Sales Academy: A Great Resume Builder
By Kelli Ray
The Indiana University Sport Marketing Alliance gives its members a very unique opportunity that IU students cannot find everywhere. It is known as the Sales Academy, and it is a great resume builder. The Sales Academy takes place at Assembly Hall every Friday afternoon at 2:30 pm. IUSMA members get the chance to learn and experience cold sales calls for the IU sports ticket office. Members of the Sales Academy spend an hour every Friday selling IU Men’s Basketball season tickets to the university’s students as well as other various football and basketball ticket packages.
Ross Gaddy, a former IUSMA member who now works for IU Athletics, set up this awesome opportunity for the IUSMA. Gaddy says, “The Sales Academy is very beneficial for both the IUSMA and IU Athletics. The members of the academy are getting much needed sales experience, and by getting this sales experience, the members are getting a step up on all of the other people.” That statement is very true, being able to have sales experience on your resume is very important. Sales is going to be used in pretty much any job that a person could apply for and being able to say that you have cold call experience gives you the step up on the competition. I asked Gaddy if he was surprised by the turnout, he responded “I really didn’t know what to expect with the turnout because we were asking people to work for free, but on average we are getting about 15-17 people per session, which is great.” I personally have been a part of the Sales Academy and I think that it has been a great experience and a great resume builder. Being able to take an hour of my week and put it towards sales calls has been an experience I have learned a lot from.
The IUSMA also makes commissions off each sale that is made during the Sales Academy. This money goes to help pay for networking trips and will also be used to bring in more guest speakers like Darren Heitner and Ben Sturner. The Sales Academy is an awesome opportunity for the IUSMA members and I highly recommend trying it out some Friday afternoon. If anyone is interested look for the email reminders from Holly and get involved. The hour of cold call sales is definitely worth it for the experience that you get!
Ross Gaddy, a former IUSMA member who now works for IU Athletics, set up this awesome opportunity for the IUSMA. Gaddy says, “The Sales Academy is very beneficial for both the IUSMA and IU Athletics. The members of the academy are getting much needed sales experience, and by getting this sales experience, the members are getting a step up on all of the other people.” That statement is very true, being able to have sales experience on your resume is very important. Sales is going to be used in pretty much any job that a person could apply for and being able to say that you have cold call experience gives you the step up on the competition. I asked Gaddy if he was surprised by the turnout, he responded “I really didn’t know what to expect with the turnout because we were asking people to work for free, but on average we are getting about 15-17 people per session, which is great.” I personally have been a part of the Sales Academy and I think that it has been a great experience and a great resume builder. Being able to take an hour of my week and put it towards sales calls has been an experience I have learned a lot from.
The IUSMA also makes commissions off each sale that is made during the Sales Academy. This money goes to help pay for networking trips and will also be used to bring in more guest speakers like Darren Heitner and Ben Sturner. The Sales Academy is an awesome opportunity for the IUSMA members and I highly recommend trying it out some Friday afternoon. If anyone is interested look for the email reminders from Holly and get involved. The hour of cold call sales is definitely worth it for the experience that you get!
