Mumbai: Seven students from SVKM’s NMIMS School of Branding and Advertising (SoBA) have been selected for the upcoming National Shore Sales Challenge (NSSC), one of the best-known global student sales championships, organised by the Mid-Atlantic Sales and Marketing Institute, Salisbury University, USA. The seven students, Ileeshaa Bandi, Drishti Grover, Shreya Sanghvi, Daksh Kumar, Krishna Dhawan, Sowmya Iyer, and Chitra Mehra, are the only Indian entrants for the contest. Spread over three days, the challenge will include two intensely competitive events, role-play (the main event) and speed-selling. While all the seven contestants will take part in the speed-selling competition, two of them, Ileeshaa Bandi and Drishti Grover will also participate in the highly-regarded role-play competition. The competition will take place from March 25^th to 27^th, 2021.

Commenting on the students’ achievement, Dr Mukesh Sharma, Dean, NMIMS School of Branding and Advertising, said, “At NMIMS School of Branding and Advertising, we have always ensured that our students are provided with a platform for international exposure in media and sales practices. Contests such as the prestigious NSSC provides a golden opportunity for our students to compete with their peers from across the globe, and understand the needs of international businesses. It is an invaluable opportunity to show their mettle at an international platform and learn how to conduct successful pitches.”

Prof. Priya Menon Nair, Program Director, NMIMS School of Branding & Advertising, added further, “International competitions like the NSSC provide students with the right mix of healthy competition and vital learning opportunities. Participation in such a prestigious global contest will also help their future job prospects, as during the challenge our students will be taking part in highly intense and rapid pitching contests, where they can display their command over vital communication and sales skills, to stand out from others and make their mark. Over the last few months, the school faculty has been working intensively with the students to hone their pitching skills and improve their chances of winning.”

The challenge comprises two events – role-play and speed-selling competitions. During the role-play competition, which is the main event of the challenge, contestants pitch in a 12-minute sales call. The contest is held in three rounds, and contestants who do not advance to round two will get a second chance by competing in a wild-card round, a 5-minute cold-calling competition. In the speed-selling competition, competitors will create and present a 60-second personal sales pitch.

Expressing their happiness, the participating students said, “We never expected to be a part of this international competition, and we are taking it as a tremendous learning opportunity. We are really happy to be selected, and look forward to testing our skills against the other participants. We also thank our esteemed faculty for guiding us through the intensive selection procedure. It is indeed a matter of extreme pride for us to represent our college on the international platform”

To prepare the students for the competition, the school held an internal contest that began with a video pitch. Short-listed candidates then took part in further rounds where they pitched themselves, or a given product, to the faculty in 120-second-long presentations. In all, 30 students were selected, of which further nine reached the semifinals and seven were finally shortlisted for the prestigious sales competition.