We are the first Wisconsin business school to use it. Housed in an individual carrel the ICV unit consists of a personal computer videodisc player, video camera and recorder, and touch screen monitor. The unit resides in a small, soundproof room located in Schneider Social Science building. Sophisticated software and the ICV's touchscreen monitor enables the student to interact with the video customer. As a result, a miscue on the student's part will result in some sort of immediate repercussion-just as it would in a real sales call.
Students have the opportunity of practicing in privacy and as many times as they wish.
Later, this tape can be reviewed for feedback purposes by the student and for instruction. Our acquisition of two software packages, one for sales presentations and a second for sales management, is an added benefit. We plan to use the first software program in the Professional Selling course to give students increased opportunities to sharpen presentation skills and to experience a greater variety of selling situations than they would normally encounter in a typical classroom environment. Because professional selling is not a prerequisite for Sales Management, students lacking sales principles can learn selling techniques by working on the unit outside of class. The sales management software program will help students develop managerial skill.