Sales professionals, nationally recognized Iowa State University faculty, and top sales students gathered for the second annual Ivy Sales Innovation Summit, held May 17 at the Iowa State University Alumni Center. Hosted by the Ivy College of Business and Iowa State’s Center for Industrial Research and Service (CIRAS), the event drew more than 80 participants from 30 organizations for a productive day of learning and networking.
Designed for leaders seeking best practices in sales, the summit focused on strategies to build sales talent and maximize the use of existing sales technology. Deidra Schleicher, the John and Deborah Ganoe Professor in Business and chair of the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship at the Ivy College of Business, kicked off the sessions with her talk, “Five Surprising Things You Need to Know About Talent and Managing It.”
The event featured a lunchtime keynote address by Dan Houston (’84 marketing), chairman, president, and CEO of Principal Financial Group. Other featured speakers included Kyle Roed, vice president of human resources for CPM Holdings and host of the Rebel HR podcast, and Mike O’Connell (’10 marketing), a leadership coach and former Iowa State football captain.
The Ivy Sales Innovation Summit was made possible thanks to generous support from CIRAS and the Ivy Sales Forum, a collaboration between the Ivy College of Business and 15 industry partners to advance the growth and effectiveness of professional sales.
Leaders from the Ivy Sales Forum shared their experiences and insights in two panel discussions. The first conversation, “Best Practices in Sales Coaching,” featured Kari Cooling, senior vice president and managing director at Holmes Murphy; Kyle Marks, regional vice president for The HON Company; Jeremy Staun, vice president of sales and distribution for Nationwide Insurance; and David P. Tagliatela, vice president of sales at Kent Corporation.
The second discussion, “Maximizing Existing Technology to Increase Productivity,” brought together Lindsay Bohon, vice president of corporate sales for GreatAmerica Financial Services; Kelsey Brown, director of sales at Trinity Logistics; and Rachel Fisher, vice president of revenue operations and marketing for LightEdge Solutions. The conversation was moderated by Andrew Crecelius, assistant professor of marketing at the Ivy College of Business.
Ivy faculty member Ashley Goreczny, assistant professor of marketing, and Ryan Talley (’03 marketing and management), director and client business executive at Co-op Solutions, presented about customer relationship management (CRM) tools.
