Business Students Close the Deal at Sales Challenge

05/14/2025
By Ed Brennen

Deeyana Tourserkani had a lot of ground to cover with her client in the 10-minute meeting — saving for the kids’ education, planning for retirement, picking the right life insurance policy. So, after a few pleasantries, she got right down to business.

“I know in our last meeting you said you’d love to be on the beach with a piña colada someday, but could you put a number to how much you’d need to maintain your current lifestyle while still saving for that retirement that you envision?” Tourserkani asked as she opened her black leather folder brimming with Northwestern Mutual financial planning information.

Tourserkani wasn’t really selling 529 college savings plans and life insurance; she’s only a junior in the Manning School of Business. And her client, James Day, wasn’t really looking to buy; he actually works for Northwestern Mutual as a finance representative.

The “meeting” was part of the first-ever UMass Lowell Sales Challenge, a case competition hosted recently by the university’s fledgling Sales Hub at the Pulichino Tong Business Center. The daylong event featured 11 students from the Manning School’s Sales Team and 10 students from visiting Plymouth State University vying for cash prizes in role-play scenario and elevator pitch categories.

“Building professional sales skills is worthwhile, no matter what kind of business you’re in,” says Tourserkani, an honors finance and accounting student from Acton, Massachusetts, who serves as co-captain of the Sales Team. She was UML’s top finisher, winning $250 for placing third in the role-play competition.

The Manning School offers an undergraduate “Sales and Customer Relations” course, but it is looking to expand its sales curriculum, according to Professor Berk Talay, chair of the marketing, entrepreneurship and innovation (MEI) department.

“Our vision is to be the premier provider of sales education in our region,” says Talay, who notes that the school is developing a customer relationship management (CRM) course. A third sales course would allow the Manning School to be nationally accredited for sales education, he says.

The Sales Hub is sponsored by companies from a variety of fields, including ALKU and Black Diamond Networks (consulting and staffing), UKG (workforce management solutions), Fastenal (industrial and construction supplies) and Northwestern Mutual (financial services).

Besides financial support, the companies’ employees serve as judges and role-playing participants at case competitions hosted by schools — or by the companies themselves.

“We love being involved with the next generation of sales professionals, and we’re happy to be introduced to them as students, when we can help them determine what they’re looking for as they head into their full-time careers,” says Leah Palermo, director of campus recruiting and development for Northwestern Mutual. “We have great internship opportunities, and being involved in these competitions opens the door to meet more amazing students.”

Sales Team co-captain James Cordon, a senior marketing and accounting student from Brockton, Massachusetts, joined the team as a sophomore. In his first competition, hosted by ALKU at its headquarters in Andover, Massachusetts, Cordon finished in last place — but came away with a summer recruiting internship at the company.

“Coming back to school that fall, my passion for sales grew,” says Cordon, who as a junior won a competition at ALKU (earning $1,500) and took third (and $1,000) at another at Robert Morris University in Pennsylvania.

“Once I learned the sales process, it became a lot easier,” says Cordon, who “definitely” plans to work in sales after finishing his degree in December. “There’s a whole structure and framework to it that I find interesting.”

Mehar Rustogi, a senior marketing and management student from Los Angeles, finished second in the elevator pitch competition at UML (earning $100) and made it to the semifinal round of the role-play competition.

“I have a passion for sales. I’m the type of person to strike up a conversation with the person sitting next to me on the plane,” says Rustogi, who says the key to being a good salesperson is active listening. “Let them do more of the talking and ask open-ended questions to lead them to their pain point.”

Rustogi, a transfer student who will graduate in December, learned about the Sales Team while taking “New Product Development” with Visiting Faculty Lecturer Bill Phelps, the team’s advisor. Phelps joined UML in January of 2024 after a 25-year sales career, primarily in the engineering sector.

“It’s so much fun working with students and gearing them up to be professional salespeople,” says Phelps, who also sees the experience as a “huge win” for the company sponsors. “They're not spending time teaching them what it means to be a salesperson; they already know how to sell. Now, they just need to know what they're selling.”

The Sales Team, which has grown this year to around 20 members, meets at least once a week to practice their personal 60-second elevator pitches and review case studies from sponsors for upcoming competitions.

Victor Cardoso, a junior accounting and finance student from Dracut, Massachusetts, joined the team last fall to become a more articulate speaker. He won a speed-sell competition at ALKU earlier this year and made it to the final round of the role-playing competition at UML.

“It’s definitely been a confidence-booster for me,” he says. “There’s a lot of pressure in the competitions, speaking with the buyers one-on-one in front of judges, but it teaches you to think on your feet.”

The Sales Hub plans to host an elevator pitch competition in the fall.

“I would love to see more students join and go to more competitions next year,” says Tourserkani, the co-captain. “We’re all so much better communicators now than we were at the beginning of the semester. I know I’m a different person today.”