The Center for Sales Strategy Brings Real-World Sales Training to the College Classroom at SUNY Brockport

Collaboration combines professional sales training with classroom application to help prepare students for careers in B2B sales

TAMPA, FL, UNITED STATES, September 14, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — The Center for Sales Strategy (CSS), a leading provider of sales performance solutions and training, is collaborating with faculty in SUNY Brockport’s School of Business and Management to bring real-world professional sales training into the college classroom, helping students build practical skills they can carry directly into their careers.

CSS created a dedicated environment for SUNY Brockport within its online Learning Lab, giving students access to specific training from the Sales Accelerator. The program moves beyond the knowledge of selling to focus on how to sell, translating sales concepts into actionable skills and a repeatable process used by professional sellers.

The online training is paired with in-person instruction led by Michael Doyle, adjunct lecturer and former Interim Dean of SUNY Brockport’s School of Business and Management. Using a flipped-classroom approach, Doyle assigns CSS training outside the classroom and uses class time to reinforce key concepts through case studies, exercises, discussion, and opportunities for students to practice the skills they are learning.

“Traditional coursework provides an important foundation of sales knowledge, but I wanted to put even greater emphasis on skills development,” said Doyle. “With the online courses from CSS, I’m able to flip the classroom—using the training as assignments and class time for case studies and exercises that bring those concepts to life.”

Doyle brings 35 years of experience in media sales and management to the classroom, retiring in 2020 as President of Sales Operations for Entercom, now Audacy. During his career, he spent years creating and delivering sales and management training and also experienced CSS training firsthand.

“I trained at CSS in the 1990s with their excellent in-person sales and management courses, so I knew the content would be great,” Doyle said. “My job is to bring that content to life with in-person case studies that allow these students to rehearse the skills they are learning online.”

For more than 40 years, CSS has worked with sales organizations to turn sales knowledge into actionable skills, processes, and behaviors that drive performance. Bringing the Sales Accelerator into the classroom at SUNY Brockport brings that experience to students earlier in their professional development, complementing their academic education with exposure to the practical skills they will use in a professional selling environment.

“Learning a repeatable sales process gives students a skill set they can carry with them from their first job throughout their entire career,” said Matt Sunshine, CEO of The Center for Sales Strategy. “We have spent decades helping professional salespeople turn sales knowledge into actionable skills, and bringing this training into the college classroom gives us the opportunity to begin that development even earlier. These students can enter the workforce understanding not just what sales is, but how to sell in a way that helps customers achieve meaningful results.”

For Doyle, that early exposure can give students an important advantage as they begin their careers. “Giving college students this head start in professional B2B sales gives them a leg up upon graduation and a great start to a sales career,” Doyle said.

BRINGING PROFESSIONAL SALES TRAINING TO HIGHER EDUCATION
The use of Sales Accelerator at SUNY Brockport demonstrates one way CSS’s professional sales training can complement sales education in a higher-education setting.

Building on this experience, CSS sees broader potential to work with faculty and programs at other colleges and universities looking to complement sales education with practical skills development and exposure to proven professional sales processes. For students, that means entering the workforce with greater familiarity with the skills and behaviors expected in professional sales environments. For employers, it creates the potential for a new generation of sales professionals who begin their careers with a stronger foundation for success.

“We would love to see more universities teaching professional sales and giving students the opportunity to practice these skills before they enter the workforce,” Sunshine said. “There is tremendous potential to connect what students are learning in the classroom with what successful sales organizations need from their people. We see this as an opportunity to help prepare the next generation of sales professionals while giving employers access to graduates who are better prepared to contribute from the start.”

The Center for Sales Strategy works with organizations to improve sales performance through talent, training, and tactics. More information about CSS and its approach to sales training is available at TheCenterforSalesStrategy.com.

ABOUT THE CENTER FOR SALES STRATEGY
Founded in 1983, The Center for Sales Strategy (CSS) has grown to serve hundreds of clients annually across a spectrum of industries. For over 40 years, CSS has focused on improving sales performance as it helps sales organizations turn talent into performance and develop the highest-performing sales professionals. Its approach to customer-focused selling and talent-focused management has always been, and continues to be, core to its clients’ success and the organization’s success. CSS is joined by LeadG2, its revenue operations agency, Up Your Culture, its employee engagement and company culture division, and Robertson Lowstuter, its executive coaching firm, to help organizations achieve total revenue performance. To learn more about The Center for Sales Strategy and its portfolio of brands, visit TotalRevenuePerformance.com.

Shaye Smith
The Center for Sales Strategy
shayesmith@csscenter.com
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