THE NORTH CAROLINA SALES INSTITUTE
THE NORTH CAROLINA SALES INSTITUTE (NCSI) was developed at the request of
corporations for cutting edge sales research, training, and executive education.
Written by John Chapman, Adjunct Professor in Sales and Director of Executive Education, in
collaboration with Dr. James Boles, Department Head of Marketing, Entrepreneurship,
Hospitality, and Tourism (MEHT) Department at The Joseph M. Bryan School of Business and
Economics, Greensboro, North Carolina.
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“Sales in the last ten years has changed more than it did in over the previous hundred”
Daniel Pink (2012), To Sell is Human, p. 2
I. Overview
The Joseph M. Bryan School of Business and Economics at The University of North Carolina Greensboro
has identified a unique opportunity to create differentiation for the university, city, and region by
developing and offering education in professional selling and strategic sales leadership. Our mission is
to create an understanding of the strategic role sales plays in organizations, promote sales education,
and develop 21st century sales leaders through research, educational programs, and partnerships with
organizations.
The demand for trained sales talent is becoming increasingly apparent as firms seek well-qualified
individuals who have a deep understanding of the complex world of business. Globalization, knowledge
transfer, and market efficiencies have changed the salesperson’s role from a solution presenter to a
business consultant. No longer can a salesperson be a peddler or order taker. The next generation sales
professional has to deliver value for their customers and be able to quantify the value received.
Students graduating from recognized sales programs have those skills to a much greater degree than
students from traditional degree programs.
Through the North Carolina Sales Institute (NCSI), we will help develop the next generation of effective
sales professionals. Additionally, this initiative provides exposure for our partner firms to current
thought leaders in the field of professional selling and sales leadership. We believe the best approach to
make NCSI truly successful, is to partner with industry. Our partner companies will benefit in a number
of ways including:
1) Preferred access to a large pool of talented, young sales professionals through networking with
The NCSI Undergraduate Sales Program.
2) Connections to thought leaders in sales practice and research through our guest speaker series,
customized sales research, and abstracting services that summarize sales research findings from
leading universities.
3) Opportunities to provide cases for use in our undergraduate sales program role-plays and case
discussions.
4) Inclusion in curriculum through guest speaking events in sales classes.
5) Providing a forum where sales executives from various industries meet exchange ideas, and
discuss critical issues facing their sales force and sales leaders.
II. Why Now
Interest in sales education has never been stronger. Manpower Magazine (2013) reported sales
representatives are consistently ranked among the top five hardest jobs to fill in the United States. The
2014 Greater Greensboro – High Point Area Workforce Development Survey by Dr. Keith G. Debbage
(UNCG) supports this, indicating that finding employees with soft skills remains a ubiquitous problem for
all of the surveyed employers. Hard to find jobs in this region include manufacturing,
engineering/project management, and sales. To find new salespeople firms such as 3M have turned to
working directly with business schools (Chang 2007; Kornik 2007).
Research conducted by Florida State University Sales Institute “Research Shows that Sales Education
Makes a Substantial difference in Student Performance after Graduation” indicates the following:
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Over 50% of US business graduates entering the workforce, regardless of their major, work in
sales as their first career.
Some studies put the percentage of marketing majors accepting a job in sales as high as 88%
and as high as 60% for all other business majors¹.
Over 60% of first-time sales people either resign or are terminated from their first jobs.
Of over 4,000 colleges and universities in the US, less than 3% host recognized sales programs.
Students from university sales programs, when compared to their non-sales educated peers:
 Ramp up Become productive salespeople 50% faster.
 Turnover an average of 30% less.
 Save companies approximately $200K per hire within the first 18 months of employment.
While less than 50% of all college graduates immediately find a full-time job, graduates of sales
programs experience, on average, have over a 90% job placement. According to Jeanne Frawley,
executive director of the Sales Education Foundation, founded in 2007, “When students come out of
sales programs, they’re not just finding jobs, they’re balancing five to seven offers.”
