Selling Their Way to Success
Lindner students use collegiate sales competitions to propel their career goals
Some of the university’s top athletes won’t be found on the court, the field, the diamond or the track, but, rather, in conference rooms and boardrooms closing deals.
Lindner College of Business’ Varsity Sales Team (VST), housed in the Grau Center for Professional Selling, offers students the unique opportunity to embrace experiential learning through highly competitive case competitions that challenge them to refine their skills and knowledge of the sales process.
Coached by John Cox, finance and accounting project management office manager with Total Quality Logistics and a former collegiate sales competitor, students compete in four sales events each semester.
“Our goal is to teach them in the best way possible, and it’s by doing it, which is why we train for these competitions,” said Cox. “Ultimately, from that, students are learning if they want to go into sales, what kind of sales they want go into, and learning interviewing and interpersonal skills.”
In the lead-up
Kyle Kramer (left), BBA ‘25; Morgan Harder (center), BBA ‘24; and Danny McDonough, BBA ‘26, competed at the Great Northwoods Sales Warm-up in October 2023.
Students must be dynamic in their knowledge. Cases often contain multiple layers of complexity and can span industries and products. They dedicate a large portion of their time to refining their personal sales style, folding in their own backgrounds, experiences and attitudes.
“What I try to do is make myself as personable as possible, bringing out my charisma and making myself feel like a human rather than a roleplay scenario, and more like a real conversation,” described Kyle Kramer, BBA ’25.
Morgan Guyler, BBA ’24, was formerly a nursing major before finding her passion for sales, which gives her a unique approach as she views her role as akin to a nurse helping diagnose a patient.
“I want to help you in whatever way I can. Tell me what’s wrong, what hurts, where’s your pain point so that I can help you,” said Guyler.
Closing deals
Judges observe the students’ interactions with their “buyers” and evaluate them against a robust set of criteria, including their ability to build rapport with their counterparts and assess the buyer’s needs.
“What excites me is the feeling you get when you walk out of that room,” said Danny McDonough, BBA ’26. “Because it’s either going to be good or it’s bad. But if I keep practicing and reviewing the slides that I have prepared, I know I can walk out of there feeling accomplished.”
But, win, lose or draw, VST students harvest immense value each time they compete.
“It’s taught me that the work that you put in really is reflective of what you get out of the experience,” echoed Kramer. “It might take a while, but if you really put the time and effort into understanding the product and the case and the sales methodology, it can go a long way, especially when you go into a full-time career after college.”
I can proudly say if it wasn’t for the sales team, I probably would not have a job lined up with Dell. I wouldn’t have had the skills I needed. I wouldn’t have networked the way I needed to.
Savana Berhane, BBA ’24
From competition to career
“We have a strong network of VST alumni across the country who return to UC to specifically recruit from our program,” said Jennifer Barlow, executive director of external relations for the Grau Center for Professional Selling. “They know and remember what it takes to be a member of the VST and the commitment to this group.”
Employers know that competitors have what it takes to be rockstar salespeople and employees.
“Doing the competitions and doing the preparation for it is about as close as you can get to actually being involved in a sale outside of either a co-op or actually working a sales job,” said Grant Holmes, BBA ’24.
Leaving Lindner and UC with these invaluable skills and experiences in hand, VST students find themselves on the fast track to success.
“I can proudly say if it wasn’t for the sales team, I probably would not have a job lined up with Dell. I wouldn’t have had the skills I needed. I wouldn’t have networked the way I needed to,” attested Savana Berhane, BBA ’24. “I really can’t express how grateful and thankful I am for the Varsity Sales Team and how much impact it’s had on me.”
A Roster of Elite Competitors
Throughout the academic year, dozens of Lindner students put their skills to the test in various case competitions.
Left to right: Jimmy Armbruster, BBA ’26, Isaac Renderos, BBA ’25, Laura Vinson, BBA ’25, Vincent Piccolantonio, BBA ’26, and faculty advisor Jason Bangert, PhD, assistant professor.
Lindner Business Honors takes home the hardware
While UC’s sports teams debuted in the Big 12 in 2023, Lindner Business Honors (LBH) students jumped to the Big Ten to compete against university honors programs from across the country in the Big Ten Honors Case Competition at the University of Nebraska. LBH students placed second among the participating schools and took home a $2,000 prize.
84.51° turns up the heat on students
During the fall and spring semesters, 84.51° teams up with Lindner to challenge students to solve a real-world, data-driven problem. In fall 2023, five teams — comprised of both graduate and undergraduate students — had two weeks to address a question using more than 10 million rows of real Kroger data.
Making it to nationals? That's fanTAXtic
From nearly 50 colleges and universities down to a top 15, a team of four Lindner students made the cut to travel to Deloitte University in Westlake, Texas, to compete in the national finals of the Deloitte FanTAXtic case competition in January 2024.
Pulling an all-nighter
Four full-time MBA students worked around the clock to battle teams from 11 top business schools in the National MBA Case Competition in Ethical Leadership at Baylor University in fall 2023. Faced with a complex business problem, students considered the implications of AI in the workplace.