Sales 101: The B2B Sales Classroom

About Sales 101: The B2B Sales Classroom

Sales 101: The B2B Sales Classroom helps college professors teach sales with confidence by bringing the latest insights from industry leaders, students, and educators. Hosted by Donald C. Kelly and Dr. B.J. Allen, co-authors of Professional Selling and Advanced Selling published by Stukent and used in over 90 universities, the show delivers ready-to-use assignments, strategies, and real-world examples to assist professors as they equip the next generation of sales professionals.

Publisher

Donald C. Kelly & Dr. Bj Allen

Category

business · education · education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

2 Dec 2025

Latest episode

23 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

46 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   23 Sept 2026

   The Simplified Way To Manage Deals For New Sellers | Donald C. Kelly & Dr. BJ Allen - 44

   A sales pipeline with seven stages sounds thorough until a new rep is staring at it, unsure what to actually do next. This episode breaks down a framework used with an enterprise client that cuts the whole thing down to three buckets, changing how a new seller thinks about their entire pipeline. Why a Long Pipeline Overwhelms New Sellers The framework came out of watching an enterprise sales team manage huge deals without a clear sense of where anything actually stood. Following CRM tasks day to day gives a rep a to-do list, not a real view of their pipeline or control over it. The traditional pipeline collapses into three buckets: create, advance, and close. Create covers deals that aren't real yet, advance is where most of the active work happens, and close is where a deal actually converts. How the Three Buckets Work Without Replacing a Sales Cycle This isn't a replacement for a professor's existing sales cycle or CRM stages. The full pipeline still exists underneath. The three buckets give a rep a mental model on top of that detail, so they always know where a deal sits without getting lost in every individual stage. In the advance bucket especially, every deal needs a valid next step. Without one, that deal isn't advancing. It's stalling. Turning the Framework Into a Classroom Activity Give students a real-life scenario, like a prospect stalling during discovery, and have them work out their own strategy for moving that deal forward. Students then role-play their strategy with a classmate, practicing the same critical thinking a professional seller uses every day. The same exercise works for the close bucket too, using scenarios where a deal is nearly done but something unexpected threatens to derail it. Why Simplicity Produces Better Pipeline Accuracy BJ shared a story of a VP of sales who forecasted her pipeline within one percent accuracy, a level most sales leaders never come close to. That kind of accuracy comes from reps who deeply understand their own individual pipeline, not from a complicated system nobody fully tracks. Simplifying the framework for students isn't about dumbing it down. It's about giving them a structure they'll actually use once they're in a real sales role. The Bigger Point for Professors Teach the full pipeline stages students will see in a real CRM, but also teach the conceptual version underneath it: the constant question of what needs to happen to move this deal forward. This is the exact thinking a new rep will use with their own accounts, not just a classroom exercise. "There's so much value in anything you can do to simplify the process for students." — Dr. BJ Allen Resources Check out the courseware built with Stukent: (https://www.stukent.com/higher-ed/professional-selling)Professional Selling (https://www.stukent.com/higher-ed/professional-selling) and (https://www.stukent.com/higher-ed/advanced-selling)Advanced Selling and Sales Management (https://www.stukent.com/higher-ed/advanced-selling) Visit the (https://sales101podcast.com/)Sales 101 podcast website (https://sales101podcast.com/) for more episodes

2. 

   16 Sept 2026

   From VHS to ChatGPT: How Mike Martin Uses AI to Teach Real Sales Conversations | Michael Martin - 43

   What started with students bringing VHS tapes to class has now become AI-powered sales practice. Mike Martin has been teaching sales for about 24 years, and he has watched technology change almost every part of how students practice. But the goal has stayed the same: give students a chance to practice sales conversations before they have to handle them with a real buyer. In this episode, Mike shares how he moved from VHS-recorded role-plays to using ChatGPT for cold calls, objection handling, empathy practice, and more. He also explains why AI should support sales education without replacing the human interaction students still need. From VHS Tapes to ChatGPT Mike started using recorded role-plays when students had to bring VHS tapes to class. Students recorded their sales conversations from a single camera view. Mike could review the recordings, while students could also watch themselves and learn from their performance. As recording technology changed, the process moved from VHS to digital. Generative AI has now created another way for students to practice sales conversations. Using AI to Practice Cold Calls Mike's main use of AI is giving students a chance to practice cold calls. Students prepare before starting the conversation: Choose a product or topic to sell. Define who they are and what they are selling. Build a value proposition. Identify three or four selling points. Prepare for likely objections and responses. Students use a shared AI prompt so the exercise is consistent across the class. The goal is to get a meeting or earn the opportunity to make a presentation, rather than close the sale. Teaching Students to Handle Resistance Mike can instruct the AI buyer to be more or less resistant. A more resistant buyer forces students to work harder during the conversation. In one exercise, students had to sell their degree to an AI buyer that was instructed to push back. The resistance made students work harder and gave them more practice handling difficult conversations. Students can also practice privately instead of making their first attempt in front of their classmates. Using AI to Teach Empathy Mike also connected AI role-play to research around empathy in sales. Students completed sales calls and then repeated the exercise using more empathetic language. This gave them a chance to compare their approaches and think about how they communicate with buyers. The exercise shows how AI can create repeated practice around specific sales skills. Giving More Students Access to Practice Not every student has the same access to sales or interview experience. Mike teaches students in Northwest Kansas, including students who may have fewer opportunities to practice professional conversations outside the classroom. AI gives students another way to practice regardless of their location. They can make mistakes, review what happened, and try again without needing another person available for every practice session. AI Should Support Human-to-Human Selling Mike does not see AI as a replacement for real sales conversations. Students still practice with other people in class. AI provides another practice environment, but students still need to learn how to respond to real people. Mike also stresses the importance of trust. Students can recognize when AI is being used poorly. They need to know the technology is helping them learn, not simply making the professor's work easier. Professors Need to Practice Too Mike learned an important lesson when he first demonstrated the AI exercise himself. He had not prepared enough and found that the demonstration was harder than expected. His advice to other professors is simple: practice the assignment yourself before giving it to students. Test the prompts, work through the exercise, and make changes based on what happens. Popular quote: “I think you definitely have to figure out where’s the best place and don’t become over-reliant on it.”