III. How NCSI Delivers Value
Nearly all university-based professional sales programs that exist today originated with funding from
business partners and acquired additional partners over time. Partners are asked not only for financial
support to develop a program, but also for curriculum input, executive appearances, and internship
opportunities. Ideally, business partners would have access to our top-notch pool of talented sales
students through a variety of networking events. The goal is to obtain 100% job placement through our
program while lowering turnover and training costs at partner firms. An added benefit for partners
involves discounted access to sales research and continuing educational programs through executive
education. Our research is designed to discover the key drivers of a best-in-class sales force and to help
eliminate costly hiring mistakes that lead to dysfunctional turnover. In collaboration with our partners,
we will develop innovative sales processes for specific industries, hone presentation skills of
salespeople, enhance the negotiation capabilities of salespeople/managers of participating firms and
provide sales leaders with tools that create and sustain competitive advantages within their sales force.
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We offer a variety of options detailed in Figure 1. These range from Industry specific
Partnerships to our Basic Member Partner level.
IV. Student Challenge
In my 2014 Sales Management class, I asked if anyone was considering a career in sales, very few raised
their hand. At the end of class, most of the students had a better understanding of the opportunities for
growth and advancement in a sales career and many (if not most) were willing to consider a sales
career. A recent article in the Harvard Business review (Fogel, Hoffimeister, Rocco, Strunk 2012) writes
about the need to educate young people about the opportunities in sales organizations. According to
the HBR article, “Part {of the problem} may be that many students have held temporary jobs in retail and
mistakenly believe they’ve gotten a taste of sales. And misinformation about professional sales and
salespeople is rampant. Popular culture and literature, from Death of a Salesman to Tommy Boy to
Boiler Room, bombarded the public with negative stereotypes. The attitudinal barriers can be overcome.
As it happens, sales positions offer qualities that appeal to Millennia’s: autonomy, rewards linked to
personal effort, and the opportunity to interact with a variety of people. When we communicate the
reality of sales, we see those who value such quality approach it with real enthusiasm” P. 7.
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To become future leaders and set themselves apart from the competition, these students must possess
selling skills which enable them to clearly formulate their ideas, articulate ideas into action, and inspire
others to follow. Our challenge as an institution is to educate current students about how these
qualities will benefit them throughout their careers.
VI. Undergraduate Curriculum
Students in the NCSI Sales Program will experience classroom learning designed to deliver the
knowledge and skills needed to succeed. Most jobs entail a sales component whether internal or
external. Success will depend on who can engage and communicate persuasively. The NCSI will be open
to all disciplines within the university.
SEMESTER l
MK326
Professional Selling
SEMESTER ll
MK327
Sales Management
SEMESTER lll
MKT419
Key Account Selling
SEMESTER lV
MKT420
Sales Leadership
OPTIONAL
MKT451
Sales Internship
* Sales Process
* Sales Strategy
* Strategic Account Management * Negotiations
* Adaptive Sales Technique
* Territory Management
* Decision Centers
* CRM Development
* Communication Skills
* Forecasting
* Team Selling
* Strength & Skill Assessment
* Role Playing
* Hiring
* Identifying Customers Needs
* Coach versus Manager
* Cold Calling
* Performance Management
* Managing Account Teams
* Customer Value
* B2B Selling
* Buying Cycle
* Training & Coaching
* Influencing Skills
* Case Studies
* Direct Selling
* Ethics
* Financial Track Requirements
or
* Team Project
VII. Faculty
Dr. James (Jim) Boles, Department Head of the Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Hospitality, and Tourism,
was the 2014 recipient of the American Marketing Association’s Sales Special Interest Group’s Lifetime
Achievement Award. He received this award for outstanding contributions to sales education and
research. Five of his former doctoral students lead or are highly involved in sales programs at various
universities around the United States. He was formerly a Professor of Marketing at Georgia State
University (GSU) from 1990-2013 and received his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University in 1991. At GSU,
he was honored with recognition awards from the Robinson College of Business for research (1997;
2001) teaching (1996), and Service (2006). Prior to returning to academia, Professor Boles worked in
sales in the areas of investments and real estate. He taught in GSU’s internationally recognized MBA,
PMBA, and EMBA. Jim was a former editor of The Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management
and was the co-director of the GSU sales program which he helped establish. He has published over 70
academic journal articles and has numerous other publications.
