Sales education has become an important focus in business schools around the globe and WVU’s Professional Sales Institute at the College of Business and Economics has again received recognition as one of the top sales education schools in the world. WVU’s sales program has included high-performing sales case competition teams, like the 2017-18 team pictured here who hosted the WVU Sales Competition last November. WVU was recently named one of the top sales education schools in the world for the seventh consecutive year.
A sales education environment comprised of high-level classroom education, valuable experiential learning, exposure to companies that have relationships with West Virginia University, internship opportunities and sales case competitions has landed the Professional Sales Institute at WVU a position as one of the top sales schools in the world.
WVU was listed in the “2018 Top Universities for Professional Sales Education” by the Sales Education Foundation. This marks the seventh consecutive year the Institute, housed in the College of Business and Economics, has been named to the world-wide list.
Specifically, WVU was named among 120 top schools in North America, while 16 other institutions were named the top international sales schools. The SEF does not provide a numerical ranking for each school.
WVU’s Professional Sales Institute is overseen by B&E’s Marketing Department. The professional sales program provides a sales internship program, is offered in part in an online format and provides a sales lab.
“We work every day to achieve a balanced student experience that will be an advantage when our students enter the job market,” said Michael Walsh, chair and associate professor of marketing. “That experience is a balanced combination of the academic classroom environment with valuable, real-world experience from a variety of sources. We firmly believe the key is learning-by-doing, experiential activity, and we make every effort to offer as many opportunities as we can.”
Walsh said that the sales program at B&E continues to grow, with all of the encouraging indicators pointing upward. The Professional Sales Institute moved up to full member status with the University Sales Center Alliance, after previous engagement as an associate member. WVU is currently one of only 28 schools worldwide to have full membership status.
Due to growing student enrollment, B&E will offer a minor in sales starting in Fall 2018. He added that sales students are active in case competitions, as the WVU team won a competition at Old Dominion University and competed at another competition at the University of Toledo earlier this academic year. WVU hosts its own sales competition, which attracted five other colleges and universities to the event on the Morgantown campus.
“We’ve seen increases in corporate recruiting in the areas of consumer packaged goods, financial services, manufacturing and distribution,” Walsh said, “and we are confident that our growing commitment to professional sales will result in dynamic careers for our students.”
“Our recognition as one of the top sales education schools in the world for the seventh straight year is a reflection of our commitment to this area of learning,” said Javier A. Reyes, B&E Milan Puskar Dean. “Evidence of the importance of sales education and skills comes in the form of feedback from companies and individuals who recruit our students. That feedback continues to tell us that sales skills are invaluable in the business world, and our plan is to continue providing students with the mix of classroom learning and learning-by-doing opportunities to achieve the balance they need to embark on successful careers.”
Professional Sales is one of three areas of emphasis for marketing majors at B&E. The WVU professional sales track offers course work in personal selling, sales management and selling with digital media.
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CONTACT: Patrick Gregg
WVU College of Business and Economics
304.293.5131; patrick.gregg@mail.wvu.edu
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