“Elevator Pitch” is a popular name for a short, concise, persuasive presentation of information concerning one’s self, product or idea. Elevator Pitches are typically crafted to approximate the duration of a short elevator ride with an important audience (banker/boss/recruiter/investor). A good elevator pitch can make the difference between getting a job, a promotion, funding…or a date.

There are several reasons why participating in the Elevator Pitch Contest is a good idea:

• First, we all need the practice…being able to speak concisely and persuasively is a skill we all need more than ever!
• The prize money: $20 for the winners of round one, $75 for the winners of round two, and $1,200 to be apportioned to the top five winners of round three.
• Competing in Elevator Pitch Contest will look good on your resume…and will look even better if you place.
• The College of Business wants to be known for engaged students and relevant activities…a successful competition is good for the College.

The Elevator Pitch Contest consists of three rounds of competition. The first round is a 60 second audio recording, sent via email to marketing-dept@ualr.edu no later than Friday, February 13, 2014.  Survivors of this round then have their Pitches videoed in the COB by the Sales Center during the week of March 13th. Finally, the top 10 finalists will present their pitches live in the College Atrium at 12:30 pm, Thursday, April 30th. There will be food and door prizes. In addition to a professional panel of judges, the audience can vote via smart phone for their favorite contestants.

The scenario is this:

You are a sales representative for Federated Insurance, a business-to-business risk-management firm (and sponsor of the contest). You enter an elevator at the same time as Mr. John Riggs, the CEO of J.A. Riggs Tractor Company (the first and largest Caterpillar dealership in Arkansas, and NOT presently a customer of Federated). In the 60 second elevator ride to the next floor your challenge is to convince Mr. Riggs to schedule some time to meet with you in the next few days. You are to imagine that you have the attention of Mr. Riggs for 60 seconds while you give your pitch.

Your Elevator pitch is to be crafted from the below files and from any information you may find on the Federated website () and the Riggs-Cat website (). Time your pitches to be 50-70 seconds. Practice, practice, practice! Remember to record your pitch in a quiet environment. Email it to: marketing-dept@ualr.edu.

Let’s get started!  Below you will find the additional files:

1. EP Contest Transcription of Online Post

2. Elevator Pitch – Audio Round Fyler

3. Elevator Pitch – Video Round Flyer

4. Federated 1 – The Firm At A Glance

5. Federated 2 – A Mission We Were Formed To Fulfill

6. Federated 3 – Value-Added Marketing

Additional information on elevator pitches, including a couple of examples, can be found here:

• How to Create an Elevator Pitch by Jody Greene:
• Tips for the Perfect Elevator Pitch: Examples, Startup & Outline Format by Jason Wheeler:
• 6 Elevator Pitches for the 21st Century by THNKR:

The post Spring 2015 Elevator Pitch Contest Announced appeared first on Center for Professional Selling.

The top ten finalists of the Spring 2014 Elevator Pitch Contest were announced on April 1st and we can look forward to them competing live in front of their peers and a panel of judges at an event sponsored by the Center for Professional Selling on April 23 at 12:30pm in the Reynolds Building Atrium. The 35 semifinalists were asked to come to campus for a video recording of their 60 second elevator pitch.

All pitches used the same scenario of imagining themselves as a sales representative for Federated Insurance and finding themselves alone in the esteemed company of Mr. John Riggs, the CEO of J.A. Riggs Tractor Company, while riding in an elevator.

The top ten are a excellent cross-sample of the ����Vlog��ýLR College of Business student body: four Marketing majors, one each from Economics, Finance, Management, International Business, Management Information Systems, and an exchange student.

For more details on the contest itself, visit: /selling/2014/01/31/spring-2014-elevator-pitch-contest-announced/

Congratulations to the finalists of the Spring 2014 Elevator Pitch Competition – Stage Two (Video)

• Alexander Tinnesz
• Antonio Cabrera
• Breonna Coleman
• Crystal Freese
• Gus Leeper
• Heaven Ervin
• Jordon Lynch
• Quay Allen-Smith
• Robert Aikman
• Trey Gibeault

The post Top 10 Elevator Pitch Contest finalists chosen to compete live in April 2014 appeared first on Center for Professional Selling.

All pitches used the same scenario of imagining themselves as a sales representative for Federated Insurance and finding themselves alone in the esteemed company of Mr. John Riggs, the CEO of J.A. Riggs Tractor Company, while riding in an elevator.

