University of Toledo Invitational Sales Competition (UTISC)

UTISC Sponsor Information

Finding Top & Available Sales Talent - FIRST!

Smart companies are recognizing that younger college students have the skills, coachability, and confidence, and they want to find tomorrow’s super stars FIRST. Cast your organization into the rich waters of the UTISC for a higher probability of offer acceptance. Avoid the frustration of trying to snag seniors who already have accepted jobs or have multiple offers on the table.  The UTISC is the first and only national sales competition to focus exclusively on the non-senior!

• Think interns!
• Identify top talent sooner
• Interview top students

UTISC juniors are next year’s seniors, and UTISC sophomores are next year’s juniors. 

Receiving a sales talent pipeline that can deliver immediately and throughout 4 years gives sponsors the insight and ability to make offers in a variety of timelines (freshman through senior). That kind of adaptability is valuable and allows sponsors to develop an impactful relationship with these top sales students via internship, micro-internship, mentorship, corporate preview day, and otherwise staying in touch.

Sponsors also play an active role in growing university sales program enrollments nationwide as UTISC serves as a recruiting tool for universities to attract new students. The students drawn to UTISC are exceptional, and a number go on to be semi finalists or finalists and/or peer coaches at future national sales competitions. Find them first at UTISC!

The 5-part results report sponsors receive at the end of UTISC shows the rankings for students and universities on 1) role plays, 2) engagement, and 3) total (role play + engagement) along with 4) composite role play scores for each student and round so sponsors can have a more comprehensive picture of collegiate sales talent.  A 5) custom report on engagement check-ins so sponsors can see which students came to their company’s career fair table, social flight school, development blocks, coaching/interviewing sessions, and play-by-play are also provided.

RETURNING SPONSORS AND DUAL UTISC/ESSPS SPONSORS

Priority within their sponsorship level when it comes to Development Block selections, Coaching/Interviewing Session and Play-by-Play groupings, and placement (Career Fair table, Sponsor Book, website) 

Premier UTISC sponsors also enjoy special bundles that include ESSPS Corporate Partnerships to ensure that select companies have streamlined and easier access to the very best that UToledo offers in sales talent recruitment while playing a critical role in developing next generation sales talent. 

UTISC Rocket Includes ESSPS Platinum

• Industry exclusivity
• Company used as example in 1 social scene at Social Flight School  
• ESSPS Gold +
  • 1st class speaking registration window
  • More VIP Options, Open Networking Brunch tickets, Real Deal Real Choices blocks, Pi Sigma Epsilon (PSE) Epsilon Delta (ED) points
  • Dedicated/private room for Sales Connection and Corporate Coaching Sessions

UTISC Glass Includes ESSPS Gold

• VIP Option once a year.  Exclusive Engagement just for your company or Beyond the Booth after college job fair.
• Internal Sales Competition (ISC) with Sales Connection
• Social Flight School
• Corporate Coaching Sessions – new juniors, 2x/year
• Class speaking registration window – 2nd
• Advisory Board Meetings
• Pi Sigma Epsilon (PSE) Epsilon Delta (ED) – Base + 3 points

---

Universities Participating

Universities receive either a Full Access or Development invitation:

• Full Access - 36 universities who will bring competitors (role play and social media) and possibly alternates and/or peer coaches
• Development - universities who will bring learners and competitors (social media)

A select group of high school students will be at UTISC to learn and observe.

UTISC is likely to have 120-170 students not including the 50+ students who are helping to run UTISC!

See the top universities that are competing 

---

Making Connections

Sponsors will be making connections throughout the entire UTISC with Social Flight School, Development Blocks, Career Fair, Coaching/Interviewing Session, Play-by-Play, Social Media Competition, and more (16 opportunities exist).

---

Sponsor Preparation

Attendee registration, development block preference survey, and any job postings and event flyers are due January 31, 2027.  Please refer to Logistics for a complete run down of all important dates and the event agenda.

Sponsor Registration 

Development Block Preference Survey 

Launchpad

Access to Launchpad/Teams is for registered attendees and key university and sponsor contacts.  You will receive an email from Microsoft Teams that you have been granted access to the team (ie: Launchpad).  The following channels are helpful when you view their Files/Shared tab.  Please note that access to each channel is based on your role and sponsor level.

• General - Individual Assignment Schedules, Comprehensive Assignment Schedule, CARLOS link, program booklet, career fair layout, play-by-play folder with rookie and all star videos, and preparation folder with sales skill videos, judge eval sheet, and prospect profile.  Comprehensive Assignment Schedule has a tab for counts and names of students in development blocks (DB), coaching/interviewing sessions (CI), play-by-play (PBP), and social flight school (SFS).  Role Play Schedule is the back page of your Individual Assignment Schedule and is in CARLOS.  Results and pictures shared here after the event.
• Role Play Archive - videos from previous year
• Student Resumes - resumes for UTISC students and select workers and university attendee contact list
• Buyer Preparation - private details for the prospect profile and best practices video 

Resumes for the competitors, alternates, learners, and helpers will be sent to the sponsors who get resumes as part of their sponsorship 2 weeks prior to the competition.  University contact list, development block topic assignments, and career fair layout also sent at that time to all sponsors.  

 

Coordinating Your Team

Sponsors are recommended to bring a team of 6 or more people so that students and sponsors both get the best experience and value.  Sponsor attendees will serve as judges and also get to interact with top and available sales students during the development blocks (Blue sponsors and higher), coaching/interviewing sessions (Blue sponsors and higher), buying, Career Fair, and much more.  UTISC has 16 connection opportunities!  We recommend a blend of Sales and HR professionals with more on the sales side to better connect with these top sales students.  All attendees agree to adhere to a professional code of conduct.

• At least 3 people onsite is required because of the elements that happen in parallel and the predominant onsite modality of the event. 
• *Limited online options as long as there are at least 3 people onsite total and 1 of them is in the development block.
• Development blocks could be done effectively with 1-2 sponsor facilitators (number of students in a block range from 7-10); more are welcome to engage
• UTISC Sponsors who are also ESSPS Corporate Partners should plan on having 1-2 of their attendees leave UTISC early on Thursday so they have coverage at the ESSPS Social Flight School that is happening on the same day in the building next door.  ESSPS Corporate Partnerships are separate from UTISC Sponsorships.

	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Meet the Teams	6	N/A	N/A
Orientation	6	N/A	N/A
Social Flight School	6	N/A	N/A
Development Blocks*	N/A	2	N/A
Coaching/Interviewing Sessions	N/A	2 - same from dev block	N/A
Judging*	N/A	1	6
Buying	N/A	1	Only product/service sponsor
Career Fair	N/A	2	N/A
Entertainment	N/A	# varies by sponsor	N/A
Play-by-Play	N/A	N/A	6
Awards	N/A	N/A	# varies by sponsor
Total Headcount	6	6	6

 

For information on the exclusive and extensive sponsor benefits for the UTISC, please contact ESSPS Director, Deirdre Jones, at 419-530-2978 or Deirdre.Jones@utoledo.edu.

Learn more about how the ESSPS aligns with businesses.