Loe helps students step up to the plate in sales
In the late 1970s and early 1980s‚ Dr. Terry Loe helped lead the Mississippi State University Bulldogs to a pair of fifth−place finishes in the NCAA Division I College World Series. Two decades later‚ Loe is passing along the lessons he learned as a catcher to his students in the Michael J. Coles College of Business.
Georgia
(May 25, 2004) — In the late 1970s and early 1980s‚ Dr. Terry Loe helped lead the Mississippi State
University Bulldogs to a pair of fifth−place finishes in the NCAA Division I College
World Series. Two decades later‚ Loe is passing along the lessons he learned as a
catcher to his students in the Michael J. Coles College of Business.
Baseball taught Loe the importance of teamwork and discipline‚ and it also gave him
the confidence to keep going to the plate‚ no matter what the outcome of the last
at−bat. Most importantly‚ it instilled in him a burning desire to achieve that continues
to pay dividends‚ long after he traded in his college spikes for a spot in a local
over−38 league.
“I was a decent athlete‚” Loe says. “And all the students here have enough intelligence
to do well. But the reason I did well is because there was no way anyone was going
to work harder than me.”
Today‚ Loe endeavors to drive that point home to his students‚ noting that sales is
“kind of like owning your own business. If you work hard enough‚ you get rewarded
for it. If you don’t work‚ you starve.”
Sales‚ as an academic discipline‚ only recently began gaining a foothold as a serious
course of study for college students‚ as opposed to a trade to be learned at a vocational
school. Kennesaw State University is one of a handful of institutions at the forefront
of this movement‚ and in his dual role as a faculty member with a passion for ethics
and the associate director of the Center for Professional Selling‚ Loe is helping
to lead the charge.
“It’s kind of a push−pull kind of phenomenon where businesses needed it and wanted
it and I think were asking for it‚ and a number of us who are in the discipline were
drawn to it because we see a lot of things that need to be done at this level in preparing
students for a career that had not been done‚” he said. “When I was coming through
in the ’70s‚ sales was mentioned for about an hour my entire academic career.”
That’s not the case at Kennesaw State‚ where sales is a major focus within the business
curriculum and the National Collegiate Sales Competition — which Loe developed at
Baylor University in Texas before bringing it to KSU in 2003 — is a growing showcase
for students hoping to make a name for themselves in this lucrative field.
Executives from many different companies are drawn to the annual event‚ just as professional
baseball scouts congregate at the College World Series. The 2004 competition brought
representatives of 32 different institutions to Kennesaw State in late March‚ and
when the smoke had settled‚ the KSU team of Rhonda Fleming and Heather Reimer finished
second overall‚ with Fleming emerging as the individual champion.
“What we teach in sales — it’s a lot of relationship principles that are involved‚”
Loe explained. “In our relationships‚ we have to trust people‚ and we have to be
able to communicate. And in that‚ you have to have integrity and honesty. And those
are the things that we teach our students.
“Really‚ the most successful sales people are those who are in it to help other people‚”
he continued. “It ’s like any other profession: If you really enjoy what you’re doing‚
if you see some purpose in it‚ you’re going to do a better job.”
A leader in innovative teaching and learning, Kennesaw State University offers more than 150 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees to its more than 41,000 students. With 11 colleges on two metro Atlanta campuses, Kennesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia and the second-largest university in the state. The university’s vibrant campus culture, diverse population, strong global ties and entrepreneurial spirit draw students from throughout the region and from 126 countries across the globe. Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-designated doctoral research institution (R2), placing it among an elite group of only 6 percent of U.S. colleges and universities with an R1 or R2 status. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu.