FLORENCE -- Some University of North Alabama students in the College of Business' professional sales program are getting a firsthand look at what a sales job is like.

Students in the advanced sales class and others involved in marketing student organizations are selling spots on a discount card geared toward UNA students and employees.

The card -- called Mane Benefit -- is like a store discount card, but instead of giving discounts at one store, it opens up savings to multiple businesses.

The card is a key tag card and will be available to all UNA students and employees.

It is going to be the job of UNA sales students to find businesses and sell them on being part of the program. It is experiential learning that will give students the experience necessary to be a success when they enter the sales workforce, said Tim Butler, a UNA marketing professor and director of the Steele Center for Professional Selling.

"There are very few sales programs that offer the students real sales experience," Butler said. "This is that experience. It is a very different task than us generating a scenario in the sales lab."

The discount program is patterned after a program at Stetson University.

Students are being trained on the product now and have generated a list of businesses that are popular in the university community. Three packages will be offered to businesses to participate. Businesses that buy-in can pick the discount offered.

The lowest level -- $149 one time payment -- puts the business on the Mane Benefit website and provides signage that shows the business is part of the program. Higher levels include those same benefits, and social media and on-campus promotion of the business.

That revenue offsets the start-up costs for the program. Any profits will be used to promote student success through scholarships and professional conferences.

Butler said the nominal costs to businesses will be made up by increased revenue as students and UNA employees are motivated to patronize a business that is offering a discount. A local restaurant and hair salon have already signed on.

A database of 300 students has been created after just one event on campus. Students solicited contact information for those students so they will be the first to know when the Mane Benefit discount card is available.

Taylor Parker, a new sales major at UNA, said getting students to buy-in was simple for two reasons -- the discount card is free, and most students are eager for a price cut.

"Being a student myself, I don't have a lot of money," Parker said. "Students like discounts. When I went up to students, the first question they would ask is 'How much is it?' When I said it was free, they were like 'Sign me up.' Students are super eager about it."

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Sales class getting real-life training - Times Daily