MTSU Center for Professional Selling accepted into national sales consortium

MTSU’s Center for Professional Selling within the Jennings A. Jones College of Business has been accepted as an associate member of the University Sales Center Alliance.

The USCA is a consortium of sales educators who are dedicated to advancing the sales profession through teaching, research, and outreach.

“The level of student engagement that USCA member schools provide their students ensures that those students are learning more than just content,” said USCA President Scott Inks. “Our USCA certification signals that a sales program is providing a much richer educational and developmental experience.”

The USCA consists of 62 universities from the U.S. and Europe dedicated to preparing students for success in professional sales roles. USCA says its sales centers offer students an unmatched combination of specialized sales courses, mentors, internships, and other forms of actual sales experience to help students learn, develop, and sharpen their sales skills.

Thom Coats

“MTSU is primarily a first-generation University. We know that by having the discipline to earn a degree our students should make a higher income, but if we can teach them how to sell then we have the opportunity to change family trees. How exciting is that?” said Thom Coats, professor of practice and director of the MTSU Center for Professional Selling.

MTSU’s Department of Marketing launched a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in professional selling in 2018, followed by the creation of an Office of Professional Selling that has been elevated to a center. Students within the program have access to the Mel Adams State Farm Agent Professional Sales Lab in the Business and Aerospace Building that allows them to practice real-world selling scenarios to hone their skills.

Students successfully completing these university programs have shorter ramp-up times and out-produce those without this sort of specialized preparation, according to USCA.