Role Play Procedures
PSLS 3440 Sales and PSLS 3080 Purchasing
Role Play Basics
- Role plays are EXPERIENTIAL EXAMS, and students are responsible for being prepared and on time
- Information on the role play selling and buying organizations is online
- ESSPS serves 180-210 students and administers 180-240 role plays each semester for the PSLS 3440 Sales and PSLS 3080 Purchasing classes alone. Role play procedures are necessary for a positive student experience and to maintain an efficient and effective administration.
- Role plays take place in the Huntington Sales Lab located in Savage Business Complex (SB) 4200 (or online via Zoom, Watch Going Virtual Guide) and can be administered during the days/hours when the sales lab team (typically the ESSPS Program Coordinator) is present and an appointment has been confirmed via online role play registration or make-up procedure. The modality of the role play is determined by the modality of the class (ie: onsite students role play onsite, and online students role play online).
- Showing up at the sales lab (or Zoom) without a confirmed appointment means that the role play may or may not be able to be administered as the ESSPS Program Coordinator works on a variety of projects to support the ESSPS
- The ESSPS Program Coordinator, Ammi Jamerson (ammi.jamerson@utoledo.edu) runs the sales lab technology and is available Monday/Wednesday 9:00-2:00 and Tuesday/Thursday 12:00-5:00 during fall semester.
Role Play Registration
- Sellers are in PSLS 3440 Sales, and Buyers are in PSLS 3080 Purchasing
- Most role plays take place during class times for PSLS 3440 Sales ensuring that students have one set of role plays during their sales studies that align with their class schedule
- Sellers are expected to sign up for the role play slots that align with their PSLS 3440 Sales class time so as to not take a slot away from another Seller from a different class. Online Sellers may signup for the slots that are outside of hybrid and onsite class times. Same rules apply for Buyers from PSLS 3080 Purchasing. Refer to class schedules to see days/times and modalities.
- The slot that a student signs up for is their day/time slot for BOTH Information Gathering and Proposal Presentation
- Sellers sign up first and must sign up before the deadline shared in class. Failure to signup by the deadline will result in the professor signing the Seller up for a role play slot and a possible point deduction to the Seller's role play grade. The professor will email the Seller with this day/time, and the Seller is expected to do their role plays on that given day/time.
- Buyers sign up second and can only sign up for the slots where a Seller has been scheduled. Buyers also have a deadline to signup that will be shared in class. Failure to signup by the deadline will result in the professor signing the Buyer up for a role play slot and a 25% deduction to the Buyer's role play grade. The professor will email the Buyer with this day/time, and the Buyer is expected to do their role plays on that given day/time.
- Registration for role play times is handled during class or within class communications based on the professor and class modality. Scheduling has a deadline for Sellers and then for Buyers so that all students and faculty/staff involved can prepare accordingly. Scheduling could be done on a first come, first serve basis, so it is imperative that students pay attention to class instruction, syllabus, and emails.
- For Zoom role plays, Zoom links are posted in Blackboard by the professors
Role Play DAy
- Dress business professional (ie: suit). Sellers lose 10 points, and Buyers lose 25 points for not dressing professionally.
- Arrive no later than 15 minutes before your role play is scheduled to start. This is important so that the sales lab team has ample time to check students in and students have time to center themselves.
- Upon arrival, quietly enter the sales lab and check in with the sales lab team member in SB 4200G Control Room who is administering the role plays. Or, wait in one of the nearby classrooms as the sales lab team will do rounds to check students in. Students in Zoom could be in the waiting room for as long as 10 minutes.
- Once checked in, that indicates that you have less than 15 minutes until your role play starts. Do not stray far.
- Students will have 15 minutes for their role play. For Information Gathering, students will receive a 1 minute warning knock, and for Proposal Presentation, students will receive a 2 minute warning knock. For Zoom, warning knocks are a meeting broadcast alert that will appear briefly and discretely on the screen.
- Sales lab team will line up that time slot's Buyers first and then Sellers second. For Zoom, both are checked in at the same time.
- If a student arrives late to their scheduled role play slot, they have the remaining time to complete their role play. Ex: If the role play is scheduled for 4:00pm, and the student arrives at 4:07, the student now has only 8 minutes to complete their role play. Students who miss their role play slot or are impacted by that missing student, need to follow the Role Play Make-ups procedure below. Sellers who are late lose 10 points; Buyers who are late lose 25 points.
- Sellers who are a no show lose 50 points; Buyers who are a no show lose 50 points
- Sellers turn in their Sales Call Guide to either the sales lab team after their role play or to their instructor. Please refer to your professor's instructions.
- Once the role play has finished and the Sales Call Guide is turned in (if required by professor), the students are free to go
Role Play Make-ups
- At the end of each role play day, the sales lab team will send a list to the PSLS 3440 Sales and PSLS 3080 Purchasing professors of who was not present for their role play, late, not dressed professionally, etc.
- It is the responsibility of the student who missed to provide documentation to their professor for the reason they missed. It will be up to the discretion of the professor to decide if the student is allowed to do a make-up role play and if there are any points deducted for needing a make-up. Missing a role play is a 50 point deduction for Sellers and Buyers. The professor will email the student who missed and Cc the sales lab team with their approval for a make-up. Reasons for a make-up with no points deducted typically include car accident on day of role play, hospitalization of the student, and death in the immediate family. Reasons to be denied a make-up or granted a make-up with points deducted typically include oversleeping, forgetting, not showing because the student was not prepared, couldn't find parking, etc.
- Once granted the approval to schedule a make-up, it is the responsibility of the student who caused the reschedule to reach out to their respective seller/buyer and the ESSPS Program Coordinator to coordinate a day/time that works for all involved parties. Sellers/Buyers need to respond within 24 hours of emails so a reschedule can be scheduled in a timely manner. There is no guarantee that anyone in the sales lab (or Zoom) will be available to administer the role play if the ESSPS Program Coordinator is not kept in the communication loop at all times.
- Make-ups must be completed within 1 week.
- If the information gathering role play is not completed within 1 week, the student who caused the reschedule will receive one of the following (as selected by their professor): a zero for their Corporate Coaching Session and Post Call Analysis (as no coaching or analysis can take place without a role play to review) and a request for proposal (RFP) with no follow-up communication to base their proposal, a zero for their role play (experiential exam), a role play with another student (if applicable, using that student's RFP or a professor provided generic RFP), a role play with their professor, or other faculty determined solution. Students who role play with their professor may also have additional points deducted depending on the situation. The impacted seller/buyer counterpart student will do one of the following (as selected by their professor): use their other information gathering role play as the basis on the proposal role play (only applies for students who are a seller or buyer twice), complete their role play with another student who is willing to step in, or role play with their professor.
- If the proposal role play is not completed within 1 week, the student who caused the reschedule will receive one of the following (as selected by their professor): a zero for their role play (experiential exam) and Post Call Analysis, an incomplete course grade (with intent to finish or retake class during intercession or next semester), a role play with their professor, or other faculty determined solution. Students who role play with their professor may also have additional points deducted depending on the situation. The impacted seller/buyer counterpart student will do one of the following (as selected by their professor): use their other proposal role play for the grade (only applies for students who are a seller or buyer twice), complete their role play with another student who is willing to step in, or role play with their professor.