Reprint: R1207H
A well-staffed sales function is vital to business success, but most MBA programs fail to offer any sales-related courses at all. As selling becomes more sophisticated and solutions-oriented, and good sales jobs go unfilled for lack of qualified applicants, the value of university-based sales education programs rises. But such programs face substantial barriers in gaining funding and recruiting talent. This, in turn, leads to a frustrating lack of scholarly research relevant to improving sales capabilities.
The authors, members of the marketing department at DePaul University, demonstrate that partnering with industry is the surest route to success in establishing sales programs and enhancing their effectiveness. They offer the experience of DePaul’s Center for Sales Leadership to illustrate that when businesses provide input to curricula and encourage their salespeople to contribute to classroom discussions, the benefits flow both ways. Furthermore, demand for sales courses is rapidly increasing: When the center was founded, in 2004, it hoped to enroll 90 students a year. Today about 700 per quarter enroll in its various sales courses.
