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- Creators: Barrett, The Honors College
- Member of: Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
- Resource Type: Text
Description
After freelancing on my own for the past year and a half, I have realized that one of the biggest obstacles to college entrepreneurs is a fear or apprehension to sales. As a computer science major trying to sell my services, I discovered very quickly that I had not been prepared for the difficulty of learning sales. Sales get a bad rap and very often is the last thing that young entrepreneurs want to try, but the reality is that sales is oxygen to a company and a required skill for an entrepreneur. Due to this, I compiled all of my knowledge into an e-book for young entrepreneurs starting out to learn how to open up a conversation with a prospect all the way to closing them on the phone. Instead of starting from scratch like I did, college entrepreneurs can learn the bare basics of selling their own services, even if they are terrified of sales and what it entails. In this e-book, there are tips that I have learned to deal with my anxiety about sales such as taking the pressure off of yourself and prioritizing listening more than pitching. Instead of trying to teach sales expecting people to be natural sales people, this e-book takes the approach of helping entrepreneurs that are terrified of sales and show them how they can cope with this fear and still close a client. In the future, I hope young entrepreneurs will have access to more resources that handle this fear and make it much easier for them to learn it by themselves. This e-book is the first step.
ContributorsMead, Kevin Tyler (Author) / Sebold, Brent (Thesis director) / Kruse, Gabriel (Committee member) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
This paper explores the intersection between principles of Information Measurement Theory (IMT) and sales techniques to identify a best value approach for sales professionals. Developed at Arizona State University and supported by numerous academic publications, IMT is a thinking paradigm that utilizes deductive logic and reasoning to understand how the world works and identify best value practices that minimize risk, decision making, and stress. One core concept of IMT is that individuals have no influence on the people around them, an idea that directly contradicts with traditional beliefs of the sales industry. The goal of this paper is to understand the qualities that make a sales professional successful from an IMT perspective, while outlining best value practices to apply in the real world. Comparison research for the sales industry was conducted by analyzing classic and modern sales literature, author participation in an industry-leading, professional sales training program, and input from sales professionals. The analysis identifies how top sales experts utilize techniques that allow them to efficiently uncover dominant information about their prospects' needs and then use that information to sell a valuable product to their customers. The analysis also outlines the common personality traits amongst well-aligned sales professionals. By adopting the practices and thinking paradigms outlined in this paper, individuals can maximize their potential in a sales career.
ContributorsFrelka, Benjamin (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
The purpose of this research is to define significant explanatory factors behind gendered differences in career expectations. The data was collected through a survey that was administered to undergraduate and graduate students who are in the beginning stages of their career development. The questions in the survey focused on determining the expectations that college aged men and women have for their future careers on a subjective and objective basis. In addition, the questions were intended to determine gender differences in four explanatory factors including personality, core self-evaluations, work life values, and gender fatigue. Findings from the study coincide with previous research in that women indicated lower career expectations on a monetary and hierarchical basis in the short term and at the peak of their career. The difference in expectations were found to be significantly correlated with gender differences in extroversion levels, beta work values, and gender fatigue, all of which are internal influences that help to explain the current gap in career expectations, and thus the gap in men and women's eventual compensation and advancement. The findings from the study also help to show that different expectations are caused by differences in how people define success. Implications for these findings can be looked at from two different perspectives. For decades, feminist movements were the approach, and equality was the goal. Now that our society claims gender equality, we are at a standstill in progression, even though there are still clear gaps in compensation and leadership positions. This research can be helpful for not only universities advising future graduates, but also companies currently seeking future employees. Recommendations for future direction are based on the findings from the study and the responses of the individuals.
ContributorsHaechler, Amaelia Josephine (Author) / LePine, Marcie (Thesis director) / Kalika, Dale (Committee member) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
The rising age of the Baby Boomer generation has made a significant impact on the workforce, leaving leadership gaps that Generation X is unable to fill. This leaves an opportunity for the Millennial generation to step up and use their strengths and skills to become stronger leaders of the business and sales industry.
To bridge the gap between the growing sales industry there is the ability to properly train Millennials so they are successful and stay within their roles longer. By attacking this problem from a university level by strengthening sales programs as well as having employers understand and respond to needs of the Millennial generation, this will create an overall successful Millennial salesperson that will stay with their employer long term.
Strengths and weaknesses of this generation are also important to understand. Millennials are known to be tech-savvy, open-minded, collaborative, and connected, resourceful networkers. They also carry weaknesses and stereotypes of being lazy, lacking communication skills, impatient, entitled, and demanding of feedback and work flexibility. From an employer, they expect a large salary as well as a good culture, manager feedback, a mentor, work-life integration, an employer with a social responsibility mindset, and a sense of purpose.
An analysis of 12 sales programs at various universities across the country helped to understand what is being taught and offered to students as well as commonalities and differences that make a strong sales program. Commonalities among these programs include, about 250+ students, high job placement, sales labs, hosting and competing in sales competitions, and a desire to expand and grow their programs. Unique aspects of various programs were partnerships with the sales industry, hosting fundraisers, student ambassadors for the sales program, CRM courses, and internships and competition requirements.
Primary research was conducted to understand various sales development programs from companies in the sales industry. The 12 companies that participated in this research were from Arizona State University’s Sales Advisory Board. These companies completed a survey that provided detailed information of their onboarding and training process as well as their opinions of Millennial employees.
From this research, recommendations were formed for employers,
• creating a collaborative and innovative culture
• A mentorship program
• work flexibility
• continuous learning
• sense of purpose
As for Arizona State’s Sales Program, recommendations include,
• a mentorship program between Sales Scholars and the Sales Advisory Board
• creating a sales lab
• implementing CRM curriculum in classes
• continued support from the Board and alumni of the sales program
To bridge the gap between the growing sales industry there is the ability to properly train Millennials so they are successful and stay within their roles longer. By attacking this problem from a university level by strengthening sales programs as well as having employers understand and respond to needs of the Millennial generation, this will create an overall successful Millennial salesperson that will stay with their employer long term.
Strengths and weaknesses of this generation are also important to understand. Millennials are known to be tech-savvy, open-minded, collaborative, and connected, resourceful networkers. They also carry weaknesses and stereotypes of being lazy, lacking communication skills, impatient, entitled, and demanding of feedback and work flexibility. From an employer, they expect a large salary as well as a good culture, manager feedback, a mentor, work-life integration, an employer with a social responsibility mindset, and a sense of purpose.
An analysis of 12 sales programs at various universities across the country helped to understand what is being taught and offered to students as well as commonalities and differences that make a strong sales program. Commonalities among these programs include, about 250+ students, high job placement, sales labs, hosting and competing in sales competitions, and a desire to expand and grow their programs. Unique aspects of various programs were partnerships with the sales industry, hosting fundraisers, student ambassadors for the sales program, CRM courses, and internships and competition requirements.
Primary research was conducted to understand various sales development programs from companies in the sales industry. The 12 companies that participated in this research were from Arizona State University’s Sales Advisory Board. These companies completed a survey that provided detailed information of their onboarding and training process as well as their opinions of Millennial employees.
From this research, recommendations were formed for employers,
• creating a collaborative and innovative culture
• A mentorship program
• work flexibility
• continuous learning
• sense of purpose
As for Arizona State’s Sales Program, recommendations include,
• a mentorship program between Sales Scholars and the Sales Advisory Board
• creating a sales lab
• implementing CRM curriculum in classes
• continued support from the Board and alumni of the sales program
ContributorsQuinn, Jacklyn Michelle (Author) / Montoya, Detra (Thesis director) / Dietrich, John (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Becoming good at selling is a nuanced skill. Many pivotal techniques are often not communicated properly in the training and onboarding phases, leaving many members of the sales force "crippled" before they even get into the field. We set out to discern the "best practices" of selling, and the underlying causes as to why they work. Through meticulous research obtained via study of experiments, sourced articles and other academic papers we compiled a thorough outline detailing the most efficient ways to build a relationship with the buyer and close the sale. From there we discussed the methodology to implement those skills into a complete sales training program. This paper serves as an informational guide to the necessary skills to complete a sale and how to train for those skills.
ContributorsSweeney, Connor (Co-author) / Reid, Tyler (Co-author) / Dietrich, John (Thesis director) / Ostrom, Lonnie (Committee member) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
The millennial generation is quickly solidifying its place as the dominate generation within the workforce. As millennials transition through workplace hierarchy it is essential organizations understand how to properly develop incoming talent. This is especially important within sales as the opportunity cost for hiring and developing new sales professionals is much higher compared to other professions. Downward trends in millennial retention rates is also a strong contributing factor to the importance of understanding the millennial generation. This paper aims to identify key concepts and elements employers should incorporate into their sales training programs in order to better develop millennials entering sales roles. Through an analysis of each generation and sales training a clear framework will be identified to achieve this goal. Analyzing millennials unique strengths and weaknesses will provide the basis for the key areas employers need to focus on when designing their sales development programs. The framework identified is easily adaptable within any organizations as the concepts discussed can be universally applied.
