Regional business owners were sold earlier this year when shown how the first Business and Healthcare Sales degree program in Iowa can save them up to two years of training newcomers to their sales force.
More than 150 people, including local and regional company representatives, attended an April celebration of the 3-year-old St. Ambrose University sales program. The hope was that business leaders previously unfamiliar with the growing SAU program would see the value in becoming internship partners, or, better still, eager employers of SAU sales grads.
It was an easy sell.
Eric Johannes, a Charles Schwab independent branch leader and financial consultant, said he quickly realized the impact the program and its graduates could have on his business.
"Our industry isn't specifically a sales environment, but we would be interested in a student who has good people, communication and sales skills. We can train people in the finance aspect of the business. I believe the ability to understand and relate to people is a greater asset to have," Johannes said.
Joseph Kehoe, director of the SAU Sales Center, said the program rapidly has become a clear asset for the community and region. Business leaders wholeheartedly agree.
Nearly 100 percent of program graduates have secured jobs with local, regional and global companies, including Deere & Company, HNI Corp., Cottingham and Butler, State Farm and more.
"When I heard this program was in our backyard, I wondered, ‘How quickly can I get ahold of Joe?'" said Dusty Brown, director of sales for Flex-Pack, a Midwest regional distributor of industrial packaging solutions, facility and safety supplies. "Sales is a skill. Having a professional education in that skill set is a huge competitive advantage."
Brown said 64 percent of people in the workforce held a sales position at some point in their career, but only 15 percent received any formal training.
More than 65 St. Ambrose students currently major or minor in sales.
Caroline Ruhl, a member of the SAU Board of Trustees and CEO and co-owner of Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors, is eager to put SAU sales grads to work.
"We are so excited because we are desperate for more sales people and to have students coming out of school who understand the value of sales, understand the importance of sales and who see it as a profession is just wonderful," she said.
Fellow Trustee Mark Kilmer, president of Republic Companies, said the program holds deep potential for the university and the regional business community.
"There is a great need to find young professionals who specialize in sales, and this is a perfect fit," he said. "Joe, John Byrne, Joe Miller and the Business Sales Department team have done a marvelous job matching the needs of the business community with the training required at a college level."
According to the Sales Education Foundation, the job placement rate for sales program graduates is more than 90 percent, compared to the national average of about 51 percent. And businesses and companies are clamoring to find people who are educated specifically in sales.
"It is very important to have a good foundation in marketing and advertising and the skills to attack a market," said Fastenal General Manager Brian Looney. "We know that to find the type of students we are looking for to fill positions, we need a sales program like the one at SAU and as a company, we need to get involved."
Fastenal has more than 2,000 locations worldwide and does about $5 billion in annual sales. "We are looking forward to getting to know the students better," Looney said.
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