professional selling – observing more than 35,000 sales calls in over 20 countries, at a cost of $40 million in today’s dollars. He is known throughout the world as a speaker, writer and authority on sales and marketing issues.

Portsmouth Business School has pioneered sales education in Europe with its part-time Masters in Sales Management programme.

Professor Rackham said the whole nature of selling has changed enormously in the last five to 10 years and the change is rapid, accelerating and tough to keep up with.

“The average company has twice as many competitors today as five years ago. There is increased competition, more demanding clients and new technologies. As customers demand ever-greater value from their suppliers, creating that value in products becomes increasingly important and challenging for salesforces,” he said.

“There are lots of excuses for not investing in the development of salespeople, from entrenched views that selling harder is all that matters to fears about poaching of high performers. If companies take the ‘no training’ approach to its logical conclusion, you end up with high staff turnover, high risks of misrepresentation and loss of business that could have been won.

“In the depths of economic gloom, it is easy to forget that the UK has had some fascinating periods of trade-led growth throughout history. The British salesforce can lead us out of recession – as the saying goes ‘nothing happens until someone sells something’”.

Dean of the Business School, Ann Ridley, said: “Neil is a dynamic speaker who has the capacity to take complex issues and make them accessible. His tactical approach to selling is very interesting and the overall feedback on the seminar was excellent. The Business School is very privileged to have him as visiting Professor.”

Neil Rackham is the author of the best sellers SPIN Selling and Rethinking the Sales force.

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Simon, who has worked in sales for over 20 years, has taken a career break to gain a professional qualification in order to enhance his employability in the long-term.

It was easy for me to make a decision about where I wanted to study because I knew that Portsmouth had a strong national and international reputation in the area of Sales Management. The Masters course is also the only one in the UK recognised by the University Sales Education Foundation, which really sets it apart from other institutions.

I’m midway through the course and enjoying it enormously. It is very participative, the tutors are extremely inclusive and the mix of students is great. As the age range is quite varied the discussions and group work always throw up some lively debate.

I have had 23 years experience working in sales in the pharmaceutical industry and hope to move on to consultative management in the same industry. With all my experience and the added value of this course I have already had one or two companies expressing interest in me – so although I am only a few months in, I feel confident that the course will really boost my prospects.

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David Sproat was recruited by his electronics solutions company to drive forward sales growth from £3 million per annum to £6 million. He says studying for a Masters in Sales Management has proved invaluable in helping to achieve this ambitious target.

I chose to study for the MA because I wanted to learn how companies could differentiate themselves from their competition and I wanted to explore best practice within a sales environment. The MA has equipped me with the analytical and creative thinking skills to re-align the sales organisation of the company to match strategic direction which has brought results that benefit the company as a whole.

Implementing the skills I have learnt at Portsmouth has improved sales recruitment and training, and improved results. My company’s sales and marketing function has a better image and more influence than ever before.

Portsmouth Business School is leading the way in its delivery – especially with such high calibre academic staff as Neil Rackham and Beth Rogers. I would strongly recommend it to any sales professionals wanting to significantly improve their company’s business performance.

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MA Sales ManagementPortsmouth Business School

A former businessman turned lecturer who grew a multi-million, market-leading business from a few ideas sketched on a single sheet of paper is bringing his expertise to the classroom at the Portsmouth Business School.

Kevin O’Brien worked with leading brands BOC Gases, Kimberly-Clark and ICI before entering the academic world to share his knowledge with the next generation of business executives.

He worked as a Product Manager, Market Manager and Business Development Manager travelling all over Europe and spending four years working in the US, before joining BOC Gases to set up a new business venture, which resulted in his promotion to Director of Sales and Marketing for the core Industrial Business.

He said: “My first challenge at BOC gases was to establish a new business supplying pubs, clubs and restaurants with gas to dispense drinks. When I joined BOC I inherited a concept defined on one sheet of paper. Within five years we achieved market leadership with high customer focus and several hundred specialist staff.”

Kevin has also worked as a roving consultant for BOC businesses in Canada, Brazil, Asia, South Africa and the United States. He specialises in marketing strategy, having worked with many of the leading global consultants in this area and also has extensive experience of key account management.

“The students enjoy hearing anecdotes and stories from the business world and it’s great to be able to say ‘the theory says X but in practice Y might happen’ – it gives the students a well-balanced perspective,” he said.

“The Business School has an excellent blend of practitioners from the world of business and academics with leading edge theoretical knowledge. The two together provide a very good mix of teaching.”

Kevin teaches product management and innovation management, marketing strategy and strategic sales planning at Portsmouth. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

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MA Sales Management