RMU Marketing: Center of Sales Excellence and Sales Certificate Program

Center of Sales Excellence

The Center for Sales Excellence was officially opened on January 29th at Robert Morris University. The Center was founded to help prepare students to obtain a sales mindset, build relationships, and obtain knowledge for a successful future after their time at Robert Morris. The program has many different focuses such as development and constant improvement of sales, rewarding student sales excellence, supporting student sales competitions, conducting student sales simulations, helping build partnerships and relationships, and plenty more. See the pictures below!

Sales Certificate Program

The Sales Certificate Program is a 15 credit program designed to help provide students with the necessary training and skill sets to be successful in a sales or management position. The program will give the students an opportunity to gain knowledge and experience in a variety of sales courses. Some topics include the psychology behind sales and its impact on sales personnel, management of brands/categories of products, sales analytics, consultation and relationship building, and entrepreneurial thinking. The Sales Certificate would be a great piece to add to a resume and will provide students with the information they need to be successful in a sales or business position.

Faculty and Staff

Director Dr. Dean Manna really emphasized the importance of sales in life. Dr. Manna has been with the university for 45 years now and has been teaching in sales and marketing for almost all of it. He is also an expert in emotional intelligence related to professional selling and marketing. Dr. Manna made a lot of excellent points in showing how sales fits in your everyday life regardless of age. He talked about being a little kid and trying to sell your parents on getting that toy you wanted, or even getting older and selling yourself for a job interview. He really made it evident that this was going to be one of the biggest and most exciting programs to make it to the university. Along with Dr. Manna there was plenty of support surrounding him. The president of Robert Morris University, Christopher Howard, was in full support and spoke about how great this program will be for the university and students. Other faculty members that made this possible are Dr. Jill Kurp who is the Department Head of Marketing and teaches sales and marketing classes. Dr. Kurp is very passionate about this program and worked extremely hard to make this possible. Lastly, it would not have been possible without Dr. Michelle Patrick who is the Dean of the School of Business. The president, faculty, and advisory board understand how important and useful this is going to be for the future success of their students.

Interviewing A Student

We interviewed AMA (American Marketing Association) member Josh Troiani about what he thinks of the Center of Sales Excellence and the certificate program. Josh told us that he is currently enrolled in the sales certificate program and is looking forward to seeing what is going to come next. Josh is currently a junior marketing major and is excited to be a part of the program and make relationships and connections for his future. Josh is also looking to become an AMA officer next year and is currently enrolled to go on the May FLEAP to China to gain more experience and learn more about logistics and marketing. Josh is very involved on campus and participates in countless events. He truly believes that the sales program is going to have a large impact on the students and university, and knows that it will set students up for success regardless of the major they are pursuing.

Our Experience at the Event

We believe the Center of Sales Excellence is going to be one of the best additions to the university. The growth in the program in only one year has been astounding and should continue on that trend. We see the value that sales has on everyday life and if any student has the opportunity to enroll in the certificate program they most certainly should. We also made a lot of great connections such as some employees from Beemac logistics.

The event was really exciting to be a part of and experience firsthand. There were around 100 people packed into a meeting room to see it happen. We realize how much this means to the university and even President Christopher Howard was in attendance. For both of us being marketing majors this was a tremendous way to meet people and make lasting relationships to set us up for success after we graduate.

For The Future

The sales job field has been continuing to grow and we should continue to see this pattern in the future. More and more jobs are hiring sales employees and are always looking for new and young talent to work for their companies. Sales has numerous benefits including high income potential, mastering in demand skills with continuous skills development, building a larger network, and better career opportunities in the future. Overall, the Center of Sales Excellence was a huge milestone for Robert Morris University and it will continue to drive success for countless students in the future.