Leading Through Sales
Writer: Leah O. Editor: Grace C. and Ariana W.
Being an upperclassman, you start to evaluate your strengths and begin to prepare yourself for your anticipated graduation date, and that was no different for Zeta Tau Alpha (ZTA) sister, Kaylee M. Kaylee is graduating in these upcoming months from the Florida State University Sales Institute and is excited to take what she learned from the team to her future profession.
Kaylee is a Sales major and has been on the FSU Sales Team since the beginning of the semester. She has been a part of the Sales Institute the entire time she has been at Florida State, but just recently became a member of the prestigious team. At FSU, there are only 14 students on the team and three of the members are coaches that help guide the team to competitions around the country.
The team splits up periodically throughout the school year and competes in different areas of the country. The team travels anywhere from Louisiana to Maryland before the annual National Collegiate Sales Competition (NCSC), which showcases all of their hard work.
Although Kaylee hasn't been to a competition yet, she is looking forward to going to Maryland this year and competing for the first time.
When asked what exactly the competition consists of, she said, “From what my teammates have said, you travel to wherever the competition is held, there are a ton of networking events that go on, there are speed selling competitions, and then there is the actual competition.”
She went on to describe the premise of the competition is that all the students role play selling a product to a company, while responding to objections challenged by the judges to defend their product.
Kaylee emphasized the importance of this type of practice. It prepares her for a future career as a woman in sales, “Definitely the role-plays teach you a lot, it's like acting throughout, but at the same time just figuring out what a company's needs might be and then proposing the value to them of the solution that you have to offer with the product.”
Along with learning the physical aspects of being a salesperson, she's learned essential workplace skills from being involved in the team. Kaylee has learned how to prepare to be a professional, how to speak to someone high up in a company, being able to network, and dressing in business casual clothing. These are all things that she has acquired from the FSU Sales team that will help her in a career.
Despite her traveling team commitment, she also made it a priority to be involved in her Panhellenic chapter while at Florida State. Through her years in Zeta Tau Alpha, she has had many leadership positions: including serving as the Recruitment Board Leader, where she led a team of four chapter women throughout the process of Recruitment. She also served as the New Member Educator Assistant in 2020, where she helped plan Bid Day. And she held the position of Service Chair, where she planned Philanthropy events.
Being involved in a Panhellenic Chapter, you know that you have a whole community of encouraging women that are rooting for your success, and Kaylee has experienced that first-hand while being a senior in her chapter. Kaylee stays organized with her studies, ZTA, and The FSU Sales Team with schedules and calendars. Kaylee also stresses that she doesn't bite off more than she can chew and she has learned that saying no is sometimes the best thing for your own well-being.
One thing that she values about her experience in both ZTA and on the FSU Sales Team, is learning how to be a good teammate. Kaylee says, “We are all competing in these sales competitions but we are also competing against each other. But I think that having the competitive nature but also knowing that they are my teammates, and if someone does better than me I am still going to be positive and cheer them on because all in all we are a team.”
Kaylee stands as a good example for other chapter women to pursue something that they genuinely enjoy doing. Her commitment to ZTA and the FSU Sales Team is inspiring and she can thank the team for teaching her the essential information and being examples for what she wants to accomplish.