April 10, 2018 - Caroline Brooks and Allyson Hamzey
Michigan State University came out on top at the 2018 National Collegiate Sales Competition, or NCSC, in Kennesaw, Georgia. Not only did the MSU team take the overall team championship, but marketing senior Heidi Surdyk won the individual national championship.
MSU and Surdyk outpunched 144 competitors from 72 universities across the country, representing the nation’s top sales programs. NCSC is the oldest and most prestigious university sales competition in the world.
“NCSC did a fantastic job in creating a challenging, yet realistic, sales environment,” said Surdyk. “I am so grateful that I attend a university that gives me the opportunities to take part in life-altering experiences like the NCSC, and the experiences and memories I gained this past week will stay with me forever.”
MSU’s sales program has participated in this competition since 2009. Surdyk’s win is the second MSU individual championship in three years (Photo: The 2018 national championship team (L-R): Keegan Dashner, Selma Kijamet, Valerie Good (coach), Heidi Surdyk (individual champion), and Alyssa Cutcher).
Semi-finalist Selma Kijamet, who placed fifth overall in the individual competition, and team coach Valerie Good each contributed to the MSU’s victory, as well as alternates Alyssa Cutcher and Keegan Dashner.
Students from the program also compete annually in another prestigious team-selling competition – the National Team Selling Competition, or NTSC – at Indiana University, winning the competition five times since 2008.
“Coming on the heels of MSU’s national championship in the National Team Selling Competition, this victory burnishes our reputation as one of the nation’s very top sales programs. Only one other university besides MSU has won both of these competitions ever, and never before has this occurred in the same year,” said Doug Hughes, chairperson of the Department of Marketing in the Eli Broad College of Business and United Shore Endowed Faculty Fellow in Sales Leadership.
Via MSU Today.