Sales Never Fails Competition
November 18-19, 2026
Multi-day event, see schedule for details
Professional Sales Center (BBU 116)
SUU students are invited to join us for the annual Sales Never Fails competition! There are two tracks, or competitions, to compete in: Sales Role Play and Negotiation, and this year we are changing things up! In sales, participants will compete through each stage of the sales process in front of a judge and rotating role play buyer for their chance to win first through third place. The negotiation track will feature students competing to acquire the best contract for their case. The top winners of each track receive CASH prizes from our sponsoring judges!
Anyone and any major can participate and attend, but priority is given to current sales students and spots are limited! All competitors will be served dinner and be able to network and receive mentorship from our participating judges and buyers. Don't miss your chance to win and practice your sales and negotiation skills, skills needed for life!
Schedule
Virtual Qualifier Round
- This round can be completed anytime after competitors register and is due by November 17 at 11:59 pm.
November 18, 2026 (Event Day 1)
- 4:00-4:30 pm - Keynote Speaker
- 4:30-6:30 pm - Role Play Round 1
- 6:30-7:30 pm - Dinner for Judges only
November 19, 2026 (Event Day 2)
- 9:00-11:30 am - Negotiation Competition
- 11:30-1:00 pm - Career Fair
- 1:00-1:30 pm - Lunch for Judges only
- 1:30-4:00 pm - Role Play Round 2
- 4:30-7:00 pm - Role Play Round 3
- 7:00-8:00 pm - Dinner
- 8:00-8:30 pm - Awards
Details
The annual Sales Never Fails competition has two components, the Negotiation Competition and the Sales Role Play Competition. In Negotiation, students are broken into several groups and compete in a multi-party negotiation to determine the top negotiator in each group. Each group will have one winner and said winner will receive a cash prize. Students will be judged based on what they can negotiate within the provided case study as well as by their performance evaluated by a judge. The student who collects the most points in each group wins! An overview is provided below.
The Sales Competition has changed for this year! Unlike previous years, each competitor will compete through each stage of the sales process from prospecting to negotiation and closing. We begin with a Virtual Qualifier Round, completing the prospecting stage. Students send in digital qualifiers which will then get judged before the competition dates. Three more competition rounds will be completed in person: Round 1 (discovery), Round 2 (proposal), and Round 3 (negotiation and closing). The product/service being sold will be chosen by the program director and given to students when they register. The top 3 competitors with the highest cumulative scores from each round will receive cash prizes.
Sales Never Fails takes students through every stage of the sales process as if it were a real world scenario and provides a place for students to practice their sales skills, skills needed for every career. Judges and buyers are volunteers from our industry partners and donors who are enthusiastic about providing mentorship to competitors and recruiting well performing students. Any SUU student from any major/college can compete and attend, but priority is given to current sales students and spots are limited! Prizes, donated by our industry partners, are given as checks or direct deposits (to SUU student employees only) after the competition. Dinner will be served to students and judges in attendance on November 19.
Competition prizes will be awarded as follows:
Negotiation Competition - prizes will be awarded to the top negotiator in each of the assigned groups
- The top students will earn $200 each
Sales Competition
- 1st - $1,000
- 2nd - $500
- 3rd - $250
For further details, please review the competition rules. For a description and breakdown of each round, see below.
- The Negotiation Competition takes place on November 19 and is completed as a multiparty negotiation.
- Spots are limited to 36 seats, awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.
- Students are divided into groups with assigned roles after registration.
- Competitors receive a case study prior to the event to prepare for their specific roles. The objective is to compete individually to secure the best terms for yourself within your group.
- Students are given 150 minutes to complete the negotiations.
- One neutral judge is assigned per group to award points based on negotiated terms and overall performance.
- The highest-scoring student in each group receives a $200 first-place prize. In the event of a tie, the judge awards the win to the student who acquired the best financial benefit.
- All other necessary details and instructions are provided in the case study.
With this year’s altered format for the Sales Role Play Competition the competition is limited to 49 participants. The case study and other competition materials will be sent to you after you complete your registration. During registration, please use an active, valid email address in order to receive these materials and other competition information and updates.
For the Virtual Qualifier, you will be simulating the prospecting step of the sales process. You will be required to contact your first hypothetical buyer through a prospecting email and get them to commit to a meeting with you, this meeting will take place on the competition day in the Role Play Round 1. You will not move on from the Qualifier until you’ve been judged and receive approval! No additional scores will be provided this round. As long as you receive approval, you will move on to round 2.
Further instructions will be provided in the case study after you register. Please view the competition rules for further details.
For Role Play Round 1, you will be simulating the discovery step of the sales process. As you meet with your prospect (your judge and buyer), you will need to learn what your prospects' needs are, learn about their business, learn about their interest in buying as well as their ability to buy, then secure a commitment to receive a proposal. Your proposal will be presented to the prospect in Round 2.
For this first round, you are given 15 minutes to learn about your prospect and gain the opportunity to advance to the next round. Each student will privately present one at a time to your assigned judge and buyer, each judge and buyer seeing up to 7 students.
Judges will score each participant based on the criteria found in the competition rubric. Each competitor will advance on to Round 2.
All specific instructions for this round can be found in the case study given after registration. A Role Play example video is provided below.
For Role Play Round 2, you will be simulating the proposal step of the sales process. All competitors will be competing in this round. For your meeting with your prospect (your judge and buyer), you will need to come prepared with a professional proposal of a product or service (outlined in the case study) and a financial commitment required in the proposal. In your meeting, you will present this proposal to the prospect.
