Two University of Louisiana at Lafayette students showcased their business and marketing acumen at the recent collegiate National Sales Challenge in Wayne, N.J.
Marketing students Megan Martin, a junior from New Iberia, and Michelle Menard, a senior from St. Martinville, teamed to place third at the event, which was held last month at William Patterson University.
In addition, Martin was awarded first place overall for her individual performance. She also won the Viewer’s Choice Award, after receiving 100 percent of votes cast by students, coaches and business representatives.
The National Sales Challenge was hosted by the Russ Berrie Institute for Professional Sales at William Patterson University. It featured students from 42 universities across the United States and more than 60 representatives from business and industry.
The competition involved two components. One was a mock sales call scenario with a business executive. The other required a student to state why he or she would be a good candidate for a generic job.
Dr. Duleep Delpechitre, an assistant professor of marketing in the B. I. Moody III College of Business Administration, coached the students. Delpechitre is also director of the Northwestern Mutual Sales and Research Lab on campus, where students prepared for the national competition.
“We cannot underscore how proud we are of Dr. Delpechitre and our team,” said Dr. Geoffrey Stewart, department head for the Marketing and Hospitality Programs. “Over the last several weeks, they trained extremely hard and represented our university with great pride. Megan and Michelle both agreed that our local, qualifying sales competition was tougher than the Russ Berrie Institute’s competition, and that the feedback and engagement by local business leaders really helped them.”
The B. I. Moody III College of Business Administration provides quality undergraduate and master’s level business education and creates an environment that develops ethical, technologically capable professionals who have the knowledge and skills to serve our culturally rich region.
Its program offerings focus on the areas of: accounting, economics, finance, management, marketing, hospitality management, insurance and risk management, and professional land and resource management.