1.
University of Wisconsin­River Falls
UWRF Sales Program Research
Client: Dr. Ozcan Kilic
Ben Althoff, Caleb Oosten, Ben Schrock, Josiah White, Anne Towner, Mitch
Ronayne, Elisabeth Meier
12/10/2015

2. Table of Contents
Executive Summary………………………………………………………………….... 2
Introduction..………………………………………………………………………….... 5
Background…………………………………………………………………….. 5
Objectives………………………………………………………………………. 6
Methodology……………………………………………………………………………. 6
Research Design……………………………………………………………..... 6
Sample Design……………………………………………………………….... 6
Data Collection Procedures…………………………………………….…….. 7
Measurement Instrument…………………………………………………....... 8
Findings……………………………………………..………………………………...... 9
Conclusions and Recommendations……………………………………………..... 17
Limitations………………………………………...…………………………..……..... 18
Sampling Error......................................................................................... 18
Measurement Error.................................................................................. 18
Other Limitations...................................................................................... 19
Appendices………………………………………………………………...………..... 21
Data Collection Instrument....................................................................... 21
Sample of Verbatims................................................................................ 27
Acknowledgments............................................................................................... 28
References.......................................................................................................... 29
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3. Executive Summary
Marketing Opportunity/Problem
It is a common perception that sales as a career is not a subject worth pursuing
let alone going to an institution of higher education for a formal education in the field
(Ditz, 1967; Ebey, 1957; Mason, 1965, Swenson, Swinyard, Langrehr, and Smith
(1993). Yet 70% of marketing/business majors will be placed in a sales position after
graduation (Kutscher, 1990; Michaels & Marshall, 2001; Simon, 2006; Weilbaker, 2001).
The lack of a formal education in sales leads to a lack of effectiveness and a negative
effect on profits and customer perception of the business (Karakaya, Quigley, and
Bingham 2011). What are student perceptions, attitudes, demographics and
expectations towards the sales profession and education to ultimately determine their
level of intention of participation? Dr. Kilic wants this information to improve the
marketing plan for the sales program. This will aid in positioning the sales program as a
valid option to pursue.
Research Objectives
The objectives we intend to achieve is finding what are their attitudes and
perceptions towards sales and salespeople. Then how that relates to their intention to
pursue a sales education. We will measure to find if there is any correlation between
having a parent in a sales position or the student being in a sales position when
compared to their intentions to pursue a sales education. Another question we will seek
to answer is if a student’s class standing has any determining factor in whether to enter
into a sales course. We will also ask, “Do you intend to enroll in the professional sales
program at UWRF?” The responses we receive from this open­ended question will help
us determine the intention and reason why or why not a student would enroll in the
professional sale program at UWRF.
2

4. Methodology
We will be using a Qualtrics­hosted survey as our data collection instrument. The
target population for our measurement instrument will be students enrolled in the
College of Business and Economics (CBE) at University Wisconsin­River Falls (UWRF).
This population will include students from all class standings. The sampling framing will
be a convenience sample indicative of a non­probability sampling technique.
The Qualtrics survey was designed as a noncomparative, balanced 7­point Likert
scale. This adequately measured respondent’s attitudes towards the research
objectives and offered a precise level of measurement. The questionnaire is 49 items
long, it contained two skip logic questions as well as two open ended questions to
further gauge respondent attitudes, perceptions, and feelings towards selling as a
career and allowed the research team to further identify rationale as to whether
respondents have intentions or no intention to pursuing sales education or a career in
sales, and why.
Major Findings
The total sample size was 121 students with forty­six percent of the students
being male and fifty­four percent were female. A majority of the respondents were 21
years or older and of a Junior or Senior standing. Fifteen percent of the students had
taken or are currently in a sales course. Thirty­two percent of respondents had indicated
that they been previously or are currently employed in a sales position. Forty­four
percent had or has a family member employed in a sales position.
Conclusions and Recommendations
People see sales as a challenging and rewarding career that offers room for
advancement. While the trend towards the career are positive the trend towards
salespeople is negative. Our subjects have a negative opinion of salespeople but a
positive opinion of the position.
3

