CSS brings sales training into SUNY Brockport classrooms

The Center for Sales Strategy is working with SUNY Brockport’s School of Business and Management to blend online sales training with in-person classroom work for students preparing for B2B sales careers. The partnership is designed to give students practical experience before graduation and give employers entry-level hires with more job-ready skills.

Why it matters: - The partnership gives SUNY Brockport students early exposure to professional sales methods before they enter the workforce. - CSS is using the classroom to teach a repeatable sales process, not just sales theory. - The program could help graduates start B2B sales jobs with more practical experience and a stronger foundation. - Employers may gain access to new sales hires who are better prepared to contribute from day one.

What happened: - The Center for Sales Strategy is collaborating with faculty in SUNY Brockport’s School of Business and Management. - CSS created a dedicated environment for SUNY Brockport inside its online Learning Lab. - Students are getting access to training from CSS’s Sales Accelerator program. - Michael Doyle, an adjunct lecturer and former interim dean at SUNY Brockport, is leading the in-person classroom portion. - The course uses a flipped-classroom model, with students completing CSS training outside class and using class time for exercises and discussion.

The details: - The Sales Accelerator is designed to move students beyond knowing what selling is and into how to sell. - Classroom sessions include case studies, exercises, discussion, and practice of the skills covered online. - Doyle said the online courses allow him to emphasize skills development and use class time to bring the material to life. - Doyle has 35 years of experience in media sales and management. - Doyle retired in 2020 as president of sales operations for Entercom, now Audacy. - Doyle said he trained at CSS in the 1990s and was already familiar with the company’s sales and management courses. - CSS has worked with sales organizations for more than 40 years to turn sales knowledge into actionable skills, processes, and behaviors. - The company was founded in 1983. - CSS says the training complements academic education by exposing students to the practical skills used in professional selling environments. - The company also said more universities teaching professional sales could help students practice before they enter the workforce. - CSS’s broader brand portfolio includes LeadG2, Up Your Culture, and Robertson Lowstuter.

Between the lines: - The collaboration reflects a broader push to make business education more applied and job-specific. - CSS is extending its sales training model from corporate learning into higher education, which could widen its pipeline and brand reach. - SUNY Brockport is using a practitioner-led format that may be more directly tied to employer expectations than traditional lecture-only coursework. - The move also signals that sales education is evolving toward skills practice, process discipline, and career readiness.

What's next: - CSS sees potential to expand similar partnerships with other colleges and universities. - The company wants more programs to connect classroom learning with the needs of sales organizations. - Students in the SUNY Brockport program will continue building skills through the online and in-person format. - CSS says the goal is to help prepare the next generation of sales professionals while giving employers better-prepared graduates.

The bottom line: - CSS is taking a corporate sales training model into higher education, and SUNY Brockport is using it to give students a head start in professional B2B sales.