Jorgensen Sold on Sales Through Certificate Program

Natallia Jorgensen entered the Undergraduate Certificate Program in Sales Excellence without a firm grasp of what it takes to make a sale. Upon graduating this semester, she not only gained the confidence to sell, but has a full-time job.

“The sales center has been one of the most positive experiences I had in college,” said Jorgensen, a marketing major from Omaha, Nebraska, who received the advanced sales certificate at a ceremony in Howard L. Hawks Hall to honor the 51 students receiving certificates this year. “The classes are the perfect size and are filled with students driven and willing to make connections.”

She credited professors in the sales program with magnifying her abilities by pushing her out of her comfort zone. She believes the program design allows students to gain confidence one sale at a time.

“The professors make a point to create relationships with students and aid them in any way they can both during school and beyond. They’re the most involved professors I have ever had. The things we learned carried over to all my other classes too,” she said.

Jorgensen mentioned one of her biggest areas of growth happened the first time she was challenged to venture outside the classroom. A sales class taught by Chad Mardesen, assistant professor of practice in marketing, forced her into the real world of selling.

“It was exciting but also overwhelming at first when I saw a $1,000 sales quota I had to meet. It really separates the pack in terms of those who are really interested in sales and those who aren’t. Our projects gave me hands-on experience for prospecting and trying to be comfortable enough to call people on the phone. After it happened, I felt very accomplished because it proved to me it was something I could do,” she said.

Mardesen sees the sales program becoming more competitive every year as students like Jorgensen accomplish their sales goals. Over the course of a semester, he sees students go from wide-eyed apprehension to feeling right at home making the sale.

“It all boils down to doing it themselves,” said Mardesen. “They go find the potential customer. They sit down and meet with the customer or experience the customer not getting back to them. They do the follow-up. If they experience all that themselves, then they get to stand at the top of the podium with the gold medal at the end of the day.”

For Jorgensen, her “gold medal” appeared in the form of a job with LifeLoop in Omaha, as a customer success specialist. When interviewing for jobs, she saw the impact of the sales program through the eyes of potential employers.

“Every time I brought up the sales center in an interview setting it got positive reactions. Some employers had already heard about it and knew students coming out of the sales program were top notch. That definitely set me apart from some other candidates,” she said.

To learn more about the Undergraduate Certificate Program in Sales Excellence, visit: https://business.unl.edu/sales.

Students receiving their sales certificates: