Where Talent Meets Opportunity
Our goal is simple: prepare students with the skills, confidence, and experience to compete and succeed in today's business environment.
Whether students pursue careers in sales, business development, marketing, customer success, consulting, entrepreneurship, partnerships, or revenue operations, the ability to communicate and influence effectively is a competitive advantage.
Learn It. Practice It. Compete at It.
At the Sussman Family Sales Institute, students do more than study sales concepts. They put them into action.
Students practice customer discovery, questioning, relationship building, negotiation, objection handling, executive communication, and presenting solutions in realistic business situations.
The classroom becomes a place to experiment, compete, receive feedback, and build confidence.
Students also explore how emerging tools, including AI, CRM platforms, and modern sales technology, are changing how organizations identify customers, build relationships, and drive growth.
Compete. Learn. Grow.
Competition is becoming a central part of the Sussman Family Sales Institute experience.
University of New Haven students have already represented the University at Bryant University's National Individual Sales Competition (NISC), competing in live sales scenarios alongside students from universities across the country.
That experience helped shape what we are building today: a dedicated UNH Sales Competition Team and a structured pathway that gives more students the opportunity to compete.
Beginning in the classroom, students participate in sales challenges and qualifying rounds focused on discovery, questioning, objection handling, relationship building, and executive communication. Top performers have the opportunity to earn a place on the University competition team and receive additional coaching from faculty and industry professionals.
For Fall 2026, UNH will return to Bryant University for NISC with a dedicated competition team. The Institute is also looking to expand participation into additional regional and national collegiate sales competitions as the program grows.
Our vision is to build a University of New Haven Sales Competition Team capable of competing with the best collegiate sales programs in the country.
Bringing the Real World Into the Classroom
The Institute connects students directly with the people and organizations practicing sales every day.
Industry professionals participate as guest speakers, mentors, coaches, judges, and partners, giving students access to perspectives and experiences that cannot come from a textbook alone.
In Spring 2026, the Institute partnered with ARBURG to create a live B2B sales role-play competition. Students competed individually in realistic customer conversations, advancing through multiple rounds and receiving direct feedback from business professionals and industry judges.
The Institute plans to build the UNH competition into an annual signature event, bringing together students, employers, alumni, business leaders, and corporate partners.
Experiences like these are central to what we are building.
Building Confidence Through Competition
For us, competition is about much more than winning.
From elevator pitches to live B2B role plays, students are challenged to communicate without relying on a presentation, respond to unexpected questions, tell their story, and make a connection.
Students learn how to prepare, listen, think on their feet, perform under pressure, respond to feedback, and communicate with confidence.
Those skills last long after the competition ends.
Connecting Students With Industry
One of the Institute's most important goals is to create meaningful connections between students and the business community.
Corporate partners can engage with students as guest speakers, coaches, mentors, judges, and competition partners while also developing relationships with emerging talent.
As the Institute grows, we want those relationships to lead naturally to mentoring, internships, networking, interviews, and full-time career opportunities.
From the Classroom to Careers
Ultimately, the success of the Sussman Family Sales Institute will be measured by what happens to our students.
We are building a stronger pipeline between the classroom and careers through competitions, employer partnerships, mentoring, internships, networking, and hands-on experiences.
Our long-term vision is to make the University of New Haven a destination for students who want to develop the confidence and commercial skills to succeed in business and a destination for employers looking for their next generation of sales talent.
When employers think about emerging sales talent, we want them to think about University of New Haven students.
Student Spotlight
A Modern Approach to Sales Education
Today's sales professional looks very different from the salesperson of the past.
Modern organizations need people who can understand customers, use technology intelligently, communicate complex ideas simply, develop relationships, negotiate effectively, and help organizations grow.
The Sussman Family Sales Institute is being built around that reality.
Areas of emphasis include:
- Consultative and strategic selling
- Customer discovery
- Negotiation
- Business development
- Executive communication
- Relationship building
- Ethical persuasion and influence
- CRM and sales technology
- AI-assisted research and preparation
- Customer success
- Strategic account development
- Revenue growth
Northeast Intercollegiate Sales Competition
Aurora Sherman ’27 and Sharon Varughese ’26 share how competing in the Northeast Intercollegiate Sales Competition pushed them outside their comfort zones and opened new opportunities. Their reflections highlight how hands-on learning and faculty support help develop skills and influence career directions.
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Innovative Program Empowers Students Through Peer Support and Goal Setting
Entrepreneur David Sussman partnered with the University of New Haven to pilot Uccountability, a program designed to strengthen student success through structured peer accountability. Students from the first cohort shared the far-reaching impact of their experiences.
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Local Entrepreneur Makes Seven-Figure Gift to Support First-of-its-Kind Sales Institute at University of New Haven
David Sussman, chief visionary officer of The Family Security Plan®, a second-generation Connecticut-based insurance business, is making a significant gift to support the development of a pioneering space in the planned new on-campus home of the University of New Haven’s Pompea College of Business, which is scheduled to break ground later this year.
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Bring Your Competitive Side
You don't have to arrive at the University of New Haven thinking of yourself as a salesperson.
You need curiosity. You need a willingness to learn. And you need the courage to step outside your comfort zone.
We'll help you build the rest.
Learn. Practice. Compete. Connect. Grow.