5. This may be attributed to the fact that when asked if they had ever been a
salesperson or if they’re parents are or were they answered over 60%+ NO. These
findings show that the majority of respondents have no personal relationship with
someone in sales and only has contact with them during the act of business.
A recommendation would be to have a low level introductory class with an
emphasis on sales offered to Freshmen and Sophomores in order to introduce them to
the material. Freshmen show an ‘indifferent’ response rate of 38% when asked about
their intentions to pursue a sales education. This shows that there is nearly 40% of the
Freshmen student body that could be persuaded to enroll in the professional sales
program at UWRF.
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6. Introduction
The definition of a sales career is defined as promoting a company's product or
service and persuading wholesale, retail buyers, or purchasing agents to choose them
over their competitors. There are many different kinds of products and marketing
opportunities in sales. Sale professionals constantly face new interpersonal situations
and are involved in yearly trainings. Each organization offers a different career path in
sales. There are many sales firms that are interested in college graduates to fill their
needs for salespeople. Approximately 70% of students receiving a marketing degree will
choose sales as their first career.
It is a common perception that sales as a career is not a subject worth pursuing
let alone going to an institution of higher education for a formal education in the field
(Ditz, 1967; Ebey, 1957; Mason, 1965, Swenson, Swinyard, Langrehr, and Smith
(1993). The lack of a formal education in sales leads to a lack of effectiveness and a
negative effect on profits and customer perception of the business (Karakaya, Quigley,
and Bingham 2011).
Prof. Kilic is leading the setup of a professional sales program at the University of
Wisconsin­River Falls (UWRF). There is an increase in demand for prepared and
knowledgeable graduates by international and local businesses the College of Business
and Economics has opted to offer a Sales Emphasis in direct response to business
organizations needs. Our research team put together a Qualtrics survey and delivered it
to students for research findings for a potential sales program. It was sent to all college
students in the College of Business and Economics at UWRF. The overall goal of the
survey was to collect students perceptions, attitudes, demographics, and expectations
towards the sales profession and education. This research will ultimately help determine
the level of intention for participation in the program. Dr. Kilic hopes this information will
improve the marketing plan for the sales program. This will aid in positioning the sales
program as a valid option to pursue.
5

7. ​Research Objectives
1. To gather attitudes from UWRF College of Business and Economic (CBE)
students towards the position of sales.
2. To collect UWRF CBE students’ perceptions towards salespeople.
3. To perceive UWRF CBE students’ feelings and expectations towards selling.
4. To find the intentions of UWRF CBE students deciding to pursue a sales
education/career.
5. To gather demographics from the UWRF CBE students who participate.
Figure 1: Research Objectives
Methodology
Research Design
The primary data collected came solely from our measurement instrument in the
form of an on­line survey hosted by Qualtrics. The only source for secondary data was
gleaned from the literary review.
Sample Design
The target population for our measurement instrument were students enrolled in
the College of Business and Economics (CBE) at University Wisconsin­River Falls
(UWRF). This population included students from all class standings for a total of 1,026.
The sampling framing was a convenience sample indicative of a non­probability
sampling technique. The sample that was obtained included a percentage of students
from each grade level.
6

8. Table 1: Class standing participation rate
Freshmen 12%
Sophomore 17%
Junior 32%
Senior 39%
From the population of 1,026 that the survey was emailed to we had 384
students open the survey, 169 begin the survey, and 122 complete the survey. This
means that we had about a 12% response rate and 904 students who did not complete
the survey which resulted in an 84% non­response rate.
Figure 2: Email Distributions from Qualtrics
Data Collection Procedures
The survey was emailed out on November 20th, 2015 to understand three
questions that are common with standard survey research
● Who is answering our questions?
○ Who played an influencing role in the decision making process, from a
demographic or lifestyle perspective?
● How they are answering them?
○ How did they make their decision, what they examine or consider, when
the decision was made and what do they plan next after sharing their
thoughts and feelings regarding sales?
● Why they are answering them in this way?
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9. ○ What did they like or dislike about sales attitudes, jobs, or careers?
The survey was accessible online and was an essential research tool because it
offered capabilities beyond other types of self administered questionnaires available, we
also allowed for mobile devices to take the survey because it is becoming an
increasingly popular method for data collection. The initial deadline for the survey was
going to be November 30th, 2015, but a lack of responses from students over the
holiday break, which then prompted our research team to extend the deadline to
December 8th, 2015. This yielded some success as we saw the number of respondents
increase by 40% over the coming days until the deadline. There were two different
software programs used to analyze the data: on a simple basis was Microsoft Excel to
organize the data and perform simple computations that would allow for some
analyzation. The second was IBM SPSS to further break down and analyze important
qualitative and quantitative data.
Measurement Instrument
The Qualtrics survey was designed as a noncomparative, balanced 7­point Likert
scale. This adequately measured respondent’s attitudes towards the research
objectives and offered a precise level of measurement. The questionnaire was 49 items
long, it contained two skip logic questions as well as two open ended questions to
further gauge respondent attitudes, perceptions, and feelings towards selling as a
career and allowed the research team to further identify rationale as to whether
respondents have intentions or no intention to pursuing sales education or a career in
sales, and why. There were no uncommon measurement techniques used in the setup
of the questionnaire or the analyzing of the data.
8

10. Findings
The total sample size was 121 students with forty­six percent of the students
being male and fifty­four percent were female. A majority of the respondents were 21
years or older and of a Junior or Senior standing. Fifteen percent of the students had
taken or are currently in a sales course. Thirty­two percent of respondents had indicated
that they been previously or are currently employed in a sales position. Forty­four
percent had or has a family member employed in a sales position.
Table 2: Perception towards selling as a profession
Perception towards selling as a profession Mean ​Standard
Deviation
Selling is personally satisfying 4.57 1.75
Selling is interesting 4.83 1.53
Selling is exciting 4.67 1.6
Selling is doing something worthwhile on the job 4.97 1.5
Selling gives a sense of accomplishment 5.39 1.42
Selling is a way to advance in your career 5.17 1.43
Selling provides financial security 4.7 1.57
Selling is challenging 5.68 1.37
Table 2 shows respondents perceptions of sales as a profession. The mean
value on each table is on a scale of 1 to 7, 1 being strongly disagree and 7 being
strongly agree. As shown by the table, on average respondents somewhat agree or
agree with positive attributes of sales as a profession. Respondents felt especially
strong about sales being difficult and that it gives a sense of accomplishment.
9

11. Table 3: Perception towards salespeople
Perception towards salespeople Mean Standard
Deviation
Salespeople often inflate the benefits of the product they
sell
5.55 1.02
Salespeople often stretch the truth to make a sale 5.29 1.15
Salespeople routinely take advantage of uneducated
buyers
5.19 1.3
Salespeople often make up something
rather than admit they do not know the
answer to a buyer's question
4.65
1.32
Salespeople commonly sell products that people do not
need
4.93 1.31
Salespeople often misrepresent guarantees or
warranties
of the products/services they sell
4.38
1.47
The personal relations involved in selling are disgusting 2.92 1.39
Salespeople lead an undignified life because they must
be pretending all the time
2.26
1.24
Salespeople sell against their personal values for money 2.85 1.42
Salespeople are low status individuals 2.12 1.19
Salespeople are confident individuals 5.75 0.83
10

