乔·加维
许多年前, 迪克·瑟蒙德(Dick 瑟蒙德)看到当地一家汽车经销店的两名销售人员利用了一名年轻女子缺乏谈判技巧的弱点.
瑟蒙德, 他在房地产行业工作了几十年，目前是霍华德汉纳房地产服务公司(Howard Hanna real estate 服务s)东南地区主席, left the dealership after negotiating his vehicle purchase. But he couldn't get the salesmen and that woman out of his mind.
"I should have gotten up and gotten involved in it,他说. "I walked out the door, and I decided I'd go back. And I went back, and the lady was gone, and the salesmen were gone. 我总是为自己没有主动过去帮助那位年轻女士而感到内疚."
这段经历促使他决定在最靠谱的网赌软件斯特罗姆商学院创建瑟蒙德专业销售与谈判学院.
瑟蒙德 ('76 marketing) donated $6 million to establish the school, the first of its kind in the world. 来自捐赠基金的资金将用于提供谈判和专业销售方面的本科学位, graduate courses, professional certificates in negotiations and professional sales, 以及为在校内外的女性和弱势群体举办的交流研讨会.
"Every college should have a program," 瑟蒙德 said. “我认为我们可以成为国内的领导者，希望也能成为国际的领导者. 我希望大家能来这里学习我们将要做的事情."
斯特罗姆学院院长杰夫·坦纳补充说:“这是这个行业的一个决定性时刻。. “这意味着这个职业已经达到了前所未有的合法性水平. For that to happen at Old Dominion University is pretty amazing."
He explained that some in academics look down on professional sales.
他说:“人们不认为它像法律或会计之类的东西那样有声望。. “但实际上，一个专业的销售人员负责促成一笔生意. 有句老话说:在有人卖东西之前，什么都不会发生. But today's salesperson is a lot more than that. They have to coordinate a lot of internal functions. 他们必须确保公司遵守公司所做的承诺. 他们必须代表客户回到公司，确保客户的声音被听到."
这所学校 builds on the 瑟蒙德 Negotiations Lab, which was established in 2019. It has served the local business community through seminars, workshops and other educational programs. Consistent with 瑟蒙德's vision, 该实验室还为妇女和少数民族提供免费讲习班, 以及支持有效编程开发的研究, 其中第一项支持了一项关于如何加强监禁青少年的沟通和解决冲突技能的研究.
这所学校, which is housed in the marketing department, currently offers five classes, including some that require no or only a few prerequisites. 市场营销专业的学生主修或副修专业销售和市场营销.
But Aaron Arndt, 他是市场营销系的教授，将担任瑟蒙德商学院的主席, stressed the program isn't just for prospective salespersons.
"Negotiating skills are invaluable for absolutely everybody, 从工作中的重要谈判到购买物品的谈判，甚至是人际关系中的谈判,他说. "So, these are skills that I believe everybody needs. 我坚信迪克的愿景是把这些带到更广泛的社区."
Toward that end, any student can join Pi Sigma Epsilon, a co-ed national sales, marketing and management fraternity, 参加斯特伦学院的年度销售大满贯比赛. 学校为教师和学生举办研讨会，并为教学教师提供资助社区参与活动的赠款计划.
在校外, 阿恩特说，学校希望在它已经在更广泛的社区提供的技能培训研讨会的基础上进一步发展.
"I'm most excited about the altruistic part of this,他说, "the fact that we're providing practical skills training, and we want to go out and do it in the community, and we want everyone to benefit from this. 因此，我们相信我们的使命是帮助人们的职业生活和个人生活."
Carrie Smith can attest to the value of these skills. 她是Pi Sigma Epsilon的Epsilon Alpha分会的创始主席，并于2021年毕业，获得营销和IT学士学位. 她说，她在ODU的经历帮助她在钱德勒的通用汽车公司找到了一份入门级软件测试工程师的工作, 亚利桑那州.
“对我来说，销售更多的是沟通技巧，以便推销自己，”她说. “因为这是很多人不知道该怎么做的事情. 这是一件很难学的事情，因为你总是被告知不要谈论自己. And now you've got to sell yourself for jobs. 当你与团队合作时，如果你想要实现某些东西，你就必须推销自己."
瑟蒙德, 是谁在2021年夏天找到坦纳要建立这所学校的, said seeing it come to fruition is "really beyond my wildest dreams."
"I would like to encourage people to come and visit us," he added. "访问 the University. Take a course if you're so inclined. Get involved with it. I think it pays great benefits for anybody who is involved in it, 我鼓励他们来看看我们已经做了什么，以及我们将来会做什么."
"The implications of this are pretty far-reaching," Tanner said. “这不仅仅是因为我们将拥有一所为学生准备高需求职业的学校, 但这将在整个学院和大学产生连锁反应."