3. 

   9 Sept 2026

   No Travel Budget, No Problem: How Virtual Sales Competitions Open Doors | Scott Hachey - 42

   Every year, I hear from professors who've got students ready to compete and no way to get them there. Dr. Scott Hachey stopped waiting on a bigger budget and rebuilt the competition itself, and now schools that never had a shot at this are showing up to play. Episode Breakdown Ten Years Selling Before He Ever Taught a Class Scott spent close to a decade in sales across agriculture, hospitality, and retail before finishing his PhD. Teaching a single sales course turned into a chance to bring that industry background straight into the classroom. He now teaches Professional Selling and Sales Management at Cal State Fullerton, and he's looking to grow the program from here. Building a Competition Around Access, Not Necessity Scott didn't launch his virtual competition because of the pandemic. He built it in 2025 to fix a permanent problem. Travel and hosting costs shut a lot of students out before they even get a chance to compete, especially students working jobs while they're in school. With his department chair, dean, and outside sponsors behind him, the competition is heading into its third year this spring. Inside a Competition Day In the weeks leading up to the event, students go through two to three online training sessions, with the sponsor joining to walk through the sales scenario. On competition day, each student gets their own time slot and a private Zoom link into a role-play room with a live buyer. About five judges watch each round with their cameras off, and students only interact with the buyer, never with the judges directly. Why This Format Reaches Students Others Miss The strongest response has come from schools with no dedicated sales program funding, often a single professor trying to give students real competition reps on their own. Scott connects it to his own career in agriculture sales, where he sold to buyers worldwide with no travel budget at all, phone and video selling weren't optional, they were the job. Even students used to in-person events have to relearn the basics on camera: checking the mic, confirming the camera's on, the small habits virtual selling demands. The Honest Limits of Going Virtual Scott doesn't dress up the rough patches. The first year included Zoom rooms shutting down mid-competition. He's upfront that virtual can't replace the hallway conversations and networking of an in-person event, and he still ranks in-person as the top-tier experience. Growing the format to more schools depends on university IT keeping pace, which rarely moves as fast as anyone teaching a live class would like. The Hockey Connection Behind the Sponsorship Scott is originally from Canada, and his love of hockey led him directly to the LA Kings, headquartered close to Fullerton. What started with the Kings' AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign, grew into a full partnership with the NHL organization. One Piece of Advice for Anyone Starting From Nothing Scott's advice to new sales professors: find others doing interesting work and reach out. He's found the sales education community quick to help. He's actively recruiting more schools, judges, and student teams for the next competition. "We wanted to create a competition that would provide access to students who don't go to a school with a sales program." — Dr. Scott Hachey Resources Connect with (https://www.linkedin.com/in/scotthachey/)Dr. Scott Hachey (https://www.linkedin.com/in/scotthachey/) on LinkedIn Learn more about the (https://business.fullerton.edu/engagement/sales-leadership)CSUF Sales Leadership Center (https://business.fullerton.edu/engagement/sales-leadership) and the Titan-Mania Virtual Sales Competition Interested in our courseware? Check out (https://www.stukent.com/higher-ed/professional-selling)Professional Selling (https://www.stukent.com/higher-ed/professional-selling) and (https://www.stukent.com/higher-ed/advanced-selling)Advanced Selling and Sales Management (https://www.stukent.com/higher-ed/advanced-selling), built with Stukent Visit the (https://sales101podcast.com/)Sales 101 podcast website (https://sales101podcast.com/) for more episodes

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