12. Salespeople recognize the importance of understanding
customer needs
5.52 1
Salespeople are perceived favorably by others 3.78 1.21
Salespeople are admired and respected by others 3.57 1.19
Table 3 reveals that respondents have an overall slightly negative view on
salespeople. While they acknowledge that many salespeople have positive attributes
such as recognizing people’s needs and are confident, they also perceive them as not
being respectable or admired and that they will willingly misrepresent information for
sales. The strongest feeling they had towards salespeople is that they inflate the truth
about benefits of the products they sell.
Table 4: Perception towards a sales career
Perception towards a sales career Mean Standard
Deviation
A sales job provides freedom to use your own judgement 4.64 1.35
A sales job is a high status job 3.92 1.24
A sales job offers career growth opportunities 5.08 1.15
A sales job provides substantial income 4.56 1.2
A sales job is not a job for a person with talent 2.64 1.11
A sales job offers no intellectual challenges 2.36 1.08
A sales job offers very few chances for advancement 2.71 1.25
Selling is a job, not a career 2.84 1.46
11

13. Table 4 echos Table 2 and respondents perceptions of sales as a career. While
they do not feel sales is a high status job(true to their perceptions as salespeople being
unrespectable), they do feel that it has many growth opportunities and provides
intellectual challenges.
Table 5: Attitude towards sales education
Attitude towards sales education Mean Standard
Deviation
Sales Education is important 5.29 1.32
Going into selling would be a complete waste of a college
education
2.8 1.51
Sales Education is necessary for me to succeed at a future
job
4.53 1.61
Sales Education would be beneficial in achieving a better
job
4.96 1.48
Sales education would help acclimate me to the economy 4.7 1.48
Each of these questions relate specifically to the marketing problem: the intention
of UWRF CBE students to participate in the sales program. Interestingly enough, the
numbers above indicate a slightly positive attitude towards sales education. The
question asking if sales education is important received a significantly high mean with a
small standard deviation. This number follows through all of the following four questions.
Sales education is favorable with the students surveyed. The low standard deviation
indicates that most respondents were responding with the same answer.
12

14.
Table 6: Intention for selecting a sales career
Intention for selecting a sales career Mean Standard
Deviation
I am interested in pursuing a professional sales related
career
3.08 1.86
Obtaining a position in sales is a priority for me after
graduation
2.63 1.76
At some point during my career, I will probably hold a
position in professional sales
3.58
1.95
This final section is a set of critical questions. We can see from each question
that the mean is less than four. This indicates a disagreement to the statements in some
fashion. Although the means may be low, there is a significant standard deviation
because the likert scales allowed for seven possible answers. With a larger population
size, the standard deviation would hopefully be reduced. Combing through results, we
found that selecting a sales career is not a priority or interest for a majority of students.
Many students did not intend to select sales as a career after college.
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15. Figure 3: Majors of participating students
Located above is the majors of the students surveyed which can have a
significant impact on their intentions to pursue the sales degree at UWRF. The
percentages add up to more than 100% because this question allowed for more than
one response. Students could be minoring in business or have a double major. The
chart shows that the largest individual major represented is Business
Administration­Management with Marketing and Business Administration coming in a
close second at 19%.
14

16. Figure 4: Interest in pursuing sales against class standing
In accordance with the graph above, we have found that as a student advances
in their career at UWRF, they become less interested in pursuing sales as a major. The
percentage of students interested remains fairly constant throughout each class
standing, but we do see a significant difference in the indifferent column. Juniors and
seniors are approximately 67% uninterested in pursuing a sales related career, whereas
30% and 52% of freshman and sophomores respectively are uninterested.
Figure 5: Participation in sales against intention to enroll in a sales program
15

17. Above is a cross­tabulation between respondent’s exposure to sales positions by
either their own employment or a family member’s employment and the respondent’s
interest and intent to enroll in the UWRF sales program. As you can see, there is a
direct correlation between student’s exposure to sales positions and their interest and
intent to the sales program. The overwhelming amount of respondents who showed no
interest or intent in the program also had not been previously employed in a sales
position nor did they have an immediate family member hold a position in sales.
Below is a graphical representation of the classification of answers we received
when asked, “Do you intend to enroll in the professional sales program at UWRF?”.
These classifications were subjective and organized as qualitative data by one of the
researchers.
Figure 6: Classifications of responses to the intention to enroll
16

