It’s easy to identify Acton’s most sacred traditions if you visit campus, because those highly-valued aspects of the school’s culture are literally part of the architecture. Carved in stone, etched in glass, hung from the ceiling, Acton’s mission, supporters, and rules of engagement are prominently and permanently displayed. As a student, there are only a few ways to get your name on a wall: You can win one of two coveted end-of-year awards…or you can be on the team that wins the Sales Challenge.

The Acton MBA curriculum is unique for its emphasis on first-class hands-on learning and simulations, and the Sales Challenge, which annually kicks off second semester, is one of the most powerful of these, and the only one whose victors are memorialized on the campus.

It’s difficult to discuss the Sales Challenge without sharing specifics or strategies with future competitors, but in brief, the class is split into teams and must sell items door-to-door. The team that sells the most product wins. Sounds simple, but in reality the Challenge is a divining rod, surfacing each student’s deeply held beliefs about sales and entrepreneurship, rejection and self-worth.

The Class of 2012 Sales Challenge winners were Kyle Davis, Brad Holden, Evan Sekulic, Richard Ure, and Evan Van Ness. Their rallying cry, crafted by Brad, was “Activity is the antidote to fear.” Here are some of their thoughts post-Challenge:

Brad’s quote really set the tone for the week. We decided that since we didn’t know what we were doing we better start right away so we had more time to iterate and find out what works! –Evan S.

We definitely tried to keep a positive attitude…We also eventually tried to help each person find their niche in selling, and we found that we all had different styles and beliefs that made us most effective in different situations…My biggest lesson learned was probably to watch any salesman in action before I hire them. –Evan V.

My main goal with the sales challenge was to play full out. I wanted to make sure that I was different at the end of the challenge as compared to when I started. I accomplished that!…Top lesson learned: We all improved immensely as the event went on. I attribute that to our positive attitude and our willingness to keep trying new things. It was a great experience! –Brad H.

Congratulations to the 2012 champions!

Sales Challenge Retrospective: One Year Later

The lessons learned from the Sales Challenge stick with you, whether you were on a winning team or not. Here’s what members of the Class of 2011 have to say, one year later.

It has helped me to be less scared of the prospect of sales, specifically cold sales. Perhaps more important for me, since I am not currently in a sales role, it increased my comfort with failure. I don’t think I have ever failed so hard, repeatedly, and consistently with something as I did with the sales challenge. But, as I went along, each failure bothered me less and less. … My top lesson learned was that you CANNOT let failure in sales affect your self esteem. I did so early, and I think it stayed with me. If I had to do sales for a job, that simply wouldn’t be an option. And when I one day start a business of my own, letting my failure to sell affect my self esteem is simply not an option. When it’s my business, I have to continue to believe in myself and my product, because it’s my product… If I let sales rejection affect me, my whole venture is doomed. I have to rely on my opportunity analysis and keep my head up, knowing that I will find customers who have a need for my product. –Nick Dyer

It has given me a benchmark to compare difficulty of sales processes. I sell intricate software packages, and when I get “down” on my sales process, I remember the sales challenge and how difficult it was. –Chase Nall

Top lesson learned [was] emotional control: It was humbling to be talked down to by so many people and frustrating…I had to press on to the next door regardless of how I felt post rejection. –Sam Whiteside

It taught me that behavior drives attitude. No matter how scared you are to knock on a door or make a phone call, if you push yourself to do it enough it will eventually not be scary anymore…I learned the importance of customer qualification and how a strong qualifying or disqualifying process can really focus and improve your sales efforts. –Charlie Nettles

[I’m] more apt to experiment when selling. [Top lesson learned is] the need for technique rather than shooting from the hip. –Dave Michaels

Targeting your sales funnel is better than being really persuasive. Great marketing leads to great buying discussions. I sold door-to-door for years as a Boy Scout so this was familiar territory, but not with such an expensive product. I thought I’d be good at it, but it was hard at first…took me a while to get back in the rhythm of selling. –Trafton Esler

It’s helped me get a little more comfortable presenting my business ideas to potential customers and business partners. It got me used to feeling nervous beforehand and during – yet still doing it…It is okay to feel nervous and uncomfortable when selling something. But that doesn’t mean it’s not something worth selling or that I can’t sell it. –Anonymous

Tags: Acton Alumni, Class of 2011, Class of 2012, Curriculum, Sales Challenge, Simulations

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