ContributorsStensland, Zachary William (Author) / Montoya, Detra (Thesis director) / Schlacter, John (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
This thesis presents a single source of what students may do during and soon after college to succeed in their careers. It shows what certain steps students should take to increase chances of success and to avoid unnecessary repetition of others' steps and mistakes. One's first full-time work position can be overwhelming and frightening, and navigating a wide variety of resources in addition to all the individual preparation required to begin a position can be a major time waste that increases the overwhelmed feelings. This thesis provides a trustworthy source that pools the outside information and also presents new and valuable data, enabling the avoidance repetition of others' overwhelming experiences. Although every person's experience is different and may require different actions, the information presented allows an understanding of steps and ideas one may benefit from implementing to guarantee or work toward greater success after college. The methods utilized to obtain the information presented are discussed and followed by the key points for students to understand. An appendix follows the bibliography and presents a list of the main directives to students/graduates from each section to enable easy access and understanding.
ContributorsCowsert, Kristin Mikelle (Author) / Van Fleet, David (Thesis director) / West, Mindy (Committee member) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
The Barrett Honors College thesis project is a chance to discover and research a topic that students are truly passionate about, and then share the findings with the Barrett community. The process of brainstorming project ideas and ultimately deciding on a topic is one, which is filled with excitement and curiosity. The topic that is chosen for current research identifies whether career and life satisfaction are competing or complementary factors for executives. The primary reason this particular topic has been selected for the honors thesis is because of the initial interest regarding achieving family and work-life balance in the professional world. The report focuses on the research proposal, methodology of conducting surveys and forming a strong research question, results from statistical analysis, and the implications of this study. As part of the brainstorming process, it is important to understand not only what students' perceptions are of achieving family and work-life balance, but also the American societal stigma of "having it all." After conducting significant research regarding career, family and balancing the two, it is evident that there are societal as well as cultural differences concerning career and personal lifestyle satisfaction. The purpose of this study is to further explore how executives today view the world in terms of overall satisfaction regarding various aspects of their lives including: relationships, family, work hours, vacation and balance, and to determine which factors are most influential in predicting satisfaction. In addition to this, it is also important to evaluate how the results from this research compare to the perceptions existing in modern day society about achieving both career and personal balance.
ContributorsShukla, Shruti (Co-author) / Smith, Erika (Co-author) / Dawson, Greg (Thesis director) / Moser, Kathleen (Committee member) / Dong, Su (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
Workers in sales roles are often faced with a large number of time management decisions on a daily basis. Sales people must choose where they should be spending their time in order to create revenue while also maintaining a healthy work-life balance. In this thesis project, a sales process is analyzed to see if there is an opportunity to increase both revenue and work-life balance. This paper investigates a wholesale insurance brokerage company, Risk Placement Services, and their sales force of brokers. A significant portion of these brokers’ workday consists of the backend task of marketing accounts to insurance carriers to find coverage. This is necessary for the completion of the sales cycle but either limits the amount of time brokers can be out on the road or on calls trying to bring in new business or makes them work longer off the clock hours to get these accounts out to insurance carriers. The more business a broker is bringing in, the more time they have to spend marketing these new accounts to carriers, which puts them into a constant snowball of increasing tasks and goals. The main model for the analysis of this problem will be Reframing Organizations by Bolman & Deal which focuses on using their four-frame model to analyze and gain more insight into organizations. Being able to understand this problem from multiple perspectives will allow a more holistic solution to be reached. Following this analysis multiple potential solutions are discussed towards the end of this thesis project.
ContributorsWard, James Henry (Author) / deLusé, Stephanie (Thesis director) / Thomas, Ash (Committee member) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
The insurance industry consists of financial advisors planning for individual’s financial future through defensive investments that will payout in case of something happening to a person’s greatest asset—themselves. Each financial advisor is mandated to pass a professional exam to receive their license in order to take in clients in each state. There is a process in which clients are serviced and sold on different products of insurance. Advisors need to consider client needs and service them with products are in their best interest and within financial reason. <br/> To sell a product you must have clients, and the way that financial advisor receive clients are generally through two ways: company provided or their own connections. At the end of the day, the goal is to get in front of more people and expand you circle. In that sense, there are two common way people address this expansion of circles and that is build relationships versus networking. The goal of this paper is to dive deep in the insurance industry and analyze the sales process when comparing the difference in selling through building relationships versus selling through networking.<br/> The research plan I have in mind start from researching background and history, to current practices environment, to method process solutions. In the initial stages of my research, I will focus on background and history of the financial services industry in terms of sales and insurance. This will address insurance sales processes in the financial services industry and its features as well as benefits. After explaining the step by step process and potential results of the sales process in the insurance industry, I will start researching current environments of the industry. This will explain the history, key theoretical elements, and significant events of the industry. <br/> The history of the background will set stage for me to address situational challenges in the business based on my own experience to which I will do research to find plausible sales process solutions when comparing relationship sales to networking sales. This research will then be synthesized with my own experimental solutions as I work in the industry, which will help me complete chapter 4 and 5 of my theses – Methods and Execution of Results.
ContributorsSkelnik, Eason John (Author) / Byrne, Jared (Thesis director) / Desiderio, Jake (Committee member) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05