18. Conclusions
There was not a very high percentage of students interested in sales as a career.
Of freshmen only 30% of them were interested, with sophomores it was 26%, and
among juniors it was even less. According to our findings, business and economics
students at River Falls seemed to have an overall good perception of sales as a career.
However people did not have a very high opinion about Salespeople themselves. This
probably leads people to be wary of becoming salespeople because they do not want to
others have negative opinions about them.
Our open ended questions mirrored the results we received from the survey
question that skewed negatively when it came to people’s perceptions of salesmen.
There were several people who wrote in the open ended questions saying they would
not want to go into a career in selling because they felt that salespeople were
“dishonest” or “pushy”. Other reasons people in the open ended questions gave for not
joining the sales program included not believing themselves to be a good fit for the
career thinking it would be difficult.
People who participated in our study were largely unaware of the sales program
at UWRF and many people did not know what a career in sales involved. The biggest
reason that students gave in the open ended for not enrolling in the sales program was
that they already had made their choices for a major and had no intention to change it.
Recommendations
From the results of our study we have discovered that we have several main
issues when it comes to people being interested in getting a degree in sales at the
University of Wisconsin River Falls. People have a poor opinion of salespeople, they
think sales is too difficult as a career, they are unaware of the program at River falls,
and the majority students are not willing to change their major.
A solution for getting people interested in the sales program at UWRF could be
good promotional programs to prospective students, and also to freshmen and
sophomores. After this, there is not all that much point in promoting the program to
17

19. juniors and seniors because the majority of them already have made up their mind on a
major. They are unlikely to change their minds and switch their majors after their
sophomore year. Promoting the sales program to high schoolers and freshmen and
sophomores might improve their perceptions about salesmen and sales as a career.
Some ways of promoting Sales as a career option to these demographics might
include having someone from the university visit high schools and promote the program,
promote it through online venues, and have a table on campus. Since many people
choose their major after taking a few classes at UWRF, another option would be to offer
an introductory sales class where people learn about the profession so they can make
an informed decision. In the CBE 100 class at the University, professors come in and
promote career choices. This has an influence on students, they might make their
decision to join the sales program due to that.
It is difficult to change people’s attitudes and perceptions, which is why one must
promote sales as a viable career option earlier on, such as in high school or in people’s
freshman year of college.
Limitations
Sampling Error
Although we were able to draw conclusions based on the results of our sampling,
there was still error both randomly and systematically. The first possible error in our
sampling process was random sampling error.​ ​Since our survey was a convenience
sample and not a probability sample, we can not calculate the sampling error. We can
conclude however that since our sample size was small, the error must have been
large. This error was caused by our sample size and cannot be totally eliminated, only
reduced by increasing the sample size.
Measurement Error
Systematic error was evident in our sample results. Although random sampling
error can not be entirely avoided, systematic error or nonsampling error can eliminated.
One of the measurement errors that had the largest implication on our results was
18

