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State Farm Sales Competition
2012 State Farm
Sales Competition
State Farm® and UCM Hosted Marketing and Sales Competition
How can a nationally known company use tools such as social media to effectively sell car insurance to young adults? Some of the best ideas may come from the very individuals who could use the product, including students from the University of Central Missouri, University of Missouri, Wake Forrest University, University of Southern California and Western Michigan University. Individuals from each of these institutions were honored as top competitors during the 2012 State Farm Marketing and Sales Competition Oct. 26 on Central Missouri's campus in Warrensburg.
Two students from each of nine participating institutions coast to coast traveled to UCM for the one-day event, which provided an opportunity to compete for thousands of dollars in financial awards to apply toward their education. The intense competition required young adults to sell an auto insurance policy to mock buyers who already had a quote from another major carrier. In addition to sales role playing, students were asked to present their Integrated Marketing Communication Plan, which included a strategy for using social media as a way to showcase their creativity, entrepreneurial spirit, and presentation skills.
The Sales Role Play showcased a student's personal selling skills in real-world scenarios with prospective young auto insurance buyers. It required students to think quickly on their feet while reacting to buyers' individual needs, and selling the value of personal service. Finalists in this category were given their "finals" scenario only 30 minutes before their last role play.
Two senior marketing majors from UCM, Eli Clark, Cleveland, MO, and Andrea Hamilton, Cuba, MO, claimed the Team Competition trophy for achieving the highest combined scores in the IMCP presentation and the first and second rounds of the Sales Role Play. Clark took second place and earned a $1,500 award for his Integrated Marketing Communication Plan, and also received a $1,500 award as an "overall" winner for both his IMCP and Sales Role Play performances. Hamilton captured second place in Sales Role Play and received a $2,500 award.
Charlie Schwepker, UCM professor of marketing, said Central Missouri's students and their faculty coach Cheryl Shattuck, assistant professor of marketing, worked extremely hard over the past several months to prepare for the State Farm Marketing and Sales Competition, and "the competition results confirm their dedication to excellence."
"Needless to say, we are tremendously proud of what our team was able to accomplish," he said. "Importantly, this competition provided our students, as well as the others who competed, an outstanding learning experience that will make them better prepared to compete in the business world. We are extremely grateful to State Farm for their exceptional generosity and commitment to the student learning experience."
In addition to the financial awards presented by State Farm to each top contestant, each participating student received $1,000 and travel expenses from the company after being selected by their representative schools to participate in the competition. Other participating institutions were: Duquesne (Pittsburgh, PA), Louisiana State University, University of Northern Colorado, and the University of Houston.
Final results were as follows:
Best Team Overall Performance
Eli Clark and Andrea Hamilton, University of Central Missouri
Best Individual - Overall Performance
1st - Aleks Jogerst, Western Michigan University, $2,500
2nd - Eli Clark, University of Central Missouri, $1,500
3rd - Nick Berman, University of Southern California, $1,000
Integrated Marketing Communication Plan
1st - Nick Berman, University of Southern California, $3,500
2nd - Eli Clark, University of Central Missouri, $2,500
3rd - Quinn Cutchin, Wake Forrest University (Winston-Salem, SC), $1,500
Sales Role Play
1st - Michael Blumreich, University of Missouri-Columbia, $3,500
2nd - Andrea Hamilton, University of Central Missouri, $2,500
3rd - Aleks Jogerst, Western Michigan University, $1,500
