Every year, I hear from professors who've got students ready to compete and no way to get them there. Dr. Scott Hachey stopped waiting on a bigger budget and rebuilt the competition itself, and now schools that never had a shot at this are showing up to play.

Episode Breakdown

Ten Years Selling Before He Ever Taught a Class

  • Scott spent close to a decade in sales across agriculture, hospitality, and retail before finishing his PhD.
  • Teaching a single sales course turned into a chance to bring that industry background straight into the classroom.
  • He now teaches Professional Selling and Sales Management at Cal State Fullerton, and he's looking to grow the program from here.


Building a Competition Around Access, Not Necessity

  • Scott didn't launch his virtual competition because of the pandemic. He built it in 2025 to fix a permanent problem.
  • Travel and hosting costs shut a lot of students out before they even get a chance to compete, especially students working jobs while they're in school.
  • With his department chair, dean, and outside sponsors behind him, the competition is heading into its third year this spring.


Inside a Competition Day

  • In the weeks leading up to the event, students go through two to three online training sessions, with the sponsor joining to walk through the sales scenario.
  • On competition day, each student gets their own time slot and a private Zoom link into a role-play room with a live buyer.
  • About five judges watch each round with their cameras off, and students only interact with the buyer, never with the judges directly.


Why This Format Reaches Students Others Miss

  • The strongest response has come from schools with no dedicated sales program funding, often a single professor trying to give students real competition reps on their own.
  • Scott connects it to his own career in agriculture sales, where he sold to buyers worldwide with no travel budget at all, phone and video selling weren't optional, they were the job.
  • Even students used to in-person events have to relearn the basics on camera: checking the mic, confirming the camera's on, the small habits virtual selling demands.


The Honest Limits of Going Virtual

  • Scott doesn't dress up the rough patches. The first year included Zoom rooms shutting down mid-competition.
  • He's upfront that virtual can't replace the hallway conversations and networking of an in-person event, and he still ranks in-person as the top-tier experience.
  • Growing the format to more schools depends on university IT keeping pace, which rarely moves as fast as anyone teaching a live class would like.


The Hockey Connection Behind the Sponsorship

  • Scott is originally from Canada, and his love of hockey led him directly to the LA Kings, headquartered close to Fullerton.
  • What started with the Kings' AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign, grew into a full partnership with the NHL organization.


One Piece of Advice for Anyone Starting From Nothing

  • Scott's advice to new sales professors: find others doing interesting work and reach out. He's found the sales education community quick to help.
  • He's actively recruiting more schools, judges, and student teams for the next competition.


"We wanted to create a competition that would provide access to students who don't go to a school with a sales program." — Dr. Scott Hachey

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