Three Elon students competed against 71 peers in the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire sales competition.
The performances of Elon Sales Team members Lyndsay Dalimonte ’20, Andrew Kleinert ’20 and Alana Maguire ’20 earned the team seventh place among 23 collegiate teams in the 2019 Great Northwoods Sales Warm-up hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
During the Oct. 24-26 competition, students were scored on two 20-minute sales presentations, in which business professionals acted as buyers. Judges evaluated students on all aspects of the sales call, including approach, needs identification, presentation, overcoming objections, the closing and communication skills.
Out of 71 competitors, Maguire and Kleinert individually ranked seventh and 14th overall, respectively.
“The competition provided me with a chance to gain insight into what a real world sales meeting would look like,” said Maguire, a finance and marketing double major from New Albany, Ohio. “What made the competition so unique was the ability to receive almost immediate feedback from the judges in between rounds. It showed me how many hours of preparation are necessary for a twenty minute sales meeting.”
The team was coached by Ben Rexer ’20, Patrick Brundidge ’22 and Assistant Professor of Marketing Nawar Chaker and was supported by the Chandler Family Professional Sales Center.
“Both the sales team and the tournament have been incredible learning experiences for me,” said Kleinert, a marketing major with a professional sales focus from Basking Ridge, New Jersey. “In just a few short weeks, our selling skills have developed immensely and it showed in our performance last weekend. But to give credit where credit is due, we couldn’t have done so well without the coaching from Dr. Chaker, Ben Rexer and Patrick Brundidge.”