February 20, 2024
Twilley students represent, reap awards at sales competition
Four students from the College of Business Twilley Sales Academy participated in the Selling with the Bulls, a sales competition sponsored by the University of South Florida Muma College of Business. The three-flight competition, The Toughest Test in Sales Education, spanned the entire sales process from prospecting (email, LinkedIn, voicemail, phone call) to networking, needs identification, and finally, the sales close.
Rodney Bonilla, Olivia Grubb, Phillip McCain, and Jacob Sblendorio from the Twilley Academy joined 120 competitors from 20 universities who competed in all events, which included 360 role plays (phone calls, discovery, and sales meetings) and 720 trade show / conference-style scheduled networking conversations. All activities were completed in 27 hours.
“Our team didn’t just participate,” said John Chapman, director, Twilley Academy. “We charged ahead with passion and competed, embodying the true spirit of the event. Shout out to the ECU Sales Students.”
And compete they did.
Grubb won second place in the second flight and finished in the top 10% in two of the three events.
McCain finished in the top 10% of the prospecting email competition. Bonilla finished in the top 10% for the networking event.
The entire team took third place in the second flight.
To encourage the students, COB alum Robert Twilley attended the last day of the competition, where he spent time coaching the students for the sales call portion of the competition.
“I am so proud of how our students competed and placed against other schools with well-established sales programs,” said Chapman. “This is a huge achievement for the Twilley Sales Academy, the College of Business, and ECU.”