Two students from the Cal State Fullerton College of Business and Economics have competed in the second annual University of Hawaii sales competition. One of these students, Michael Butorac ’24 (marketing), won fourth place in the individual presentations. He and his fellow Titan, Brian Ho ’24 (information systems) helped the CSUF team place third in a team setting competition.

This was a role-play event with Cintas as the selling company, which provided real-world judges and buyers. Pape Material Handling, Enterprise Holdings and Bay Alarm provided funds for the students’ transportation to the event.

Michael Butorac shared with us his experience and the impact of this competition.

Tell us about this competition. What was the experience like? What did you do to prepare both personally and as a team?

Our director Brad Anderson presented me the chance to fly to Hawaii in the middle of midterms and represent my Titan Ohana [family].

In the weeks leading up to the event, our director met with Brian and me to discuss strategies for the role play that maximized our strengths.

Brian thinks direct and puts emphasis on the goal ahead, while I often think in terms of the bigger picture and take an indirect approach. Brad helped us leverage these two perspectives to balance one another.

For the individual portion, I focused on the storytelling elements and the positive impact it could make on the client’s life.

The first round of the individual portion was all about tone and ability to steer the conversation. I was selected to advance to the second round.

I was honored that I won fourth place individually and took home third with Brian. But the highest honor was in making connections with other students, hearing their stories, and making lifelong friendships on the other side of the world. We had some fierce competitors from the University of Hawaii and Chico State who were very well spoken. They taught us a lot. What I love the most is how friendly and kind they were during the competition.

In our downtime, some of the students from the University of Hawaii took me to Diamond Head Beach to do some exploring on their mo-ped. This hospitality made my three days on the island the catalyst for memories and friendships that will last a lifetime. After the competition and celebration dinner, the judges from Cintas took us all out to celebrate with Karaoke, shopping at the ABC stores, and rice bowls from McDonalds.

In the span of just three days, my Fullerton team became a family, and my competition rivals became great friends. I’m honored to have had the chance to represent our school in the middle of midterm season, I wouldn’t trade this for the world. I’m grateful to the university for encouraging us to take chances, embrace opportunities, and share our Fullerton excellence with the rest of the world.

What is one thing you’ve learned about sales during your time with the Sales Leadership Center?

My biggest takeaway so far has been that sales is all about taking care of people and helping them reach their goals. I’ve competed in San Francisco (Gallo Wine) and now Hawaii (Cintas) for the team, drastically different industries of wine and medical devices. In both spaces, I found the opportunity to connect with different people or share desires to make the world a more creative, inclusive, and impact-driven place to live.

This wouldn’t be possible without a team who believes in me. I’ve never felt so welcomed by a group on campus with how fun and crazy our meetings are. It really feels like family with how we’re encouraged to try new things and push ourselves to our limits. This is an organization that truly wants you to reach your full potential and find yourself in the process. The emphasis is never solely on winning, the emphasis is on providing value, and making the journey memorable along the way, which I think attributes greatly to our many successes the team has experienced so far.

Are you considering a sales career in the future?

I’m strongly considering a future in sales. With a background in graphic design, leadership development, and marketing, a position encompassing sales would allow me to do a lot of the institutional framework development along with gauging implementation with the client. More than anything, I want to come up with ideas, give recommendations, and make sure people are taken care of along the way.

For More on the Sales Leadership Center

From a certificate program and minor for students to opportunities for sales-oriented businesses in Southern California and beyond to source talent, the Sales Leadership Center is the sales education hub of the West Coast.

For more on the center and how to get involved, visit the CSUF Sales Leadership Center online.