For this round, you are given 20 minutes to present. Each student will privately present to your assigned judge and buyer. As before, judges will score each participant based on the criteria found in the competition rubric. Each competitor will advance to the final round, Round 3.
All specific instructions for this round can be found in the case study given after registration.
For the final round, Role Play Round 3, you will be simulating the negotiation and closing steps of the sales process. For the last time, you will meet with your prospect (judge and buyer) and negotiate the deal proposed in Round 2. As you complete the negotiations, you must close the deal and receive a commitment from your buyer.
You are given another 20 min to complete this round. Each student will privately present to your assigned judge and buyer. As before, judges will score each participant based on the criteria found in the competition rubric.
All specific instructions for this round can be found in the case study given after registration.
Scores will be collected from each round through the competition. The cumulative total from each of the rounds will determine a competitor’s final score. The top 3 final scores decide our winners. 1st place will win the grand prize of $1,000, 2nd receives $500, and 3rd receives $250.
The Career Fair is an opportunity for all participants to meet many of the judges before and after the different competitions. It is an opportunity to network, to meet with friends, and relax so you are better prepared. Though this portion of the competition is not required to be attended, it is highly encouraged.
Dinner will be provided for all Negotiation and Role Play attendees (judges and participants). Advance notice of additional guests is required and space is limited. If extra space is available, it will be provided on a first come first serve basis. Please contact mareebeach1@suu.edu.
Sponsors
To become a sponsor for this year’s competition, please contact mareebeach1@suu.edu. Thank you!
Previous Events
For information about the 2025 competition view the competition press release.
1st: Luke Perkins
2nd: Quinn Hagerman
3rd: Carlos Barron
This year's winners in the sales track were Luke Perkins in first, Quinn Hagerman in second, and Carlos Barron in third. Cash prizes for the sales track were awarded as $500 for first, $250 for second, and $100 for third. The negotiation track named Alice Annaccarato as first, Mason Richins as second, and Drew Higbee as third. Cash prizes for the negotiation track were awarded as $250 for first, $100 for second, and $50 for third.
For more information about the 2024 competition view the competition press release.
1st: Marlee Ressler
2nd: Chandler White
3rd: Jakob Harrison Stock
This year, the prompt was to sell SalesForce (a Customer Relationship Management Software– to a fictional medical device manufacturing company named MedTech with a small market cap. Contestants were instructed to pretend they were marketing specialists for SalesForce selling the software to MedTech employees.
The first-place winner, Marlee Ressler, also competed in last year's competition and took first again from the prompt surrounding wedding planning services. Ressler is a graduate student in SUU’s MBA Program with an emphasis in leadership. This year, Ressler walked away with the first-place prize of 500$.
“This is my sixth sales competition, but every time, I have the opportunity to refine my selling skills and be more comfortable with public speaking.”
-Marlee Ressler, first place competition winner.
"Sales Never Fails was a showcase of the improving quality of our sales students and the expanding reach of our academic and experiential learning activities. The contest attracted industry leaders and mentors who contributed time and prize money to reward our amazing students for their efforts. I am continuously reminded of the quality of our students. I would put our students up head-to-head with any university in the world. They are first-class, gritty and determined individuals from all cultures who prove that SUU is a magnet for the best of the best."
-Kurt Wankier, director of Professional Sales.
To learn more about the 2023 competition view the original competition press release.
1st: Marlee Ressler
2nd: Kevin Gonzalez
3rd: Alexa Evans
Similar to the first competition in March, only now with a different prompt, each participant offered a three-minute pitch to a client, explaining what they would do for their wedding as their hypothetical planner. Each pitch took place in front of a diverse panel of judges who offered feedback after each and chose three winners at the end.
First-place winner Marlee Ressler chose to participate to take advantage of both networking opportunities and a new learning experience, gaining a better understanding of what comes from sales. The SUU senior is double majoring in management and marketing rather than pursuing a sales-focused career, yet she has found this competition very beneficial to further practicing the skill that could help with her career plans of marketing management or in another upper management position.
“I had never written a sales pitch before, so it was a learning opportunity, and I wanted to see how it went. It was only three minutes of my life, so I just decided I might as well try and see what happens.”
-Marlee Ressler, first place competition winner.
One of the biggest reasons students of all majors are encouraged to participate is due to the fact that sales is a highly transferable skill that can and often is utilized throughout businesses and several business careers.
“Entering the workforce without quality experiences that stretch students is a real risk.”
-Kurt Wankier, Director of Professional Sales.
To find out more about the details of the Fall 2022 competition, check out the SUU News article covering the event.
1st: Spencer Christensen
2nd: Matthew Matheson
3rd: Jessica Cuthbert
SUU's first ever Sales Never Fails event! 13 students had minutes to convince the judges to buy the product they were selling, and only 3 came out on top.
“The inaugural sales pitch competition exceeded our expectations. Students from a variety of majors and backgrounds breathed life into an exciting new era of opportunity for Thunderbirds. Interest in our Professional Sales Minor continues to grow and this is evidence of how valuable this minor will be to future T-birds from all academic disciplines.”
-Kurt Wankier, director of Professional Sales.
The fast-paced atmosphere of the event offers students an example of what selling is like in the real world. More than that, Sales Never Fails gives participants a valuable experience by helping them have the courage to learn and better prepare themselves for the workforce.
Learn more about SUU's first Sales Never Fails competition.
Contact
For more information, general competition questions, concerns, etc, please contact Maree Beach at (435) 865-8433 or mareebeach1@suu.edu. For questions regarding the case study and pitches contact Kurt Wankier at kurtiswankier@suu.edu.