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Semifinalists Katie Giaccobi (left) and Cassandra Layman (right) with coach Dave Bakstran (middle)
On Friday, November 11th, eight Bentley students participated in Bryant University’s annual Northeast Intercollegiate Sales Competition. The NISC is a unique competition for outstanding students pursuing sales careers to connect with employers from some of the best sales organizations in the nation. In preparing for the competition, participants read a case that described the buyer’s situation and how the seller’s product, Acquia Cloud Site Factory, could solve the buyer’s business problems. Students were tasked with using each stage of the sales process to reach their goal of selling Acquia Cloud Site Factory to the buyer. Eight Bentley students, including Cassandra Layman, Katie Giacobbi, Samuel Feldman, Joseph Lehman, Roberto Villacis, Sebastian Brunell, Richard Randolph, and Pedro Russell, met every week to practice role-playing different scenarios between the buyer and the seller with the assistance from coach Dave Bakstran and Professional Sales Professor Gary Johnson.
During the competition, the participants were assigned to a room where they met with the “buyer” and began the selling process over the course of four rounds. Four judges from companies all over the Northeast watched each 10 minute role play scenario and provided feedback to the student about their sales strategy and presentation skills. After each round, students were eliminated until the final round.
Bentley seniors Cassandra Layman, Katie Giaccobi, and Pedro Russell made it through to the quarterfinals, placing in the top 45 out of 120 participants from over 15 different universities around the country.
Finally, Cassandra Layman and Katie Giaccobi made it to the semifinals, placing in the top 16 out of 120 total participants.
Thanks to the coaching from Dave Bakstran and Gary Johnson, the Bentley team exceeded their success from past years. The Bentley team encourages more Bentley students to get involved in this competition and the Professional Sales Program so that the team can be even more successful in the upcoming years.
For more information about the competition, visit Bryant’s NISC website here.
