Professional Selling Specialization

Details and Program Application

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Five key areas of professional selling

Students who complete the specialization will gain insight and experience in five key areas:

  • Professional Selling Theory and Skills Development

  • Professional Selling Practicum and Shadowing
    Provides field experience in the sales force of a sponsoring firm. It includes classroom discussion of current topics in sales and features guest lectures and presentations from area sales professionals. Each PSS student will be matched with a participating employer in a professional selling shadowing relationship.

  • Sales Management Practicum and Shadowing
     Provides practical experience in sales management. It includes classroom discussion of current topics in sales management as well as guest lectures and presentations from area sales professionals. Each PSS student will be matched with a participating employer in a professional selling shadowing relationship.

  • Global Marketing/Culture in Professional Selling
     Covers professional selling in world markets with emphasis on recognizing and addressing cultural differences in consumer and industrial markets and their political, economic and cultural marketing environments. Examines the professional selling issues required to successfully meet the needs and demands of a world market. It features guest lectures and presentations from area sales professionals with global sales experience. Video-conferencing enables interactive lectures from sales professionals in remote and global locations.

  • Social Media and Technology in Professional Selling
     Focuses on the use of technology, including PowerPoint presentations and social media, as a communication and management tool in professional selling. It includes a classroom discussion of current topics in social media use in selling, and it features guest lectures and presentations from area sales professionals.

Professional Selling Competition

The sales competition is designed to provide a venue for St. Cloud State sales students to showcase their selling skills, knowledge and abilities and receive feedback from area, regional and national sales professionals. It is hosted by the Marketing in the Herberger Business School and sponsored by corporate partners.

A panel of sales professionals evaluates students on their ability to develop strategic sales openings, ask probing questions to determine the buyer’s needs and develop a strategic needs-based professional selling presentation. Competitors are also judged on the effectiveness of visual aids and ability to handle buyer objections and close the sale.