What I Learned from Helping Students and Partners to Make Connections Online

Resiliency is center stage and should be the word we use to describe 2020.

Resiliency is connected to being proactive when building a sales talent pipeline. At our college Job Fair, our ESSPS Partners/UTISC Sponsors had 50% more students at group sessions and 60% more students at 1-1 sessions compared to an average company who is not a partner/sponsor. Half of the top 10 for 1-1’s were ESSPS Partners (4 were dual on ESSPS and UTISC), and half of the top 12 for group sessions were ESSPS Partners (3 were dual on ESSPS and UTISC). Between being able to take on new interns in the summer last minute when other companies cancelled their internships and going into this fall already knowing who the best candidates are for summer 2021 internships and entry level positions that start January 2021 and beyond, UTISC Sponsors were in a good place. That 4 year collegiate sales talent pipeline from one national event is paying off even more.

Timing is excellent to try new things. When will we ever have an opportunity where customers and colleagues alike have to do online with limited grumbling or risk being literally isolated and lost? Not everything we did was new, but the areas where we scaled up were new to some students, partners, and colleagues.

Students and partners want interactions that are:

1. Structured and Unstructured - having set times and a formal agenda ensures the interaction flows smoothly and that the number of interactions will be sufficient. Structure is paramount for table talks, role plays, coaching sessions, etc. That level of focus helps people to plan, however many people still long for open networking. Zoom's upgrade to 5.3.0 made that possible with breakout rooms that can be self-selected by the participants. Not everyone upgraded though, however we planned for that and had our Admins manually move people into the breakout room of their choice. Breakout rooms were company based for portions of our Internal Sales Competition (ISC) and Networking Night, and we will do company based and university based for our national sales competition (UToledo Invitational Sales Competition, UTISC).
2. Group and Individual - some students like the safety of a group setting for a table talk or info session, and partners like sharing their knowledge and opportunities with as many students as possible. The time does come for 1-1 interactions in the form of an interview, coaching session, or catching up. Weaving both formats into Internal Sales Competition (ISC) and Networking Night was well received and effective for students and partners.

Communication is key regardless of the event size and complexity. We found that calendar invites with key pieces of information on the inside were the blessing that everyone needed so they could confidently and accurately transition to the next part of an event. We still did confirmation and reminder emails.

1. Zoom link
2. Description of what is happening during that interaction (structured/unstructured, group or 1-1, workflow of what to expect and when)
3. Attachments and/or links to supplemental information like a prospect profile, judging evals, or full event information
4. Customer service contacts (live video, phone, email)

High performing students are mostly still high performing and engaging well. Some of them need a little extra encouragement and guidance to help them understand and prepare for engaging online. Students at this level also tend to be eager and honored to help their peers, and our new webinars that feature expert panelists who are students, partners/sponsors, and faculty/staff have helped to inspire and shape students while connecting them to peers, partners/sponsors, and faculty/staff.

Most students struggled (or are still struggling) with staying focused and engaged. Most of it is due to lack of time management skills and a sense of community as they realize how much they relied on the communication and connections that being on campus and/or at the office afforded. Now students are navigating multiple platforms with varying levels of expectations and clarity from professors and employers. Other common obstacles are financial issues, mental health, and access to reliable internet if they venture off campus. The struggle is more pronounced for underrepresented minority students and those who are Pell Grant eligible.

That joyful smile on a student's face when they win a competition, get a good job offer, complete their role play, etc and that in-the-pocket demeanor of our partners as they hit their stride touches me so much deeper than it did before because I know much harder they had to work and that they had to do some self-talk to get there. They are experiencing their "becoming," and I get to be a part of that. It's special.

People appreciate having food they like show up at their home or office and get even more excited about the food because the pictures on the Grubhub website are well done. Using the allowance required a bit more patience and communication as it was only valid during the time of the event, some account setup emails went to junk, and the algorithm was wonky at times tagging items as alcohol or non-food (and therefore making the order ineligible for the allowance; ineligibility reasons do not appear on screen to let the customer know).

Geography is less important online and opened up ways to engage partners and alumni who typically would not travel to campus. While online has been on the table before with certain engagements, it was typically overlooked or not feasible to run in parallel. Having alumni talk to graduating seniors who already had jobs about what to think about and do next was so meaningful for the students and alumni.

My colleagues, especially our lab team and Sales Ambassadors, are awesome. Our shared goal of customer first and mindset of continuous improvement were in place long before the pandemic and helped ensure we could still deliver.

I always talk about needing time, talent, and treasure to accomplish objectives. However, I was not giving proper credit to another important "T". Trust. Trust is the bond that brings the time, talent, and treasure together. I am blessed to have the trust of our students, partners, and colleagues. We are dancing in the rain together, and will be enjoying the sunshine again together.