When I graduated in may of 2019, I started my first job out of college as a field sales consultant with
Henry Schein, the largest distributor of health care products in the world. I work selling all the equipment you would find in a dentist’s office.
I was only two weeks into my new role, and my manager had been accompanying me to sales calls for guidance. I had scheduled with a dentist to pitch our product line, but when I arrived, I learned my manager was running late.
At first, I was nervous. I didn’t want to lose such a large opportunity, but I had just started my job and was still learning. Walking in with my manager sometimes gives me more credibility, so not having him there made me uneasy.
As the clock ticked away, I came to the conclusion I had no choice but to go in alone. I knew the half hour the dentist had carved out for me was not flexible, so I had to go into the meeting, manager or no manager. I took a deep breath and decided to rely on myself.
I walked into his office and sat down. Amazingly, everything I had learned from the University of Dayton sales program came flooding back to me. I was comfortable, confident and assured with the knowledge I had learned through UD's Talarico Center for Professional Selling. All I did was trust the consultative selling process I had been taught. In trusting that, I uncovered the practice’s strengths and weaknesses, and I found opportunities to grow top line revenue for my company.
At the end, the dentist agreed to switch his full merchandise business over to me. I was ecstatic. My education and training had come through.
This was a “win” for me because this success was something I was not expecting for months, if not a year into the job. When my manager arrived, he was pretty impressed.
I can say with confidence that if it wasn’t for the education, training and exposure to the sales process I received at Dayton, I don’t think I would have been able to accomplish what I did.
The University of Dayton’s sales program is special. It breeds uncommon success and turns education into results. I am forever indebted to the faculty who took the time to teach me everything I know about the sales process, and I cannot wait to see fellow graduates have these same
successes.