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Building salespeople, one at a time By
Kyle Ellis
The
OSU Department of Agricultural Economics realized the need to form a
sales and marketing class in fall 2000. The department received a “thumbs-up”
from school officials to create a 3000-level sales class for spring
2001. Agricultural
Sales and Marketing (AGEC 3323) has quickly become one of the most popular
classes for students throughout CASNR. “When
the department decided to offer a class like this, I was excited,”
Anderson said. “A high percentage of the students from CASNR take
sales positions after graduation, and I wanted to teach a class that
would give our students a leg up when they enter the workforce.” The class curriculum relies heavily upon experiential learning with sales professionals. Besides traditional lecture, the students are required to complete two projects during the semester: “Sashay With A Salesperson” and “Ready Set Sell.” Anderson
said the projects allow the student to learn things that they could
not possibly learn in a traditional classroom atmosphere.
The
first half of the class focuses on the “Sashay With A Salesperson”
project. Students are responsible for finding a sales professional to
shadow for a day while the professional goes about his or her daily
business. During this time, the students ask the salesperson questions
and gather information that will be used to write a report for a final
grade. “Letting
the students choose their own salesperson allows them to go to an area
in agricultural sales they may be interested in,” Anderson said.
“The idea is to let students create a network of contacts they
can use later in life.” Students
agree that who you know can help when it’s time to enter the business
world. “I
was able to make a contact in the industry who I can network with in
the future,” said Brian Bacon, agricultural business senior. “I
felt the lecture material we were tested on in class was truly beneficial
after I witnessed it in action on real sales calls with real people.”
During
the last half of the semester, students focus on the “Ready Set
Sell” project. This project lets students use what they have learned
to build and deliver an actual sales presentation to professionals in
related professional fields. “This
was my favorite part of the class,” said Bacon. “I got to
actually use what I had learned. It gave me real-world, professional
experience.” Anderson
credits the success of the class to the businesses and companies that
are eager to participate in the projects. The professionals who take
the time to participate in the student shadowing project and listen
to the sales presentations show the agricultural industry’s support
for OSU and CASNR, said Anderson. The
class is also a great recruiting tool for the college, said Anderson.
All majors can take the class as long as they have taken the prerequisites.
Many times the class has more students from other departments and colleges
on campus than agricultural economics majors. Since the class started,
enrollment has increased by 20 students every semester. The spring 2002
enrollment was more than 120 students. “In
some cases, the class is more beneficial to other agriculture majors,”
Anderson said. “They are students who will probably be sales representatives
in the future. In our college a majority of animal science, agronomy
and agricultural business majors go into the field of sales. These are
the students the class is aimed at.” The
development of the curriculum for the class came from David Downy, professor
of agricultural economics at Purdue University. He spent 25 years working
with people in sales and researching the techniques they used to be
successful. The research and curriculum was attractive to Anderson and
the other faculty members in the department. Anderson has taken the
curriculum and made it his own. Each semester he tries to bring in new
ideas to improve the class. “After
taking Dr. Anderson’s sales class, OSU students are certainly some
of the most valuable products on the market,” said Lockhart. Through
this class students gain experience to take to employers and have the
knowledge and insight to make the sale, satisfy the customer’s
needs and close the deal. |
People
sell their abilities in the work force every day. Kim Anderson, an agricultural
economist and profes-
“I
learned people skills and communication techniques that I would have
never learned in the classroom,” said Terry Lockhart, agricultural
economics senior. “I took the class the first semester it was offered.
Now I am a sales representative for Stillwater Equipment Company, and
students come and shadow me. It is interesting to see both sides of
how the class works. I learn something each time.”