Changing students’ perceptions of professional selling using an online learning workshop

Purpose of the Study: This article describes an innovation designed with the goal of enhancing students’ perceptions of sales careers and salespeople through a series of educational sales modules. The innovation was delivered online through a learning management system as part of a Principles of Marketing course. Design and Sample: The innovation, referred to as The Professional Selling Workshop (PSW), was developed as a stand-alone course shell in the university’s Learning Management System (BbLearn). The PSW, consisting of ten sales modules, was administered in multiple sections of a Principles of Marketing course. One hundred and sixty eight undergraduate business students at a public university in the southwest United States completed the workshop. Results: The results of this study suggest that student perceptions can be moved in a favorable direction when exposed to the more positive aspects of sales careers, and when myths and common beliefs about sales careers and the types of persons who can succeed in sales careers are clarified. Value to Marketing Educators: The professional selling workshop can be implemented fairly easily requiring only minimal adjustment to an existing marketing course. The favorable shift in student perceptions that resulted from the workshop is a step toward resolving the ongoing problem of negative student attitudes toward sales careers.