Senior J.P. Riley placed in the top four in the World Collegiate Sales Open (WCSO) Championship Round Feb. 21-23.
Hosted by Northern Illinois University, the WCSO consists of four rounds, which take place over five months.
Riley, a finance major and professional sales minor, successfully competed against 170 students to advance to the finals, where he placed first in the reverse job fair event. The competition’s other events were voicemail, appointment call, elevator pitch and role-play.
“My greatest takeaway from the WCSO was experiencing how hard work, especially in sales, translates into success,” Riley said. “After competing in the event, it is clear that in terms of a career in sales, what one puts into it very much so determines what one will get out of it. The process was demanding, but with the help of Dr. Rodriguez and the rest of the Elon Sales Team, I was able to put a considerable amount of effort into the competition, and was successful as a result.”
The WCSO is designed to provide an educational opportunity for sales students and is designed to mimic real world activities that a sales representative would need to master.
This is Elon’s third appearance at the competition. Elon is one out of three schools to qualify all three years of the competition’s existence.