NIU Sales, RNMKRS and something like BB8 – NIU Today

Posted: June 23, 2020 at 4:42 pm


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Nearly 75 NIUsalesstudents from theDepartment of Marketingfound themselves competing in aRNMKRSDell Technology Virtual Sales Competition in the spring 2020 semester, just as life turned itself upside down around the world. Bryant University hosted the event, drawing 1,600 students from more than 40 universities from New England to Florida to Illinois to Texas toCalifornia.

This first-ever virtual, mobile selling skills competition was developed by the RNMKRS Faculty Alliance of leading educators, Dell Technologies training executives and developers from 3 countries. RNMKRS originally launched theeventin Fall 2019. Itwas so well receivedit now runs in both the fall and spring semesters.

The competition is as far removed from a typical TEAMS meeting as you can get. Instead of interacting virtually with others, the students engaged in the sales process with a client made up entirely of 0s and 1s.And whileartificial intelligencethe likes ofBB8 in Star Wars is cute without question, the majority of the sales students had no idea what they would encounter when they communicated with a piece of interactive code. They had no idea what, if any, language barriers might pop up, how many loops of reasoning might be unspooled, or what other issues might arise.

The students had first-hand exposure to virtual selling and to thinking on their feet, saidthe NIUDeans Distinguished Professor of SalesRob Peterson. They were forced to adapt on the spot in order to engage in problem solving with artificial intelligence.And they did great!It was a fun day forNIU.Fourof our students placed in the top 25.

ThefourNIU studentsareSean Duffywhoplaced 4th, Paulina Ramirezwhoplaced 15th, Jorie Pelafas who placed23rdand ChristophKoeningerwhoplaced 25th.Along with their major programs, all fourstudentswere in the process of earning their sales certificate from the NIU Professional Sales Center.

The RNMKR sales competition platform is an outstanding outlet to develop and test your sales skills, Duffy said. Each competitor is instructed to study the Dell Rugged Laptop line and uncover the specific features that the customer is looking for. This competition really emphasizes your ability to listen, respond, and empathize.

Students use the voice technology on their phones to have fully contextual conversations with the customer bot as they try to win his trust and educate him on their product line of laptop computers. The customer bot listens, adapts and responds as the students go through the sales call.

During these difficult times, RNMKRS came through with an exciting and challenging experience that Im glad I was part of, Ramirez added. Participating in the professionalselling program at Northern Illinois University helped me develop the needed sales skills and mentality to make this an experience I could learn from.

RNMKRS is an industry group that focuses on improving sales and communications by leveraging technology. The overall goal of theirVirtualSalesCompetition is to help students learn how to communicate more effectively particularly in the face of the unknown. RNMKRS founders believeeffective communication requires practicea contention Peterson wholeheartedly agrees with.

Along withthe distinction of holding anamedprofessorship in the NIU College of Business, Peterson was among the group of original advisors to RNMKRS when they developed this event. Hehasalsowona number of awards fromavariety ofindustry associations, among them outstanding teaching awards from the American Marketing Association, the Marketing Management Association, and the University Sales Center Alliance to name a few.

TheNIU Professional Sales Centerin the Department of Marketing in theCollege of Businesscontinues to earn top accolades on a national level for its activities in and out of the classroom. Some of these include the programs Sales on Wheels initiativewhichbrings students face to face with C-suite executives in their corporate headquarters, the programs Sales Advisory Board with membershipthat includestop sales professionals from a number of industriesand companiesaround the country,as well asthe many conferences and competitions like the RNMKRS Virtual Sales Competition whereNIU salesprofessors and studentscontinue tomake an impact, virtually and in reality.

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NIU Sales, RNMKRS and something like BB8 - NIU Today

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June 23rd, 2020 at 4:42 pm

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