Advancing Sales Education & Research in Canadian Universities

Dr. Karen Peesker and the Ted Rogers Sales Leadership Program are pleased to host the first Canadian University conference on Advancing Sales Education and Research in Canada in conjunction with Dr. Wendy Cukier from the Diversity Institute at Toronto Met, Dr. Maria Rouziou (external link, opens in new window)  and Jean-Luc Geha (external link, opens in new window)  from HEC Montréal and Eric Janssen (external link, opens in new window)  from Ivey Business School.

This conference will provide a platform for university sales educators to come together to advance and improve sales research at Canadian universities, set and actively monitor sales program standards, enhance sales curricula, and ultimately provide students with the best possible practices to succeed in a career in sales. The 2022 Conference will be the first of its kind on advancing and developing sales education in Canadian universities and will be hosted at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Toronto Metropolitan University in Toronto, Ontario.

Between May 9-10, 2022, top Canadian university sales educators and industry professionals will converge to create and share new knowledge regarding sales industry-driven challenges in the digital economy, while ultimately considering how the structural changes of the sales industry will impact educators, students and professionals. Along with keynote speakers, there will be eight engaging presentations by sales professors, two industry panels with leading sales executives, a breakout session with many opportunities for connection, as well as networking along the way. The conference will take a collaborative approach that works to engage students and professionals to go outside their comfort zone, bridge the gap between theory and practice and work together to create sales research that will be useful and relevant.

This conference will have professors and speakers from across Canada come together. We will also have industry leaders from the Canadian Professional Sales Association (CPSA) and top sales-driven organizations, including Microsoft, LinkedIn and DHL, who will provide industry insights and facilitate industry panels to actively engage with professors and sales educators to expedite new research projects.

The conference will contribute to a dynamic idea exchange between sales industry leaders, professors and students to further enhance the existing curriculum in Canadian universities through new research. It will also help to restructure future curriculums to be focused on working within the digital economy. In addition, the conference provides an invaluable networking opportunity for sales industry professionals and educators with the goal to provide meaningful and industry-specific research on education to better transition students from university to the job market.

The research that will be investigated regarding sales education programs will contribute to growth in the Canadian sales industry by examining the vital sales skills that need to be explored by students early on, so they are prepared to enter a field that is experiencing vast structural changes. This project will support and extend work both qualitatively and quantitatively on sales leadership skills for the 21st century and emerging economy.

• HEC Montreal
• Ivey Business School, Western University 
• Queen's University
• Memorial University
• Guelph University
• Cape Breton University

• Wilfrid Laurier University
• McMaster University
• University of New Brunswick
• Florida State University
  
• Toronto Metropolitan University