�þ���

The Elon Sales Team has advanced to the finals of the virtual 2020 AT&T National Sales Competition after successfully competing against 27 schools.

Representing Elon were marketing major Ryan Abbey ’23, strategic communications major Clare Bowles ’21, international business major Hannah Chaput ’23, strategic communications major Brooke Galonek ’21, marketing and finance double major Saadia Munford ’21, and marketing major Melanie Surman ’21. The team was coached by marketing major Lucas Lamas ’21, Assistant Professor George Talbert, Assistant Professor Chris Nelson and Lecturer Rob Elbitar.

Round one of the competition involved rapport building, needs identification, solution presentation and objection handling.

“I created so many professional connections in the sales world, as well as here at Elon,” Surman said about her competition experience. “I enjoyed working closely with my coaches and teammates to successfully prepare for a meeting with a potential client as if we really worked for AT&T B2B. The competition made it clear to me that I want to pursue a full-time position in the professional sales industry after graduation.”

Competitors were evaluated on salesmanship, personality, questioning, agility and coherent solution by a panel of judges comprised of sales managers and talent acquisition managers for AT&T.

Elon will join 11 other schools including the University of North Alabama, California State University-Chico and Arizona State University in the final round to be held Oct. 22-23.

The Elon Sales Team is supported by the , which promotes professional selling and sales management, provides high-quality instruction to both students and sales executives, and conducts research advancing the field of sales.

Elon’s strong sales curriculum and experiential learning component earned it the distinction as a “Top University Sales Program for 2020” by the Sales Education Foundation.