During spring break in March, Kent State University assistant marketing professor Dr. Adam Rapp led four business students to the 10th Annual National Collegiate Sales Competition in Atlanta, Ga. Two Kent State students placed fourth and ninth individually, which positioned the university to tie for seventh place overall out of 53 competing schools.

Students Evan Gill, Aaron Hickle, Matt Montgomery and Nate Zawoyski went to the competition for an untraditional spring break experience in the state of peaches. Hickle and Montgomery won their quarter final brackets in the competition, and Montgomery proceeded to the finals.

The competition, in which students participated in a series of twenty-minute mock sales pitches, is held annually and had 104 student participants. The tournament’s goal is to determine the country's best selling institutions and premier sales students. A $2,000 prize was awarded to the top team.

During role-playing scenarios, students sold NetSuite, an actual software management tool, to a variety of firms. Each student, acting as a sales representative, pitched the product in person to the buyer, while a camera broadcast the sale to a separate room where the seven judges watched.

The event also included a job fair and drew recruiters from 48 different companies around the United States. Approximately 50 to 60 percent of participants received job offers from recruiters at the fair.

In addition to the primary competition, a supplemental voicemail-only sales competition took place. Kent State proved successful again as Gill finished first overall, while Zawoyski took sixth place.

The Annual National Collegiate Sales Competition has significant ties to Kent State as it was developed 10 years ago by Terry Loe, director of the Center for Professional Selling at the university.