February 9, 2025

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Sales students gain real-world experience through innovative business partnership

Sales students gain real-world experience through innovative business partnership

Students stand in a factory room.

Students visited Total Plastics, International to learn about the product they would be selling for their class project.

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—It’s not often college students leave a final exam with a job offer, but Dr. Sakif Amin‘s upper level sales course isn’t a typical class. 

“This course confirmed my love for sales and has made me ecstatic to start my career,” says Allie Joyner, a sales and business marketing student. “Professor Amin challenged me and pushed me outside of my comfort zone, which played a huge part in my professional development.”

A student gives a presentation at a table.

Allie Joyner makes her sales pitch to Dr. Sakif Amin and representatives from TPI.

For more than two years, Amin has partnered with an industry-leading plastics supplier Total Plastics, International (TPI) to give students in Western Michigan University’s Haworth College of Business a hands-on opportunity to develop their selling skills over the course of a semester.

“Through experiential learning, I aim to be the bridge between the learner and the learning, empowering each student to engage deeply with the material and with each other while cultivating skills that extend beyond the classroom,” he says.

The approach is paying off.

“The opportunity to go beyond the textbook and be offered real-world experiences will be something that heavily contributed to my professional development as I believed it contributed to a turning point in my learning here at Western,” says Joyner.

Experience-driven learning

At the beginning of the semester, students are introduced to a TPI product they will eventually be tasked with selling to a customer. In fall 2024, this product was a type of window for Amtrak trains. Students spent the semester researching it, role-playing cold calls and doing discovery, and learning about communication and relationship-building.

A student holds a piece of thick plastic.

A student gets a closer look at a TPI product.

“After weeks of hard work and practicing selling techniques, students go on a factory tour and see firsthand how this product is built, and that really helps them paint a picture of how things work rather than seeing something online, downloading it and attempting to sell it,” Amin says.

The course culminates in a final sales meeting where students play the role of a TPI sales representative looking to sell Amtrak officials—played by Amin and TPI employees—on the product. They create spreadsheets, share detailed information about the product and field concerns about potential challenges from the client with the goal of closing the deal.

“This experience has been invaluable in enhancing my selling skills, from understanding customer needs to crafting tailored solutions,” says sales and business marketing student Demi Hirschfield. “I am extremely grateful for the sales program at WMU and my amazing professors and classmates who have made the experience so rewarding.”

“What sets this class apart from others that I have taken is the hands-on, real-world scenario and experiences it brings to the table,” adds Joyner, who also was given a direct connection to TPI’s hiring manager. “Having (employees) from TPI present during my final sales presentation was one of the best opportunities I have had a class provide me thus far. I am extremely grateful.”

A TPI employee hands a student a piece of plastic material.

Scott Dukesherer, TPI general manager, shows a student material used to make a product.

It’s a win for students who leave the course better prepared to enter the workforce as well as equipped with a recording of their final presentation to include in their resume portfolio.

“What better way to interview a sales student for a position than to see them doing the role-play in person?” Amin says.

And for some students, like Hirschfield and Joyner, it’s an opportunity to create career-building connections.

“I was offered an opportunity to call TPI directly about a potential internship or position with the company on the spot after my presentation,” Joyner says. “I worked extremely hard in preparation for my presentation, and it was a very rewarding feeling to know that my performance earned me a call with the company.

Sealing the deal

Jeff Wilson, TPI inside sales manager, was among those in the room for the most recent round of final presentations.

“Selling isn’t really that hard, but being a salesperson can be. It takes a certain personality, a certain type of communicator to establish that relationship and rapport needed, and I can definitely see it in some of these students I saw today,” he says. “I can tell there is a sales process that’s being taught here that actually is having some real-world impact.”

Wilson and colleague Nolan Lohroff, B.B.A.’24, an account manager at TPI, were so impressed with some students that they put them in contact with their hiring manager on the spot. It was a full circle moment for Lohroff, who was in the same position just a year before.

“I empathize and sympathize with everybody who comes in and does a presentation, because that was me,” he says. “It’s nerve-wracking and you spend lots of time preparing, but the more excellent experience you can get before you go out into the real world is extremely beneficial. It’s set me and my coworkers who have come from the program up to be successful.”

Four people walk down an aisle in a factory.

Haley Hall, Abby Kovacevich, Nolan Lohroff and Steven Pyne, all Broncos hired by TPI, walk through the company’s facility.

In fact, Lohroff is one of four Western students hired by TPI as a result of the marketing course. Steven Pyne, B.B.A.’23, is the company’s business development manager, while Haley Hall and Abby Kovacevich—both on track to graduate from Western this spring—were hired as interns and transitioned into part-time inside sales representatives.

“The course really set us up well,” says Hall. “It was very impactful to be so hands on. I was able to understand sales more and really grasp the concept of it compared to hypotheticals.”

“I felt like we almost had a small step ahead of other students” heading into the workforce, adds Kovacevich. “We already had an understanding of the company and knew some of the employees, so it made for a really easy transition.”

Scott Dukesherer, TPI general manager, has already seen his investment in Western students pay dividends. 

“Nolan was my first hire out of the program, and he’s an absolute rockstar,” he says. “We landed a million-dollar marine account in Louisiana, and Abby was part of that. Abby literally made contact with them the first time; she developed a relationship with the VP of sales. … That’s a huge win.”

Dukesherer says having a pipeline of capable students familiar with TPI products is invaluable for his company as it looks to expand its sales force. 

“It’s just an incredible foundation you get here at Western that sets students up for success,” Lohroff says, echoing 100% of sales and business marketing graduates who feel their education and experiences as a student at WMU prepared them for their profession, according to the WMU 2022-23 Career Outcomes Report.

Joyner is well on her way to follow in other sales Broncos’ footsteps. After a successful call with TPI, she’s being connected with managers at the company’s locations in Kalamazoo; Knoxville, Tennessee; and Tampa, Florida, for potential full-time positions after graduation.

“Over the course of the class, I believe I grew a tremendous amount as a student and professional due to the standards that were held along with the performance tasks we had to complete,” she says. “Before this course, standing in front of a company and presenting a product made me nervous. After completing it, I am confident in my skills to speak with companies and know that I have the tools to succeed in the field of sales.”

For more WMU news, arts and events, visit WMU News online.

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