I spent the first part of this week at the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia (that's right, I went to an Ivy League school). I was there to make my final presentation and graduate from my company's Sales Management College. This has been one of the tougher classes I've been through at any level of my education, and I feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment having completed it.
For the final my partner and I were to complete the following sentence: "If we had full autonomy to improve the company's sales department the one thing we'd do is..." We presented to the VP of HR, VP of Marketing, Senior VP of Sales, the two Regional VP's of sales, the director of training, and a number of other executive-level people. Some of my classmates were nervous; my partner (the sales manager from St. Louis) and I were excited to show off. Our classmates threw together presentations that were confusing, without a clear theme, and absolutely zero data to back up their claims. While the other groups received harsh criticism for their efforts my partner and I exchanged confident glances and smirks across the room - we had our poop in a group. When our turn came I distributed the paper handouts of our presentation, and there was a collective sigh of relief from the gallery - we had a simple, clear, and very well-documented presentation. We rolled right through it without a single interruption from the crowd - we left no questions unanswered. We were given 30 minutes, but only needed 15 to get our point across. At the end the comments we received were 100% positive. The SVP of sales, who is known for his ability to make a presenter feel 2" tall with his stinging critiques stated he had nothing to add other than we did a fantastic job.
What a great feeling! I'm still floating!
I graduated unofficially as #1 in the class and have received interest from directors of sales in the Mid-west, NY-NJ-PA, and New England areas, but my "D.O.S." is not eager to let me leave his region. I've got my fingers crossed that a Sales Manager position will open up here locally and I won't have to relocate; and right now things are looking good.
Also while in Philly we went out to Pat's - the home of the cheesesteak. Ordering a cheesesteak in Philly is like ordering a latte in Seattle - you have to do it right or you get hassled by the locals. So I ordered a "peppersteak wit provolone"; the order was approved by the crew and 15 seconds later I had an authentic Philly Cheesesteak in my hand. It was AWFUL!!! Tough meat, cold cheese, and no flavor. I should have gone across the street to Geno's
But now I can say I went to an Ivy League school, graduated from the Sales Management college, and ate an original cheesesteak. 3 new feathers in my cap.
