sales degree associates

 

A Little History

 

 

Sales Degree Associates was founded in 2007.  It was as result of demand by Business and Academia to find a way to develop and source results driven sales candidates with a formal education in the skill of sales. 

 

SDA was founded by Jim Brown.  Jim is a professional sales executive with years of experience in sales and sales management.  He recently founded and was Executive Director of the Russ Berrie Institute for Professional Sales at William Paterson University in New Jersey, USA. 

 

Jim was selected to develop this program by Russ Berrie CEO of Russ Berrie Corporation and Arnold Speert President of William Paterson University.  During the announcement ceremony Russ Berrie said "Sales is the driving force behind every successful company.  You could have the best product, the best management, the best IT group or the best lawyers, but none of them will be the machine that catapults the company to unusual success unless you have the sales team out there knowing how to make the sale."

  

It would become the first degree program of its kind in the US.  The Russ Berrie Institute represented a unique partnership between the private sector and higher education.  In business nothing happens until someone sells something. 

 

 

The cost of recruiting, training and developing a professional salesperson in business to business sales is well over $100,000.00.  Business today cannot afford the trial and error associated with this antiquated method of recruiting.  Universities can provide the experience and knowledge necessary for success in sales. 

 

Only a dedicated student will stay with the years of presentation, critiques and consistant video recording that are part of the sales curriculum
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                 Jim Brown

 

Prior to founding and developing the first Bachelor of Science Degree in Professional Sales in the United States at William Paterson University, NJ, Jim founded and was CEO of the Ardmore Group, Inc., an international consulting firm with offices in Ho-Ho-Kus NJ.  He also founded and was the first VP-Sales of National Accounts at ADP.  Jim has served on the board of directors of the Strategic Account Management Association, National Sales Hall of Fame and is a graduate of Manhattan College NYC.

 

His experience in sales has been shared at many business conferences over the years and he is a frequent speaker on the topic of sales effectiveness.  He has appeared on television numerous times and most recently on the Steve Adubado show, speaking on the need for sales professionals and the reasons behind the success of the program at William Paterson University NJ.

 

He has has been interviewed on radio and in print media such as Selling Power, Sales and Marketing Management and Velocity Magazines.  He is a frequent speaker at the Strategic Account Management Association.

 

He has developed, trained and restructured sales organizations at firms such as AT&T, IBM, ADP, Johnson & Johnson, Pacific Gas & Electric, Unisource, Eastman Kodak, First Data, Dale Carnegie, Keyspan Energy, Owens-Corning, Ricoh Corporation, Dun & Bradstreet, Lucent Technology, NCR, Oppenheimer Funds, Stolt Transport, Royal Bank of Canada, Sovereign Bank, Wells Fargo Bank and Xerox.