Lisi discussed why sales professionals should focus on the value being offered to their customers, emphasizing that customers have no interest in buying a product unless the salesperson has a clear understanding of their problem and how the product will be able to solve it.

“I see our sales teams as ‘value brokers,’” Lisi explained. “We’re not just matching a need with a product, we’re matching a value proposition with a problem.”

He advised students to “become a student of your customer,” and drew from his 30 years of technology sales experience working with companies like IBM and Xerox, where he held both sales and management roles.  As a member of the SAS executive leadership team, Lisi develops and executes strategies and programs for more than 2,500 sales and operations employees to ensure they are able to deliver superior value to the company’s customers.

Additionally, Lisi spoke about the value of social media in sales, and how to utilize it and other tools to understand customers and their problems.

Lisi also engaged students in a question-and-answer session. Lisi fielded questions about international sales and the challenges of coordinating efforts between employees from different cultures, the importance of “selling the why,” his enthusiasm for setting up his employees and customers to succeed, and available opportunities at the SAS Sales Academy.

Lisi lauded Elon and the Chandler Family Professional Sales Center for its commitment to educating students in sales, and praised the curriculum, foresight and vision exemplified by the professional sales program at the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business.

Prior to his current position at SAS, Lisi served as vice president of SAS Americas, where he was instrumental in growing and developing the organization in the United States, Canada and Latin America. His other roles at SAS included vice president of sales for SAS Canada and interim country manager for SAS Brazil.

Before joining SAS, Lisi served as managing director for EMC Canada and president and CEO of AudienceView Software Corp.

About SAS Institute

SAS Institute is a multinational analytics software development company headquartered in Cary, N.C. Through innovative analytics, business intelligence and data management software and services, SAS helps customers at more than 80,000 sites make better decisions faster.

About the Chandler Family Professional Sales Center

, established in 2008 by an endowment gift from Elon Trustee Thomas E. Chandler, owner of Chandler Concrete Company, and his family, promotes professional selling and sales management, provides high-quality instruction to both students and sales executives, and conducts research that advances the field of sales.

The students rotated through seven 15-minute sessions with employer representatives from CHG Healthcare, FactSet Research Systems, Piper Cos. and SAS Institute, as well as staff members from the Porter Family Professional Development Center and the Student Professional Development Center. During these sessions, the students had their resumes reviewed, practiced networking and conducted a mock interview with the employer representatives. The students also learned how to navigate a business dining experience, had a professional photo taken for their LinkedIn profiles, and learned about social media and first impressions.

“The Sophomore Success event was extremely helpful in improving professional skills such as how to optimize performance in interviews and networking events,” Carly Struyk ’19 said. “We were able to learn more about improving our presence in a room of professionals, how to best approach potential employment opportunities, as well as how to act in professional settings.”

“The reason that we offer (the event) to sophomores is that we truly do believe that this is a really perfect time for them to start to gain exposure and practice in the skills we offer,” said Danielle Golinski, assistant director of career services for the Love School of Business. “At times, students may feel nervous or anxious about practicing these professional skills, but this event was created with this in mind. This is an opportunity to give them a starting point…and just to really start the interactions with employers.”

About the Porter Family Professional Development Center

The builds lasting relationships with students by offering support and coaching throughout the student’s academic and professional journey in the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business. The center’s staff offers consultative one-on-one meetings with students to create an action plan that will help each student secure the internship or job that best suits their career goals.

The company visits exposed the fellows to a wide array of business cultures that differed from what many of them had previously experienced. “The businesses on the West Coast had a more laid-back culture, involving more flexible hours, a casual dress code and an open layout of the office space,” said accounting major Kristen Lober ’18. “This showed us that it is important to pay attention to office location when applying for jobs.”

Several fellows were intrigued by the nontraditional office spaces at the start-up companies. “The Airbnb headquarters is by far the coolest office building I have ever seen, and was my favorite part of the trip,” said economics major Jack Cove ’17. “Without a single conventional office space, it was open and free flowing, and very unique.”

Cove added that he learned the importance of thinking outside the box from the visits. “These young companies clearly try new business strategies and methods, and not all of them work,” Cove said. “However, this willingness to fail certainly contributes to the rapid success of these organizations.”

This was the first time the Business Fellows program organized company visits in San Francisco. Fellows traditionally travel to New York in the fall to meet with executives and visit the New York Stock Exchange.

“We wanted to take students to the heart of Silicon Valley to expose them to a different work culture, start-ups and tech giants, and a city that is full of opportunity for bright, young people willing to work hard,” said Tina Das, director of the Business Fellows program.

The fellows were accompanied by:

• Tina Das, Lincoln Financial Professor of Economics
• Wonhi Synn, professor of finance and chair of the Department of Finance
• Brooke Buffington, associate director of career services for the Love School of Business
• Lauren Duffy, associate director of corporate and employer relations for the Love School of Business
• Tom Brinkley, executive director of the Student Professional Development Center.

