Are you a self-starter who enjoys setting and meeting challenging goals? Do you thrive working with people in a fast-paced, competitive environment? Do you want to help customers discover effective solutions to their business needs? If so, the Professional Sales major may be a great fit for you.
The Professional Sales major prepares students to build long-term customer relationships and meet top-line revenue and profit margin objectives by becoming effective listeners and problem solvers. Students can participate in mock sales role plays, compete in collegiate-level sales competitions, network with industry professionals, and participate in Sales Club activities.
- Areas of Study
- Sample Plan
- Acquired Skills
- Career Opportunities
- Program Competitive Advantage
- Program Learning Outcomes
All undergraduate LSBE students are required to take business and economics core courses and concentration courses related to their major.
Core Courses
- Finance & Accounting
- Economics
- Information Technology
- Management
- Marketing
- Psychology
- Writing & Communications
- Mathematics
Major Courses
- Sales Analytics
- Fundamentals of Selling
- Consumer Behavior
- Advanced Professional Selling
- Marketing Research
The sample plan linked below is one of several possible ways to complete this degree. Resources are available to customize a plan for your specific career and academic goals.
- Develop strong communication skills and selling techniques to create innovative solutions to meet customer needs.
- Gain experience using customer relationship management systems and data to comprehend unmet needs and facilitate buying decisions.
- Practice steps in sales process to gain confidence in delivering effective business solutions
Every industry sector can benefit from graduates of specialized sales educational programs who possess the necessary skills to be successful.
Professional Sales graduates find fulfilling careers in various industries in roles such as:
- Inside-sales & Outside territory sales
- New business development
- Key account management
- Sales consultant
The Professional Sales program also frequently collaborates with companies such as ATS, Digital River, Enterprise Financial, Fastenal Company, Federated Insurance, Graybar, Gartner, Marsh McLennan Agency, Northwestern Mutual, State Farm, Sherwin Williams, Tom James Company, Uline, Coordinated Business Systems, SPS Commerce, TTI, Loffler, Cintas, Medix, Taylor Corporation, and more.
- Content delivered by guest speakers with an expertise in sales.
- Active Sales Club (LSBE’s most outstanding student organization) with over 50+ active members who participate in professional development activities, network with business professionals andhost LSBE’s annual sales summit, which has 20 companies and over 300 students in attendance.
- Opportunities for students to participate in campus-wide, regional and national sales competitions for a chance to win awards and prize money, including: Northwoods Sales Warm-Up, International Collegiate Sales Competition (ICSC), Twin Cities Sales Team Competition, Bulldog-Gopher Sales Challenge and Northwestern Mutual’s Elevator Pitch Competition. Dedicated Sales Program Director who works closely with industry leaders and corporate members to ensure students have necessary skills to prepare them for their internships and full-time career opportunities. The program director acts as sales club advisor, coach, mentor and instructor to deliver experiential learning that best prepares students for their future in sales.
- Active Sales Program Advisory Council made up of company executives, alumni, faculty and university staff who collaborate to ensure the continued success and mold the future of the program.
- Corporate members from a wide variety of industries hiring for interns and entry-level sales professionals, including: 3M, ATS, Coordinated Business Systems, Cintas, Digital River, Enterprise, Fastenal, Federated Insurance, Gartner, Graybar, Loffler, Marsh McLennan Agency, Medix, Northwestern Mutual, Polaris, SPS Commerce, State Farm, Taylor Corporation, Tom James, TTI, Uline.
- Effectively plan and execute sales presentations in professional sales environments.
- Build compelling sales recommendations based on business insights developed from key metrics calculations.