Skillsoft partners with UNB in education …. impact on sales savvy
Sales is the single most important contributor to a business’s top line, yet teaching sales has not been embraced by most of academia. Often times, sales is not seen as a career choice for students as they have the inaccurate perception of sales people being like that sleazy salesperson we have all seen in movies, who will do or say anything to ‘get the deal’. Also, students have very little if any exposure to business-to-business sales and the associated various career choices that are available. 
Kelly Cuddihy, an instructor with the faculty of business administration at UNB, teaches a course in professional selling that is designed to give students an understanding of what professional sales involves in a business-to-business context and correct the students’ misconceptions of what a professional sales career is like. In the past two years, Professor Cuddihy has been working with a local company, Skillsoft, to help her students gain practical experience in order to fully understand all the aspects of sales and its career opportunities.
Students in Cuddihy’s class are required to interview professional sales people and job shadow them for a day to observe first hand how they manage their sales process. Students are usually responsible for making their own contacts with professional sales people to complete this component of the course, which also allows them to practice their first contact skills. However, two years ago, Professor Cuddihy received a call from Chris Cummins, VP of Sales with Skillsoft, who was having a difficult time finding employees with professional sales, consulting and account management experience. He decided to call the business administration faculty at UNB to see if they could offer assistance. Luckily for everyone, he was directed to Kelly Cuddihy. That year, two students did their job shadows – or “seat rides” as it’s called in the sales profession – with some of the more experienced sales professionals at Skillsoft. Spending time with the professional sales staff at Skillsoft was a valuable learning experience for them.
The following year Skillsoft hosted a “UNB Day” when they brought in five students to spend an entire day observing how experienced professionals spend their days. After sitting in on the morning meeting with all of the sales staff, each student spent an hour with someone generating leads, an hour shadowing a sales consultant, and an hour with an account manager. In each case they got to observe how professionals communicate with new leads to explore potential opportunities, witness how the sales consultants assessed the needs of potential clients and explain how Skillsoft would meet those needs, and then gain an understanding of how accounts are managed on a daily basis. The students also met with the Vice President for half an hour to ask questions and talk about what they had learned.
As part of the relationship, Skillsoft has also become an annual guest speaker for the course, providing all students with real world examples of how a company executes its sales process, sharing sales stories, and answering students’ questions.
Skillsoft is a pioneer in the field of learning with a long history of innovation. They provide cloud-based learning solutions for customers all over the world, who range from global enterprises, government, and education to mid-sized and small businesses. They currently serve over 5,000 customers and more than 13,000,000 learners around the world. Skillsoft’s Canadian headquarters are in Fredericton. A vital part of Skillsoft’s overall operations, Fredericton acts as a home to a worldwide 24/7 customer support team, the online mentoring group, content reviewers, custom development, and a variety of different departments.
As a result of the practical experience they gain in the course, students have a more realistic understanding of the various options available in the sales profession, particularly in business sales. Additionally, suggested Professor Cuddihy, “they are able to be more effective on the job more quickly and students have added sales to their career options after this experience.”
Pam Easton, who is in charge of Sales Performance and Training at Skillsoft and a regular guest speaker for the class, explained that, “part of the reason for visiting Kelly's class and hosting UNB day is that we want to promote sales as a career option. Most children don't grow up dreaming of going into sales as a profession. We want students to know that sales is a rewarding career!”
Four of the students who recently took Professor Cuddihy’s class have gained that appreciation, and are in fact, currently enjoying sales careers with Skillsoft.
