The Rhody Rainmakers, COB’s professional selling club and sales team, took first place in the team competition at Selling with the Bulls. The event, hosted by the Center for Marketing and Sales Innovation at the Muma College of Business, University of South Florida, is widely regarded as the toughest test in sales education. Selling with the Bulls combines employer networking and engaged scholarship with multiple go-to-market student competitions: Cold Call Prospecting, Quick Pitch, and Field Sales Conversation, and Sales Case Study. Schools were divided into two flights based on the size and prior experience of their respective sales programs. URI competed against teams from all 20 schools* in its flight.

The Rhody Rainmakers team, comprised of all marketing students, also took home several individual awards, including:
•Michael Albanese won the Overall Individual Competition for performance across ALL events and also took home first place in the Quick Pitch and Cold Call Prospecting events;
•Ben Grossman won the Cold Call Prospecting Email competition; and
•Zach Johnson placed fifth overall in the Cold Call Prospecting competition.

The team, led by Professor Jonathan Ross Gilbert with assistance from MJ Miniati (an alumna volunteer), was comprised of the following students: Michael Albanese , Ms. Kelly Blake, Ben Grossman, and Zach Johnson.

* The 20 participating schools included: Bryant University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida State University, Indiana State University, Kansas State University, Northern Illinois University, Pace University, The College of St. Rose, Tuskegee University, University of Central Florida, University of Florida, University of North Florida, University of Northern Iowa, The University of Rhode Island, University of South Carolina, University of South Florida, University of South Florida – St. Petersburg, University of Tampa, University of Wisconsin – Whitewater, and Winona State University