News Center - The University of Texas at Dallas

Dec. 17, 2012

Students in the Naveen Jindal School of Management’s new sales program achieved a sixth-place finish in the recent International Collegiate Sales Competition (ICSC).

Seniors Brittany Nieh, Monica Raofpur and Prashi Singh traveled to Florida State University for the event, in which they showed their direct-to-consumer sales prowess using a luxury men’s clothing brand. Competition rounds mimicked a typical sales process in which a sales professional works with a consumer to establish needs, present a solution and close the deal.

“My teammates and I worked on role plays almost every single day for two months in order to prepare,” Nieh said. “Thanks to Dr. Dover's guidance, the corporate executives who challenged us to hone our skills and the hard work of everyone on the team, we were one of the top teams at ICSC.”

Nieh and Singh advanced to the semi-finals before being eliminated; Raofpur’s bid ended in the quarter-finals. UT Dallas, Texas State and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette fielded the only teams to advance two or more students into the semi-finals.

Lennox International Inc. and McAfee supported the UT Dallas team as it trained for the competition; members from each company’s sales management team hosted the students at their local offices and helped them sharpen their skills.

Beyond the thrill of victory, the sales competition and the sales program allowed Raofpur  to discover a new side of herself.

“I used to be somewhat shy,” she admitted. “Thanks to all the preparation involved in the competitions and the corporate contacts we have in the sales program, I’m no longer scared – I just go after it!”

“I was shocked at our students’ results at this first major competition,” program director Howard Dover (PhD ’08), said. “Their hard work, bolstered by their natural talent for the sales environment, really paid off. I’m so proud of them. They are setting the bar high for future sales program students.”

Sales courses are open to all UT Dallas students.

Media contact: Karah Hosek, UT Dallas, (972) 883-5890, karah.hosek@utdallas.edu
or the Office of Media Relations, UT Dallas, (972) 883-2155, newscenter@utdallas.edu