College of Business has another national champion in sales

Students on the Sales Team of the Florida State University College of Business were highly prepared when they arrived at Kennesaw State University near Atlanta for the National Collegiate Sales Competition — and it showed. They came home with a team second-place overall finish, as well as a student Grand Champion, for the second time in less than a year.

Senior Chelsea Sargent from Satellite Beach, Fla., achieved a clean sweep, topping each judge’s list, and was crowned the Grand Champion of the National Collegiate Sales Competition, the largest such competition.

The team’s success comes on the heels of its achievements at the National Sales Challenge, hosted by the Russ Berrie Institute for Professional Sales at New Jersey’s William Paterson University in November 2009. At that competition, team member MaryEllen White was named the overall champion, marking the first national championship in sales won by a business student at Florida State.

“The National Collegiate Sales Competition was an incredible experience from start to finish,” Sargent said. “We were so well prepared by our amazing coaches and advisers, professors Pat Pallentino, Leff Bonney and Chris Plouffe. I am proud to have represented Florida State, along with (fellow student) Jeff Taccetta and the rest of our amazing Sales Team, at Kennesaw State. The success we experienced would never been possible without the help and support we received from the entire team, as well as the College of Business.”

The competition ranks each team or individual on several criteria, including approach, needs identification, product/service presentation, overcoming objections, closing a sale, communications skills and overall approach.

“We couldn’t be more thrilled for our Sales Team and for Chelsea,” said Pat Pallentino, an associate in marketing and director of the Professional Sales Program. “It is so rewarding to work with these students and to see them succeed at such high levels. Not only does it feel great to have placed second and have a grand champion at the National Collegiate Sales Competition, but it feels even better to have done it twice.”