20. nonresponse bias. As stated before, our sample frame consisted of CBE students which
was a total population sample of 1,026 students. Of the 1,026 students, only 122
respondents completed the survey. At about 12% response rate, we can only speculate
that the other 88% of those who did not respond to the survey systematically differ in
some way. This nonresponse rate includes students who could not be reached at a
particular time or unable to respond in some capacity. Since a total of 1,026 students
were sent the survey email and 122 completed the survey, we can conclude that 904
students did not take the survey. Our largest form of nonresponse bias was the item
nonresponse bias that eradicated our results greatly. Since the survey did not force the
respondent to respond to each question in order to complete the survey, our results and
conclusions drawn could be skewed. This could have been minimized by making the
survey shorter in length, making the survey more respondent friendly, providing an
incentive to the respondents, as well as conducting the survey at a better time when
people were available (e.g. not over a holiday break from school).
Another measurement error that could have limited or caused bias in our results
is measurement instrument bias. We used a Likert scale in our survey, which is widely
used and highly reliable. However, since our Likert scale had a neutral selection option,
respondents were given an easy and neutral way to avoid the questionnaire. This could
have given us limitations and bias in our results. This error could have been avoided by
a more careful and vigorous questionnaire design and pretest process.
Other Limitations
Another systematic error that is a form of sample design error that limited our
results was selection error in our survey. Since we used the entire College of Business
and Economics, graduate students were included in the survey when they were later
determined that they were not to be included in the survey. If the graduate students that
were supposed to be excluded were significantly different in regard to the variables of
interest, our sample results and conclusions could be biased. Since the appropriate
selection was not properly followed, it likely had an impact on the results of the survey.
19

21. Although we committed selection error, we later removed them from our results which
helped us reduce selection bias. This could have been minimized by developing
selection procedures that will ensure complete randomness and nonbias as well as by
developing quality control checks to make sure that the procedures were properly
followed. This could have been accomplished in the questionnaire design and pretesting
process.
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22. Appendices
Appendix 1: Data Collection Instrument
21

23. 22

24. 23

25. 24

26. 25

27.
26

28. Appendix 2: Sample of Verbatims
Our survey included the following open­ended question:
“If you answered No or Not Sure to the previous question, please explain why”
● “I worked in retail/sales for almost a decade, and currently work in a role that
supports sales. It is not something I am interested in pursuing as a profession
nor do I feel additional training in the field is beneficial to me, personally.”
● “I don't know what the program is and have never heard of it.”
● “I am not wanting to go into sales. I am wanting to take my business degree into
a different field”
● “I will only be at UWRF for so long, and want to make sure I make the best use of
that time. Although sales training would likely be beneficial, I feel that other
courses would serve me better.”
● “I'm already a junior and am only a few credits away from graduating with a
business administration and marketing degree.“
As you can see, a good portion of the open­ended responses have to do with
their interest in another profession and/or have already decided on a different major. As
shown earlier in the report, students who have already committed to a different major
was the most popular response to the open­ended njquestion. This further reinforces
the importance of exposing students to the UWRF sales program early in their
education.
27

29.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Dr. Ozcan Kilic for dedicating his time and effort into this project.
Also to Dr. Darryl Miller for his input and direction, as this project would not be possible
without them. We hope this information will be a valuable resource for the future
direction of the University of Wisconsin­River Falls professional sales program.
28

30. References
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68­80.
Ebey, G. W. (1957, June). The score with today’s seniors: Only 6% for selling, 57% for
professions. Sales Management, 21, 52­58.
Karakaya F., Quigley C., and Bingham F. (2011). A Cross­National Investigation of
Student Intentions to Pursue a Sales Career. Journal of Marketing Education 33(1) 18
–27.
Kutscher, R. E. (1990). Outlook 2000: The major trends. Occupational Outlook
Quarterly, 34(1), 3­7.
Mason, J. L. (1965). The low prestige of personal selling. Journal of Marketing, 29(4),
7­10.
Michaels, R. E., & Marshall, G. W. (2001, Spring). Teaching selling and sales
management in the next millennium: An agenda from the AMA. Marketing Education
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Peltier J., Cummins S., Pomirleanu N., Cross J., and Simon R. (2014) A Parsimonious
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and Validation. Journal of Marketing Education Vol. 36(1) 62 –74.
Simon, B. (2006, July/August). The paper (money) chase. Sales & Marketing
Management, pp. 37­40, 42.
Swenson, M. J., Swinyard, W. R., Langrehr, F. W., & Smith, S. M. (1993). The appeal of
personal selling as a career: A decade later. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales
Management, 13(1), 51­64.
Weilbaker, D. C. (2001). Why a career in sales? Careers in Professional Selling, Fall,
4­5.
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