University of Toledo students ranked among the top contenders during the 10th Annual UToledo Invitational Sales Competition in February.
Maxwell Shelton and Lauren Dempsey ranked second out of more than three dozen teams challenged to “sell” a product in a series of role-play scenarios evaluated by corporate and faculty judges. They and other teams who had traveled to UToledo from colleges and universities across the country also earned points for engaging in a social media competition and other elements of the three-day event that included development sessions, networking opportunities, a career fair and more.
Front, Lauren Dempsey, a freshman in the College of Business, and Maxwell Shelton, a junior studying management, hold the awards they received at the the 10th Annual UToledo Invitational Sales Competition in February. Behind them are, from left, Dr. Ellen Pullins, a professor of marketing and the Schmidt Research Professor of Sales and Sales Management; teammates Ben Doenecke, Mohammad Almasri, Brooke McBee, Rachel Stapleton and Emily Moeller; and Dr. Katy Gilstrap, an associate professor of marketing and the Schmidt Fellow of Professional Sales and Sales Management. McBee a professional sales senior, earned the most reactions for her social media posts engaging sponsors to win the social media competition.
Shelton, a junior studying management with a minor in professional sales, came in second place overall among juniors, while Dempsey, a pre-business freshman, came in second overall among freshman and sophomores. Dempsey also earned points as the overall most engaged competitor, clinching the top spot through a tie-breaking vote by sponsors.
Brooklynn McBee, a professional sales senior, earned the most reactions for her social media posts engaging sponsors to win the social media competition.
McBee participated in the competition as a peer coach to the two-person team of Shelton and Dempsey. She was one of several students and faculty who prepared the students, including alternate Mohammad Almasri, additional peer coaches Ben Doenecke, Emily Moeller and Rachel Stapleton, and faculty coaches Dr. Ellen Pullins, a professor of marketing and the Schmidt Research Professor of Sales and Sales Management, and Dr. Katy Gilstrap, an associate professor of marketing and the Schmidt Fellow of Professional Sales and Sales Management.
The 2025 UToledo Invitational Sales Competition ran Thursday, Feb. 20, to Saturday, Feb. 22. Organized by the Edward H. Schmidt School of Professional Sales in the John B. and Lillian E. Neff College of Business and Innovation, it is the first and only national sales competition exclusively for non-seniors and the first national sales competition to be certified by the University Sales Center Alliance.
For more information, go to the UToledo Invitational Sales Competition website.
link