Before we can get students to commit to a lifelong career in sales, we need to get them to choose sales as their first job. Often times entry-level sales positions are viewed as temporary stepping stones to other opportunities in a company or career. Even some of the most senior sales executives will tell you that they slid sideways into the profession. How do educators and industry need to rethink sales to help make the modern craft of professional selling the first choice career of the future? 

We know how to teach the hard skills, what we affectionately call the "core" skills, but what about the other stuff? The things we call "soft" skills - listening, relationship-building, communication, influencing without authority, storytelling, and many other related skills. How important are they to successful selling? Which are the most important? How do we teach them? And let's not forget that little thing called attitude. Can we teach that? How can we objectively assess students on these metrics? Join us to hear what some senior people in industry would like to see from educational institutions on this subject.