Two Nicholls students traveled to Georgia and earned champion standing in the world’s largest collegiate sales competition.Thuenette Antill, accounting graduate from Krugersdorp, South Africa, and Jordan Ogletree, marketing graduate from Houston, competed in the 12th Annual National Collegiate Sales Competition March 5-8. Both students, pursuing a master’s degree in business, won the Team Sales Call and Negotiation round of the contest.

Nearly 350 college students from 61 universities competed in the NCSC where they were tested in a variety of live role-play sales call challenges.

Antill and Ogletree trained with Chuck Viosca, assistant dean of the College of Business Administration and associate professor of marketing. The students practiced sales techniques and planned a strategy for how they would approach customers.

“Every student had to sell the same thing, but to different fictitious customers with different needs,” Viosca said.

Each round was broadcast live to locations on campus where college faculty from across the country and recruiters from sponsoring companies participated as judges and evaluated each student’s performance.

“I was really excited and confident, but you don’t know what to expect,” Ogletree said. “It was like that one shot, the game winning shot. It’s all on the line.”

Nearly 30 companies, including Liberty Mutual, ADP, Tom James, Owens Corning, AT&T, Hewlett Packard, Dow Jones, NRC and Reynolds and Reynolds sponsored this year’s competition for an opportunity to recruit top sales students.

“We were able to learn from others, see how they’re doing, and also take advantage of the job fair,” Antill said. “It was a very good opportunity.”

Antill said the event encouraged him by making the job market seem more tangible. “You were able to meet actual recruiters and see the other students trying and dealing with contacts and forming a network.”

Ogletree said the competition allowed students to interact with recruiters and companies they may eventually work for. “I felt like everyone was saying, ‘We want you to be better. We want you to get out there and set goals.’