Development of an Engineering Sales Program with Industry

Iowa State University recently established a program in technical sales for engineers. To develop the program, faculty and administrators reached out to an industrial advisory committee comprised of organizations with a vested interest in the program; the organizations that hire students from the College of Engineering for career tracks in technical sales and marketing. The instructor used a combination of various sales techniques and strategies, from established technical sales programs to frame the syllabus for the course. A detailed course structure, with an associated lesson plan will be presented. A review was conducted of peer institutions with similar technical sales engineering programs included the University of Florida, and Penn State Erie - The Behrend College.