This program is unreal and I'm incredibly proud to graduate from it and still be a part as an alumni.
The statistic I always lead with is 75% of business school graduates end up in with their first job in sales. Sales is something that very few universities teach. MBA programs hardly teach it. Why is that?
How can a profession that so many graduates go into can rarely be taught or even discussed?
The goal of getting a college education is to learn & have exposure to a variety of disciplines that in turn you use that skill set to begin a career & series of jobs in a field that you love. On top of that, a student pays upwards of $20,000 - $75,000 for this education.
And then you graduate... and all the time you spent test taking, study, completing projects, presentations, etc. completely overlooked the field you enter!!! How do I get a refund? This should be a black eye on the higher ed system - this is a serious failure.
And then comes in Sales Programs like The Schey Sales Centre that actually teach you a field that not only you might enter, but a field that you prefer to enter because you love it? Wow. Ground breaking.
Here's the other thing, The Schey Sales Centre is free to students. It's a student run organization that allows you to graduate with a Sales Certificate (certificates can be pursued independent from a degree).
When I say student run too by the way, I mean they run it like a business. There's an org chart with sales teams to HR to Marketing. Budgets. Sales goals. Decisions to be made. Programs to run.
I think the one reason teaching students sales is overlooked is because professors have no professional selling experience.
How do you gain that expertise & guidance? The Sales Centre built a Professional Sales Advisory Board of sales & sales related professionals. A mix of Presidents of F1000 companies, VP's & Directors of Sales, Entrepreneurs, Sales Trainers, Sales Authors, etc.
Here's the kicker - most of the board members aren't even alumni of Ohio University. Executives are traveling multiple times a year to school they never went to and donate their time, talent, and money.
Why? Because sales education is important and no one is doing it right.
Think about it... I'm a College of Business Dean at another school sitting in a conference room with a team discussing how to increase funding & gain alumni involvement. He picks up the phone and calls one of their heavy hitter alumni - a Sales VP that says, "I can't talk now.. I'm at Ohio University helping teach students sales."
So now the program has smart, successful professionals guiding the program and students in classrooms being taught sales. What else?
I mentioned the students run this as a business. This is not a lemonade stand operation. Here's what they do. They prospect & leverage references, book campus visits, and the students sell companies large & small why they should pay a multi-thousand dollar sponsorship to exclusively recruit from the program. Here's a list of those partners.
That's cute, right? A nice friendly way to get some real world experience for the students.
Let's look at it a step further... how about EMC ($20+ billion tech monster)? EMC has 50+ Ohio University sales students that currently work for them. A Boston based company, surrounded by Boston College, Harvard, etc, comes to Athens, OH to help fill their Sales Training program every year. Unreal.
To round it all out, the students work with the PSAB & others to put on regular Signature Events & Personal & Professional Development days. When I mean days, I mean Saturday morning at 8am. Future sales superstars all suited up, with pad-folios, and business cards voluntarily sacrifice a hangover to sit and learn about interviewing techniques, how to find jobs in various cities, sales strategies, investments, how to build a network, 401k's, how to find your 2nd & 3rd job, how to leverage social media, etc.
Notice what they're learning isn't all sales related... you're telling me an Art major couldn't benefit from that information? They can with this program.
These students are dangerous. Hire them at your own risk because you will need to promote them fast. They might even be your boss one day.
Since The Schey Sales Centre was founded in 2000-ish, it is also building an army of sales people around the world. 12 years of sales dedicated alumni that is growing each year. We're all connected. We help each other & others find jobs, give advice, and find ways to continue to grow personally & professionally. It's fantastic.
There are plenty statistics to share on the successes these students have & will continue to have, but it's important to think about this.
A Schey Sales Centre grad is considered to have a 2-3 year advantage over their peers in their first job. Ramp time is considerably less. Awards & honors keep piling up. Promotions are never ending. Pay grades constantly rising. Very cool.
Just think... a student who was a Political Science major (who could get a Sales certificate btw) graduates and can't find a job. The only job openings are for sales. He takes it. It's hard, there's cold calling, it's a competitive environment, he quits.
Let's look at a Sales Centre grad - they have 3-4 job offers 6 month prior to graduating. He already knows he wants to be in sales. He's been trained, groomed, is networked, and incredibly polished. Oh.. and he's had 3 sales internships before joining your company. It is night and day.
I would not be where I am today without this program. The ROI is huge. Life changing.
Every time I go back I am more and more impressed with how the program continues to evolve & grow - I'm glad I could share more background with you.
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