About the Elon Business Fellows Program
The blends classroom learning and real-world experience to prepare emerging business professionals to take on the leadership challenges in their professions, their organizations and their communities. The program adds an extra dimension to fellows’ studies through dedicated team projects, specialized cohort classes, a Winter Term study abroad experience, company site visits in New York or San Francisco, a four-year professional development plan, and senior seminars that involve managing a $250,000 portfolio or consulting for a company.
 

The event, which took place in the Moseley Center’s McKinnon Hall, provided accounting students with the opportunity to network with potential employers from top local, national and global firms for internship and full-time employment positions.

The following employers were in attendance:

• Baker Tilly
• Becker Professional Education
• Bernard Robinson and Company, LLP
• Beta Alpha Psi Executive Office
• Cobb Ezekiel Loy & Company, P.A.
• Deloitte
• DMJ
• EY
• Gilliam Coble & Moser, LLP
• Grant Thornton
• KPMG
• LBA Haynes Strand, PLLC
• Lincoln Financial Group
• PwC
• RSM US LLP
• Smith Leonard PLLC

“The Meet and Greet was a great opportunity for sophomores, juniors, and seniors alike to network with accounting firms and other financial information companies,” chapter president Nicholas Massey ’17 said. “We were pleased by our turnout, and I think the firms were pleased with the students they met. We appreciate the SPDC for all of their help arranging and coordinating the logistics of the event.”

Beta Alpha Psi holds weekly meetings relevant to industry topics, connecting educators, professionals and students, and provides service opportunities for its members. The Lambda Xi chapter is advised by Assistant Professor Patty Cox, and hosted by the Department of Accounting in the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business.

The following students were inducted:

• Kristen Bellini
• Mariah Bishop
• Ray Brown
• Christina Byrd
• Marjorie Carney
• Johnathan Catlett
• Marie Daigle
• Rebecca Deitz
• Nicholas First
• Carter Hill
• Austin Hooper
• Quinn Kennedy
• Natalie Khouri
• Kristen Lober
• Carter McKaughn
• Andrew Nichols
• Alexander Reinhardt
• Katherine Sheridan
• Bradley Soule
• Michael Statile
• Kailen Zorzi

Hosted by the Department of Accounting in the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business, the Lambda Xi chapter encourages and recognizes scholastic and professional excellence in the business information field. 消消犯 who obtain full membership have maintained a 3.0 GPA overall, have at least a 3.0 GPA in an upper-level finance or accounting class and have been an associate member for one semester.

“We’re excited to have the new members join us, and we know that they are all equally excited to contribute to our chapter’s service goals and objectives this year,” said BAP President Nick Massey ’17. “As our numbers continue to grow, we look to build upon past success, measured both in service hours and opportunities for members to network and interact with practicing professionals.”

The student organization holds weekly meetings relevant to industry topics, connecting educators, professionals and students, and provides opportunities for members to provide service through tutoring and financial literacy programs, food drives and Habitat for Humanity. At the 2016 Beta Alpha Psi annual meeting, the Lambda Xi chapter was recognized as a “Superior” chapter, a status it has achieved consecutively for the last nine years.

The 2016-17 BAP officers are:

• Nicholas Massey, president
• Jonathon Cox, executive vice president
• Brian DiBiagio, treasurer
• Kristen Bellini, secretary
• Kailen Zorzi, service chair
• Ryan Shaw, special events chair
• Nicholas Ross, financial literacy chair

The chapter is advised by Assistant Professor Patty Cox.

Bellini and Byrd also participated in the BAP International Day of Literacy, which involved visiting Baltimore schools to distribute books and present about the importance of literacy.

“During the conference, I appreciated meeting students and faculty from around the U.S. and observing their commitment to having their chapters benefit students and impact their communities,” Byrd said. “Even though getting ahead may seem like the most important thing in business, it is extremely valuable to give back to communities that lack in education, such as those lacking in basic literacy. The day left a lasting impact on me as I met kids that were beyond excited to take home a book that belonged to them, something I had always taken for granted while growing up.”

Byrd also benefited from the day of service, calling it a highlight of the experience. “Not only did the conference provide me with information and guidance in my career path, it also encouraged me to see that we as business professionals are about serving others,” Byrd said.

The Lambda Xi chapter was recognized during the meeting for achieving Superior chapter status for the ninth consecutive year.

The meeting’s theme was “Unleash Our Potential,” and focused on encouraging scholastic, professional and leadership development. 消消犯 met members of other BAP chapters, heard from keynote speakers, and attended professional and chapter operations sessions.

The Elon chapter of Beta Alpha Psi chapter encourages and recognizes scholastic and professional excellence in the business information field. The organization hosts weekly activities relevant to industry topics and provides service opportunities for its members. The Lambda Xi chapter is hosted by the Department of Accounting in the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business.