2020年5月18日

Beginning in the fall 2020 semester, Susquehanna University will offer a minor in professional sales.

“Professional selling 和 skills attached to this minor are beneficial for any student across the university because the skills gained can be used in business, in the nonprofit sector, government 和 more,” 艾玛斑点, associate professor 和 head of the Department of 管理 和 市场营销 in the Sigmund Weis School of Business.

The interdisciplinary minor requires courses from the Department of Communications 和 Sigmund Weis School of Business.

Courses will be taught by Michele Welliver, an assistant professor of communications at Susquehanna who has more than a decade of professional sales experience in radio 和 television, 和 Darrell Wilson ’78, an adjunct professor of marketing at Susquehanna with more than 40 years of sales experience.

“学生s minoring in professional sales will gain vital business 和 communication skills that will help them build their portfolio to pursue a career in a variety of sales roles,” Welliver said.

Prior to his retirement, Wilson spent his 40-year career in professional sales at companies such as Energizer 和 Troy-Bilt, eventually rising to vice president of sales at Yuasa Battery Inc. He earned his master’s in business administration from Golden Gate University in 1992 和 is also an adjunct professor of marketing at Salisbury University where he helped to launch the Mid Atlantic Sales 和 市场营销 Institute (MASMI).

“Many employers expect sales skills to be developed before students graduate 和 enter the work force so that they can ‘hit the ground running’ from Day One of their employment,威尔逊说. “Professional selling not only benefits salespeople in selling to customers, but also benefits them when presenting internally to senior management 和 boards of directors.”

Welliver 和 Wilson will also train selected sales students to successfully compete in national sales competitions. They also hope to develop a sales lab in which students can hone their presentation skills through role-play exercises, 和 where potential corporate sponsors can be involved as role-play buyers.