{"id":464,"date":"2012-09-25T14:07:51","date_gmt":"2012-09-25T14:07:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scqa.hult.edu\/en\/news\/hult-labs\/2012\/september\/teaching-sales-one-door-at-a-time\/"},"modified":"2019-07-11T10:13:46","modified_gmt":"2019-07-11T10:13:46","slug":"teaching-sales-one-door-at-a-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hult.edu\/blog\/teaching-sales-one-door-at-a-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching Sales One Door at a Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

You may have thought door-to-door selling was all but dead. That may be mostly true, but at one business school – in this article on Inc.com <\/a>– it\u2019s at the heart of an annual competition that pitches teams against each other to see which one can sell the most\u2026dictionaries.<\/p>\n

The Acton School of Business<\/a>, based in Austin, TX, is a relatively new school that sprung from the desire of a group of entrepreneurs to create a business program that teaches the basic axioms of entrepreneurship, which they believe don\u2019t get taught in business programs. Said Professor Jeff Sandefer, \u201cWhen we started this program, I couldn\u2019t find a single M.B.A. program that taught anything about sales. Sales is seen as kind of the ugly stepchild of business.\u201d But it is seen, according to the school, as an integral part of a successful entrepreneur\u2019s skill set.<\/p>\n

The Acton Sales Challenge is part of the school\u2019s core curriculum. It requires small teams to sell a minimum of three dictionaries over three days. The dictionaries also happen to be priced higher than average \u2014 on purpose. Said Sandefer, \u201cIt\u2019s not the books; it\u2019s the pitch.\u201d The challenge is also intended to cull students from the program who may not have the tenacity and courage required to start and advance a new business venture. And another thing: students who don\u2019t meet the three-dictionary minimum during the challenge are \u201ckicked out\u201d of the program.<\/p>\n

Students face a lot of rejection along the way. A lot. And they learn to recalibrate approaches that don\u2019t work. Student Brad Holden completed the challenge earlier this year (his team knocked on 900 doors to sell 15 dictionaries) and said that ultimately he had to pitch a concept, not a dictionary. \u201cIf you say, \u2018Are you interested in a kids\u2019 dictionary?\u2019 they say no. But if you say, \u2018Are you interested in expanding your kid\u2019s vocabulary?\u2019 they say yes.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s something to be said for applying an old art in a new way to teach some hard but fundamentally valuable lessons. And one thing\u2019s for sure: students who go through the challenge won\u2019t balk at pitching to strangers again \u2014 not after 900 doors.<\/p>\n

Hult offers a range of highly skills-focused and employability-driven business school programs<\/a> including a range of MBA options and a comprehensive one year Masters in International Business<\/a>. To find out more, take a look at our blog From engineering to marketing: Why a job in sales can work for you<\/a>. Download a brochure or get in touch today to find out how Hult can help you to learn about the business world, the future, and yourself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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