The 35 semifinalists will move on to the second round,  60 second video recording, with the top ten finalists competing live in front of their peers and a panel of judges on April23 in the Reynolds Building Atrium. For more details on the contest itself, visit: /selling/2014/01/31/spring-2014-elevator-pitch-contest-announced/

Congratulations to the semifinalists of the Spring 2014 Elevator Pitch Competition – Stage One (Audio)

• Alesander Tinesz
• Ashlee Robinson
• Austin Binz
• Austin Pfeiffer
• Brandon Maes
• Breonna Coleman
• Brett Morgan
• Charles Seymore
• Chelsea Cook
• Christina Shelnut
• Crystal Freese
• Diamond Lewis
• Dylan Ward
• Francisco Chong
• Gus Leeper
• Heaven Ervin
• James Dillport
• Jamie Middleton
• Jason Maxwell
• Jimmy Johnson
• John McAlister
• Jordon Lynch
• Kimberly To
• Kyle Armstrong
• Laurie Pierce
• Lindsey Nelson
• Luis Cabanellas
• Marleen De Zoete
• Matthew Smith
• Quay Allen-Smith
• Randall Greer
• Robert Aikman
• Ryan Hope
• Trey Gibeault
• Tyler Carpenter

The post 35 semifinalists selected for the Spring 2014 Elevator Pitch Contest appeared first on Center for Professional Selling.

“Elevator Pitch” is a popular name for a short, concise, persuasive presentation of information concerning one’s self, product or idea. Elevator Pitches are typically crafted to approximate the duration of a short elevator ride (obviously not based on the COB elevators!) with an important audience (banker/boss/recruiter/investor). A good elevator pitch can make the difference between getting a job, a promotion, funding…or a date.

There are several reasons why participating in the Elevator Pitch Contest is a good idea:

• First, we all need the practice…being able to speak concisely and persuasively is a skill we all need more than ever!
• The prize money: $20 for the winners of round one, $75 for the winners of round two, and $1,200 to be apportioned to the top five winners of round three.
• Competing in Elevator Pitch Contest will look good on your resume…and will look even better if you place.
• The College of Business wants to be known for engaged students and relevant activities…a successful competition is good for the College.

The Elevator Pitch Contest consists of three rounds of competition. The first round is a 60 second audio recording, sent via email to marketing-dept@ualr.edu no later than February 14, 2014.  Survivors of this round then have their Pitches videoed in the COB by the Sales Center during the week of March 10th. Finally, the top 10 finalists will present their pitches live in the College Atrium at 12:30 pm, April 23rd. There will be food (likely pizza) and door prizes. In addition to a professional panel of judges, the audience can vote via smart phone for their favorite contestants.

The scenario is this:

You are a sales representative for Federated Insurance, a business-to-business risk-management firm (and sponsor of the contest). You enter an elevator at the same time as Mr. John Riggs, the CEO of J.A. Riggs Tractor Company (the first and largest Caterpillar dealership in Arkansas, and NOT presently a customer of Federated). In the 60 second elevator ride to the next floor your challenge is to convince Mr. Riggs to schedule some time to meet with you in the next few days. You are to imagine that you have the attention of Mr. Riggs for 60 seconds while you give your pitch.

Your Elevator pitch is to be crafted from the below files and from any information you may find on the Federated website () and the Riggs-Cat website (). Time your pitches to be 50-70 seconds. Practice, practice, practice! Remember to record your pitch in a quiet environment. Email it to: marketing-dept@ualr.edu

Let’s get started!  Below you will find the additional files:

1. EP Contest Transcription of Online Post

2. Elevator Pitch – Flyer 1

3. Elevator Pitch – Flyer 2

4. Federated 1 – The Firm At A Glance

5. Federated 2 – A Mission We Were Formed To Fulfill

6. Federated 3 – Value-Added Marketing

Additional information on elevator pitches, including a couple of examples, can be found here:

• How to Create an Elevator Pitch by Jody Greene:
• Tips for the Perfect Elevator Pitch: Examples, Startup & Outline Format by Jason Wheeler:
• 6 Elevator Pitches for the 21st Century by THNKR:

That’s it… Good Luck!
Steve Edison, PhD

The post Spring 2014 Elevator Pitch Contest Announced appeared first on Center for Professional Selling.

