Professional Sales

• Mission Statement
  • The professional sales program prepares individuals to serve as agents or sales representatives in selling products and services to businesses, plants, professionals, public and private institutions. This program offers a sales emphasis tailored toward specific sales fields such as manufacturing representative, technology sales, sales engineering, medical device representative and many other fields.
  • The sales and merchandising program is designed to prepare people for employment in selling at all levels of distribution and merchandising and middle management areas of retailing.
  • Students will supplement their coursework with practical on-the-job training in national, regional, and local business establishments. The students are affiliated with the department’s Professional Sales Student Association (PSSA) which provides students the opportunity to compete in a myriad of national collegiate sales competitions to refine classroom skills with a competitive atmosphere. The format varies from role-play, speed selling, team selling, and elevator pitch scenarios. Additionally, students compete in Collegiate DECA, a national student business organization with chapters in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, Canada, China, Germany, Guam, Hong Kong, Korea, Mexico and Puerto Rico. These competitive events give students opportunities to compete in various business simulations as well as network with national companies and their recruiters who provide employment opportunities.
  • The sales programs offered are specifically designed to prepare students for immediate employment. Program graduates are ready to make an immediate industry contribution through the use of industry advisory committee members, a constantly updated course curriculum, well-trained faculty, senior project and internship industry experience, and a national business organization affiliation.
• Student Learning Outcomes
  • Certificates (Not Applicable)

     

  • Associate Degree

    At the end of their study at WSU, students with an Associate of Applied Science in Sales and Merchandising degree will:

    • Basic Selling Techniques: Demonstrate effective selling skills.
    • Contract and Sales Negotiations: Apply negotiation techniques to selling situations.
    • Customer Profiling: Identify and profile the various selling styles.
    • Sales Proposal Writing: Apply the principles of proposal writing.
    • Team Building Skills: Development of the interpersonal and leadership skills to work effectively in teams.
    • Customer Service Skills: Identify successful techniques for working with customers in business situations.
    • Supervision Skills: Practical application of supervisory skills including choosing, organizing, training and evaluating.
    • Sales Presentation Skills: Identifying and using the principles and practices of professional sales consultants.
    • Interpersonal Relationship Skills: Identifying and demonstrating interpersonal relationship skills.
    • Legal Compliance and Sales Ethics: Applying the principles, techniques and analysis of ethics and the law in the sales and service profession.
    • Planning and organization skills: Apply the principles of organization and planning to all facets of the sales and service profession.
    • Technology Skills: Understand and apply sales technologies used in the field. 
  • Bachelor Degree

    At the end of their study at WSU, students with a Bachelor of Science in Professional Sales will:

    • Basic Selling Techniques: Demonstrate effective selling skills.
    • Contract and Sales Negotiations: Apply negotiation techniques to selling situations.
    • Customer Profiling: Identify and profile the various selling styles.
    • Sales Proposal Writing: Apply the principles of proposal writing.
    • Team Building Skills: Development of the interpersonal and leadership skills to work effectively in teams.
    • Customer Service Skills: Identify successful techniques for working with customers in business situations.
    • Supervision Skills: Practical application of supervisory skills including choosing, organizing, training and evaluating.
    • Sales Presentation Skills: Identifying and using the principles and practices of professional sales consultants.
    • Interpersonal Relationship Skills: Identifying and demonstrating interpersonal relationship skills.
    • Legal Compliance and Sales Ethics: Applying the principles, techniques and analysis of ethics and the law in the sales and service profession.
    • Planning and organization skills: Apply the principles of organization and planning to all facets of the sales and service profession.
    • Technology Skills: Understand and apply sales technologies used in the field.
• Curriculum Grid

• Program and Contact Information
  • The professional sales program at Weber State is a very unique program.  It is the only program offering 18 courses related directly to sales.  The department is a member of the National Sales Center Alliance (NSCA) and is recognized by the Sales Education Foundation (SEF) as one of the top sales programs in the country.  This gives us the opportunity to continue to offer a unique program that meets the needs of a very important and basic building block of business.
  • The sales and merchandising program is an associate of applied science degree which feeds into the professional sales program. It provides additional options for students to pursue.

   

  Contact Information:
  Blake Nielson
  1465 Edvalson St. Dept 2402
  Ogden, UT 84408-2402
  Technical Education Bldg, Rm 101
  (801) 626-7385

  Professional Sales Website

  Associate of Applied Science in Sales and Merchandising

• Assessment Plan
  We assess our courses to ensure they meet the learning outcomes using the office of institutional effectiveness biennial schedule. Our last biennial report in 2021 included assessment of all our 3000 and 4000 level classes with our updated curriculum grid, learning outcomes and more comprehensive assessment practices. Our next Biennial Report will include our assessment data for all of our 1000 and 2000 level classes with these same techniques. Our latest review of our 3000 and 4000 level classes in this review include online courses as well as our traditional courses to ensure learning across both teaching methods. This will be our model moving forward.

   

  Assessment of Graduating Students

  
  We have senior level project classes where students are assessed to ensure they are ready to enter the workforce. PS 4610 and PS 4620 assesses all skills in our program to check for mastery of all competencies required for a BS in professional sales. Student are assessed through either an internship or comprehensive report.

  
  Since our last program review we have also started collecting post graduate data to ensure our program is preparing students to be successful in the field. During this last assessment that was completed in 2021 we found 100% job placement and an average first year earnings around 70K. Furthermore, within 5 years post-graduation the average sales student is making more than 100K. We plan to replicate this process every 5-7 years to continue to assess and measure past graduates.
• Assessment Report Submissions

  2021-22
  2019-20
  2017
  2016 - Conducted Program Review
  2015

• Program Review

  2022-23

  2016-17
   

This information is part of the cyclical program review process. Details such as mission statements, learning outcomes, etc., are updated as part of the biennial assessment reporting process, an integral component of program review.