PRO-AM SELL-A-THON

PRO-AM SELL-A-THON®

The Pro-Am Sell-A-Thon is one of the largest sales competitions in the nation. Members are provided the opportunity compete, network, and develop their profession sales abilities at the Fall Regional Conference and Spring National Convention. The 2020 Regional Pro-Am Competition will be held virtually on November 5th & 6th. 4 simultaneous Regional Competitions, all competing for 4 1st place titles – in a matter of 2 days. All the resources you need to be successful are right here – are you in?

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PSE Pro-Am Key Objectives

  • Emphasize the importance of selling skills play in everyday life.
  • Dispel negative perceptions associated with selling.
  • Many students enter the workforce in a sales capacity; therefore provide a program that demonstrates real-life selling situations.
  • Provide a vehicle to teach students about selling in a logical, process-oriented approach.
  • Involve professional salespeople in the program to mentor and coach these students during the program to provide real-life sales experiences.
  • Provide a program that allows students to compete in real-life selling situations with all of the variables of a real-life situation.
What is the Pro-Am Sell-A-Thon?
What makes the Pro-Am different from other sales competitions?
What will competitors gain from the Pro-Am?
How is the competition scored?
What is a virtual sales call?

What is the Pro-Am Sell-A-Thon?

The Pi Sigma Epsilon Pro-Am Sell-A-Thon was founded in 1992 to provide your business advantage for life. This event is designed to develop professional sales and communication skills, as well as connect students with top companies offering internship and career opportunities.

The Pro-Am Sell-A-Thon is held at both the Regional Conferences and the National Convention. The competition is centered around a video call and 12-minute role-play simulating real-life business scenarios. Prior to the event, competitors are provided Dimensions of Professional Selling training modules from Carew International. Once on-site, competitors will receive industry leading training led by a Carew International facilitator as well as a coaching session with industry leading sales professionals!

The Pro-Am is the largest sales competition in the nation, with over 275 competitors from 35 universities in 2018. This hallmark event is an outstanding avenue to develop lifelong skills and connect with PSE’s 35 Corporate Partners. You will not regret this opportunity to network, learn about career opportunities, and develop skills that will aid in any career!

What makes the Pro-Am different from other sales competitions?

A Focus on Your Development:

The Pro-Am exists first and foremost to help you. Whether this will be your 1st or 7th competition, the Pro-Am is specifically designed to provide you with the opportunity to grow, develop your professional network, and build skills that will help you be successful in any career. From the industry leading sales training to the judges feedback sessions, the competition is designed to help you conquer any fears and develop skills you will use for a lifetime.

A Yearlong Competition Component:

Two competitions, three ways to win! You have an opportunity to compete at two competitions: one at the Regional Conferences in the Fall and one at the National Convention in the Spring. Everyone has an equal chance at winning the Regional or National Competition, but those who have excelled at both will be recognized as the best of the best.

What will competitors gain from the Pro-Am?

The Pro-Am offers students a multitude of opportunities to enhance selling skills, learn to perform under pressure in a competitive environment, and dispel negative perceptions associated with a career in selling. The Pro-Am is unique just in the name itself: pairing Sales Professionals with Amateur students to coach, mentor and judge. On the day of competition, the students are provided one of a kind trainings by Carew International, the Pro-Am Committee, and corporate partners to ensure they feel confident and prepared to complete their 12 minute roleplay.

In addition to gaining these soft skills that put them ahead of the competition in the job market, students are exposed to unique internship and full-time offers by our partners. Just by competing in the Pro-Am, a student can land the career of their dreams!

How is the competition scored?

The Pro-Am is scored based on a comprehensive criteria sheet created based on the Carew sales methodology. The score is completely quantitative, out of 100 possible points, with the top 2 scoring students in each room being named a finalist.

Prior to the Competitions: Competitors will submit a short video call simulating reaching out to the decision maker to secure a meeting. Video communications is an essential skill and growing business trend, as such – it is a prerequisite to the competition on-site.

At Regionals: The top 2 competitors from each room advance to the finalist status. The students are then scored by a set panel of highly experienced judges. These judges will review and score the finalists roleplay videos, and the winners will be announced at Saturday night’s ceremony.

At the National Convention: Top 2 from each room will move on and complete a second sales call. In Round 2, students will meet with the final decision maker and try to win the sale. Top 2 from each Round 2 room will be reviewed and scored by a panel of highly experienced final round judges. The National Convention competition and Yearlong competition winners will be announced at Friday night’s ceremony.

What is a virtual sales call?

The virtual sales call is designed to help students prepare for selling in the new virtual world.

During the virtual competition, competitors are given 12 minutes to complete a sales cycle within a virtual room (webex or similar video conferencing platform). Each student is evaluated on their ability to successfully move the customer through the sales process and obtain commitment. Each role play is judged by a panel of sales professionals who are also in the virtual competition room. Additionally, each role play is recorded so that the student can review it at the conclusion of the event. The students receive immediate judges’ verbal feedback as well as the quantitative scores captured on the scoresheet after the competition. After the role play and the judge’s feedback is provided, the student will leave the virtual competition room.

THE 2020 PRO-AM SELL-A-THON® REGIONAL CONFERENCE PRODUCT SPONSOR

Thank you to all the PRO-AM SELL-A-THON® SPONSORS:

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  • “The Pro-Am competition provides a competitive learning environment for aspiring sales professionals. Participants receive coaching from real sales professionals before the role play, and then receive instant feedback once the role play is completed--what could be better than that! You can read as many sales books as you want, but the Pro-Am sales competition is the best way to learn how to perform a sales call, identify your strengths, work on your weaknesses, connect with employers, and showcase your talent!"

    Pat Delehanty, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire

  • "The Pro-Am Sales competition provides students the ability to strategically approach each situation within a real world business and leverage key features and attributes of a brand and gain knowledge of applications that can be utilized in a sales call."

    Donna Wertalik, Instuctor of Marketing, Virginia Polytechnic Institute And State University

  • "The benefits of the PSE Pro Am are incredible for my students. The Pro Am gives them the opportunity to practice and apply their professional selling skills in a real world scenario including call preparation, client research, understanding client needs, handling objections and making the sale. It builds their confidence in their selling skills. Two of our students placed first and second in Regionals and one of them in the top 5 at Nationals. This experience put these students positions where they had lined up sales careers long before the end of their senior years, despite the economy. All four of the students that went to Nationals had positions lined up before we arrived-a lot of their success was due to the Pro Am experience. Three of them said that the National conference was the best experience of their college career."

    Kenneth Cherry, Assistant Professor-Marketing & Professional Sales, Central Michigan University

  • "From our very first experience with PSE’s Pro-Am Sellathon more than 15 years ago, I was impressed with the impact of this unusual sales competition. By combining strong sales training with coaching from active sales professionals, the Pro-Am, and its realistic role-playing scenarios, stands out among other student sales competitions. Vector Marketing Corporation is so proud to have been the initial sponsor of the Pro-Am Sell-a-thon and looks forward to the continued growth and success of this valuable program."

    Sarah Baker Andrus, Vector Marketing Corporation

  • “The Pro-Am is the one place where you can see sales done right! PSE put academics, street knowledge, and passion into sales like no other organization I’ve ever seen."

    Tony Parinello, award-winning salesman, sales trainer for Fortune 500 companies, and best selling author of Selling to Vito, Getting the Second Appointment and Think and Sell Like a CEO
Susie BlomquistPRO-AM SELL-A-THON