John Chapman is the Director of Executive Education and Adjunct Professor in Sales for the Joseph M.
Bryan School of Business and Economics at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. John also
consults in the home improvement and energy industries. John holds an MBA from the Babcock School
of Management at Wake Forest University and a BS in Finance from the University of Connecticut. He
brings 29 years of experience leading high-level sales efforts in start-ups as well as established
international companies in retail, manufacturing, and energy such as Kennametal Inc., Stanley Works,
and Coca-Cola. He also served on the board of directors for several start-ups and has been a member of
the board of directors for Junior Achievement since 2002. John has also been named Junior
Achievement Chair of the Board for the 2014/2015 fiscal year.
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VIII. References
-Damast, Bloomberg Business Week (August 2012)
-Sales Foundation (2013), “Top North American Sales Schools”, www.salesfoundation.org
-Kornik, Joseph (2007), “The Old College Try,” Sales & Marketing Management, 159 (5), 4.
-Manpower 2014 Website, Milwaukee, WI, www.manpower.com
-Manpower (2007), “Manpower Inc. Annual Talent Shortage Survey Reveals Sales Representatives, ---Skilled Trades People and Technicians Top Most Wanted List Globally,” Milwaukee, WI, March 29
(available at www.manpower.com/investors/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=235798/).
-Manpower (2008), “Manpower’s Annual 10 Hardest Jobs to Fill Survey: Engineers, Machinists and
Skilled Trades Top List in U.S.,” Milwaukee, WI, April 22 (available at www.manpower.com/investors/
releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=305783/). (2009), “2009 Talent Shortage Survey Results,” Milwaukee, WI,
May (available at www.manpower.com/research/research.cfm).
-Chang, Julia (2007), “Sales by the Schoolbook,” Sales & Marketing Management, 159 (5), 20–25.
-Global Sales Science Institute (2009), “About Global Sales Science Institute,” Toledo, OH (available at
www.salesscience. org).
-Fogel, Hoffmeister, Rocco, Strunk (July-August 2012), “Solving the Sales Talent Shortage”, Harvard
Business Review.
-Dr. Keith Debbage (2014), “2014 Greater Greensboro-High Point Area Workforce Development Survey.
- http://www.salesfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/FSU-Sales-Institute.ExecutiveSummary.Difference.pdf
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Figure 1: Partnership Options
NORTH CAROLINA SALES INSTITUTE
Corporate Partner Activities and Benefits
PARTNER BENEFITS
Industry Specific Membership in our
Executive Speaker Series
3 Free Consultation Days with NCSI
Consultants/Trainers
Discount on Research Projects for your sales
force
Discounted Executive Education Sales
Leadership Attendance
Industry Specific Membership in Sales
Executive RoundTable
Company named Sale Student Award or
Scholarship
Involvement in classes as guest speaker and
executive instructor
Complimentary Invitations and individual
recognition at our Annual Awards Ceremony
Involvement in writing sales role plays for
use in classes
Abstracting Service providing access to
summaries of current sales research and
cutting edge practice
Participation in Sale Institute Activities
Facilitated Access to interview rooms in the
Bryan School of Business Building for use in
recruiting interviews
High Visibility posting of your firm’s job
positions
Access during business hours and by
appointment to the NCSI Library of salesrelated materials
Company logo featured on the Institute’s
website with link to your firm’s website
Recognition on the NCSI Wall of Fame at the
Institutes Home Office
Complimentary Sales Career Fair
Registration and Booth
Advisory Board Membership
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STRATEGIC
PARTNER
$20,000
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INDUSTRY
PARTNER
$10,000
MAJOR
PARTNER
$5,000
BASIC
PARTNER
$2,500
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