Four St. Cloud State University marketing students took home top honors at the 2022 Professional Selling Competition on April 22.
The annual Professional Selling 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 Department of Marketing and is sponsored by corporate partners.
Dahlia Blake claimed first place during the competition, with Kayli Hulbert taking second place, and Gretchen Greeder and Nicholas Hosch each taking third place.
The event included two rounds of competition, with the first round featuring more than 90 students who competed to advance to the second round of 10 finalists. In the second round, competitors sold to a two-person team comprised of sales professionals and were judged by a panel of nearly 30 professionals. The top three received monetary awards as well as plaque awards. Additionally, industry experts who served as judges have asked to talk further with all of the finalists.
The students were judged 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. They were also judged on their visual aids and ability to handle buyer objections and close the sale.