Check out their winning commercial spot

http://youtu.be/YzaWJ6UsE_w
����Vlog��ýLR seniors Trey Woodruff, Danielle Hendrix, Tori Cecil, and Diamond Lewis competed in the Taziki’s Marketing Challenge on Nov. 15 and brought home a $5,000 prize for their efforts.

Keet, a restaurant industry veteran who also ran for governor of Arkansas in 2010, was joined by his sons, Tommy and Jake, who together own all of the Arkansas Taziki’s restaurants. ����Vlog��ýLR’s College of Business Dean Jane Wayland also viewed the presentation.

Professor Gary Geissler, who has mentored the student team since August, said Keet and his sons were unable to attend the competition in Birmingham and were very pleased that the ����Vlog��ýLR team was declared a co-winner. They shared the first-place win with West Virginia University.

“They wanted to see the students’ presentation and discuss marketing strategy with us,” said Geissler. “They were very pleased with the students’ campaign and presentation. In fact, they plan to use their commercials, after a little editing.”

Geissler said the Taziki’s CEO also offered the students an internship with the company and expressed interest in an Independent Study Program with the restaurant chain starting spring semester.

“We are very excited to work with (Interim Chair of Marketing and Advertising) Dr. Mark Funk to help develop a great long-term relationship that can benefit the students, ����Vlog��ýLR, and our company,” Keet told Wayland following the presentation.

����Vlog��ýLR seniors Diamond Lewis, Trey Woodruff, Tori Cecil and Danielle Hendrix, are joined by Professor Gary Geissler (far back, right), and Taziki’s Chief Executive Officer Jim Keet. Sons, Jake and Tommy, stand in front and behind him, respectively.

The ����Vlog��ýLR team created a 30-second television commercial on location at the Taziki’s restaurant on Chenal Parkway. In addition, they created a 30-second radio spot, a print advertisement, and wrote a media plan based on a hypothetical $30,000 media budget.

Clemson University and two teams from Samford University in Birmingham were the other semi-finalists out of 31 teams that initially entered the competition.

Keet was named managing partner and CEO of the Birmingham, Ala.-based Taziki’s in September 2012. Taziki’s is sprouting new stores across the U.S. as part of a five-year plan, including several more to open in locations across Arkansas.

Learn more about the ����Vlog��ýLR Marketing program.

The post Marketing Students visited by Taziki’s CEO appeared first on Center for Professional Selling.

Dr. David Gilliam, assistant professor of marketing and assistant director of the Center for Professional Selling, recently participated in the 2013 American Marketing Association (AMA) Faculty Consortium held June 12-14. The AMA consortium, just the fifth sales consortium held in the last 30 years, was a launching pad for collaboration among international scholars to produce premier selling and sales management research. Dr. Gilliam was one of approximately 110 researchers selected to attend.

Participants were exposed to cutting-edge presentations by leading scholars on issues of theory, method and analytics. One such presenter was Neil Rackham, author of SPIN Selling, who discussed the research traditions, training, and issues in the U.S. and Globally. However, the true value of the event was realized when Consortium Fellows interacted with each other and formed successful collaborative research teams.

Dr. Gilliam was most taken with the concepts explored in the “Natural Experiments/Field Experiments/Experimental Simulations” session lead by Dr. Florian Kraus (Mannheim) and Dr. Jan Wieseke (Bochum). Dr. Gilliam noted, “Field experiments, though difficult to conduct, are particularly suited to sales research because lab experiments lose the context so critical to sales encounters. Doing the studies in situ helps capture the nuances that make or break the sales effort. Discussing field experiments with preeminent scholars from around the world proved very valuable for my research.”

The Center for Professional Selling is committed to both advancing sales practices and supporting the developmental insights into principles and theories that serve to increase the understanding of those same practices. Dr. Gilliam’s time spent building relationships with Consortium Fellows from around the world and participating in the ongoing dialogue surrounding key research issues will aid in the development of new insights into teaching and learning so Professional Selling students achieve more through their education at ����Vlog��ýLR.

For more information about ����Vlog��ýLR’s sales program, visit /selling/. For information about the Department of Marketing and Advertising at ����Vlog��ýLR, visit ualr.edu/marketing/.

The post Dr. Gilliam explores new sales research ideas to keep ����Vlog��ýLR at the forefront of the industry appeared first on Center for Professional Selling.