February 25, 2021
K-State Sales Team crowned 2021 Desert Cup champion at Arizona Collegiate Sales Competition
The Kansas State University Sales Team placed first out of 13 universities and was crowned the 2021 Desert Cup champion in the virtual Arizona Collegiate Sales Competition hosted by Arizona State University on Feb. 19-20.
The team consisted of Lydia Johnson, sophomore in professional strategic selling and Spanish, Prior Lake, Minnesota; Landen King, senior in professional strategic selling, Overland Park; Kara Krannawitter, senior in marketing and professional strategic selling, Lawrence; and Cecilia Nancarrow, senior in professional strategic selling, Overland Park.
The event consisted of a visume, speed-selling, and role-play competition. All participating students were required to submit a visume before the event. Johnson and Krannawitter were chosen to compete in the speed-selling competition. Nancarrow and King participated in the role-play competition.
In the visume competition, top-ranked visumes from each university were compared against each other. Nancarrow placed first out of 13 students in the visume competition. Johnson and Krannawitter advanced to the second round in the speed-selling competition, placing in the top 12 out of 24 student competitors. In the role-play competition, King advanced to the second round placing in the top 12 out of 25 competitors. Nancarrow advanced to the final round and tied for first place out of 25 competitors.
"I was very proud of the team’s performance in taking home the championship trophy," said Kellie Jackson, managing director of the National Strategic Selling Institute and sales team coach. "The team put a lot of hard work and dedication into this competition and I was glad to see if paid off. It was the last sales competition for both King and Krannawitter, so it was even better to see them end their undergraduate career with another accomplishment."
The K-State Sales Team is in the College of Business Administration’s National Strategic Selling Institute, which has been named one of the top sales programs in the country for nine straight years by the Sales Education Foundation. The team consists of students who are enrolled in the certificate or major in professional strategic selling. In fall 2018, Kansas State became just the 19th university in the U.S. to offer a major in professional strategic selling. Students can also earn a certificate in professional strategic selling, which is open to all majors at the university. The professional strategic selling program introduces students to the fundamentals of sales and its innovative curriculum and sales labs allow students to develop the skills needed to be successful.
The K-State Sales Team will be competing in several competitions throughout the school year across the country. For more information on the National Strategic Selling Institute or the K-State Sales Team, please contact kstatesalesprogram@k-state.edu.