You believe your students need a sales program. Your dean needs a different reason to say yes.

That's the gap we dug into with Dr. Travis Simkins, Department Chair of Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Sales & Analytics at Southern Utah University.

Travis took his department from two and a half faculty members to sixteen in under three years, and he walked us through exactly how he got administration to say yes to a new sales major.

Why SUU Built a Sales Program

• Travis explains how marketing at SUU used to be folded into other departments, with almost no dedicated faculty.
• He read an article from the B2B Institute that changed his thinking. It argued the next hundred years of marketing would be built on B2B, not B2C.
• That idea became the pitch he used to convince the university to give marketing its own home.

Turning a Minor Into the Fastest-Growing Program on Campus

• Travis walks through how the Mesa department combined marketing, entrepreneurship, sales, and analytics under one roof.
• He shares how COVID actually helped the case for a sales major, because it proved marketing and sales careers could work remotely and pay well.
• Within three years, the department grew from two and a half faculty members to sixteen.

How to Sell a New Major to Administration

• Travis breaks down the two things that move a department chair or provost: hard numbers and education.
• He talks about showing administrators real job listings and real starting salaries, not just enthusiasm.
• We also talk about how sales skills transfer across industries once a student learns the fundamentals.

Building a Pipeline of Students

• Travis explains how paid student "sales ambassadors" recruit other students into the major.
• He shares how SUU built concurrent enrollment agreements with local high schools, so students can earn college sales credit before they graduate.
• These recruiting efforts are what took the minor from 50 students to 75, and kept it growing.

Bringing Industry Partners Into the Classroom

• Travis describes the sales advisory board SUU built, made up of paying industry professionals who help shape the curriculum.
• He talks about "Sales Never Fails," a campus competition that gets local and regional companies involved as judges and sponsors.
• He also shares why SUU built a sales psychology course after watching a talented graduate burn out within a year.

Managing the Space Between Faculty and Administration

• Travis reflects on the hardest part of being a department chair: balancing what faculty need with what administration wants.
• His advice for professors pitching a new program: bring data, bring a plan for measuring success, and make the case in terms your dean already cares about.

"The nice thing about sales is you can learn to be a better salesperson. Once you learn how to be a good salesperson, you can sell anything in any industry if you're trained on the specific knowledge." — Dr. Travis Simkins

Resources

• Learn more about the Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Sales & Analytics Department at Southern Utah University
• Connect with Dr. Travis Simkins or find him on LinkedIn
• Explore the courseware Donald and BJ co-authored: Professional Selling and Advanced Selling and Sales Management
• Visit the Sales 101 podcast website for more episodes