What Hiring Managers Wish Sales Professors Knew | Greg Zippi - 16

Are we preparing students for what hiring managers actually look for today? Traditional approaches can set graduates up for unnecessary hurdles when classroom learning isn’t connected to real-world expectations. Joining us in this episode is Professor Greg Zippi, who shares his journey into sales education and why he built his curriculum on research-based methods to better prepare students for today’s workforce.

Meet Professor Greg Zippi

1. Greg Zippi is a veteran sales and marketing leader with over 30 years of experience building and scaling B2B software companies.
2. He was an early employee at Oracle and later helped grow Omniture, which Adobe acquired in 2008 to form the foundation of its Experience Cloud.
3. After retiring from full-time operating roles, Greg transitioned into teaching and now serves as an adjunct professor at Brigham Young University, where he has taught Advanced Professional B2B Selling for six years.
4. His work focuses on data-driven, research-backed sales principles that prepare students for real-world success.

Building a Research-Based Curriculum

1. Dr. BJ Allen and Professor Zippi found that students benefit most when taught using SPIN Selling and Challenger frameworks instead of traditional textbooks.
2. Professor Zippi explains that these frameworks were chosen for their strong research foundation and their evolution alongside modern sales practices.
3. Together, we discuss the importance of teaching both theory and practical application, giving students the skills they need to succeed in real-world sales roles.

Centering the Buyer’s Journey

1. Professor Zippi explores how to move from a seller-focused approach to a buyer-centered sales process.
2. He explains why understanding each phase of the buyer’s journey helps build trust and close deals.
3. To strengthen student skills in each phase, he suggests letting them do role-playing exercises with real products. This way they can get hands-on experience before leaving the classrooms.

Differentiation & Competitive Positioning

1. Professor Zippi shares data that 79% of buyers can’t tell the difference between anyone they spoke to during their sales process.
2. How can new sellers position themselves as the prime choice among everyone else, especially when competitors are involved? Professor Zippi shares techniques for framing them as the go-to seller without bashing anyone.
3. He also shares how he likes to do a “mentor” assignment in his classroom. Students practice analyzing strengths, vulnerabilities, and differentiation of a product along with a seasoned professional. This provides students with hands-on experience in competitive positioning.

“We spend a lot of time figuring out how to differentiate ourselves. I wanted to make sure the students understood how to take that off the table and how to avoid being seen as the same as everybody else out there. That’s really important.”- Professor Greg Zippi

Resources

Contact Professor Zippi by email [e-mail] and about questions on this episode or to discuss sales teaching further.