Sunlight filters through expansive windows at the Marvin headquarters in Warroad, Minnesota, as 24 students from NDSU and the University of Minnesota Duluth — dressed in their business best — file into the building. There’s an air of anticipation. They are here to participate in Marvin’s inaugural Frozen Showdown, a role-playing competition where they will practice making a pitch and closing a sale with Marvin products.
This is no ordinary sales competition. The Frozen Showdown is a representation of a top employer’s commitment to ensuring successful career trajectories for university students.
Marvin, a family-owned and -led manufacturer of premium windows and doors, is a premier partner of the NDSU College of Engineering. The Frozen Showdown is an example of its growing partnership with other academic colleges at NDSU, furthering its reach and connection with students in varying degree programs.
“By participating in a real-life sales experience, we hope to support more NDSU students in developing the skills they’ll need to be successful after graduation,” Chris Stith, Marvin’s vice president of human resources and NDSU College of Business Advisory Board member, said. “If students are willing to step outside their comfort zones and stretch themselves, they’re going to grow.”
The Marvin team has built in plenty of opportunities for the students to live, work, and play while in Warroad. The students’ two-day itinerary includes tours of Marvin’s product workshop, Warroad Heritage Center Museum, and the greater Warroad community; a Q&A with Marvin CEO Paul Marvin; and ice skating along the River Bend Skate Path on the Warroad River.
“I hope students get a real sense of Marvin’s culture and our commitment to staying engaged in the communities where we operate,” Chris said. “We believe vibrant communities and vibrant workforces go hand in hand — you can’t have one without the other.”
Marvin hosted NDSU students at their company headquarters in Warroad, Minnesota. In addition to the sales competition, students took part in immersive tours of Marvin and the greater Warroad community and participated in a Q&A with Marvin CEO Paul Marvin.
Marvin is one of 20 companies that partner with the NDSU Center for Professional Selling and Sales Technology (Sales Center) to provide students with hands-on learning experiences. The Frozen Showdown exemplifies Marvin’s unique partnership with NDSU — the company generously offered to host students at its headquarters and provided funds for their travel.
“This is a unique offering for NDSU students that, presently, no other company partner can claim,” Eric Gjerdevig, executive director of the NDSU Sales Center, said.
With support from industry partnerships and NDSU alumni across the country, Eric has fostered a thriving community in the Sales Center. This dedicated academic unit and professional hub in the NDSU College of Business offers a minor and certificate in sales. Enrollment in the Sales Center has increased from 49 to 155 students in the past three years alone.
Leading up to the Frozen Showdown, Eric met with students weekly to fine-tune strategy and build momentum. He brought in local professionals to help students sharpen their role-playing skills through practice pitches. Marvin also lent support, providing product and company details to ensure students felt prepared.
“Participation in a sales competition is not a requirement,” Eric said. “These students are giving an above-and-beyond commitment, and my hope is that they feel empowered to hit the ground running after graduation and achieve more over the span of their careers.”
With corporate partners like Marvin, NDSU students can apply what they have learned in the classroom to a real-life scenario.
Linnea Axtman ’26, one of the NDSU students competing in the Frozen Showdown, is majoring in business administration and minoring in agribusiness and hospitality and tourism management. In addition to her degrees, Linnea is pursuing a certificate in professional selling at NDSU.
“I think experiential learning is what makes a college education special,” Linnea said. “You can learn about sales principles in class, but you need to be able to put what you learn into practice and develop a muscle memory to make it stick.”
Linnea has 12 minutes to present her sales pitch to a Marvin team member posing as “Sam Smith,” the owner of Dream Homes Inc., a fictional residential building company transitioning into building high-end lake homes in the area.
Her goal? Persuade “Sam” that installing Marvin windows and doors is the best choice for Dream Homes and its clients and, next, to secure a meeting with a homeowner.
Entering her designated competition room — three judges waiting for her, one acting as “Sam” — Linnea is a little nervous, but mostly excited.
“You never know what’s going to happen, but we have put in the practice, and I feel prepared,” Linnea said. “At its core, this pitch is simply a conversation and a chance to practice my listening skills.”
Linnea shares a brief history of Marvin — a company that’s been innovating and serving customers for more than 113 years — and introduces three of the main selling points she has identified in Marvin products: innovative technology and quality, endless options for customization, and an industry-leading warranty.
“Sam” is highly talkative and introduces objections — like concerns regarding the price point — but Linnea always comes back to value.
“I felt a little crunched for time,” Linnea said. “We’re taught to ask open-ended questions, but I had to adapt and choose which questions were going to be most effective and redirect his answers to keep the pitch moving forward.”
In her mock pitch, she shares that while Marvin products cost more than Dream Homes’ current supplier, the company’s clients would receive a higher-quality product. The current supplier’s products are vinyl and have a much shorter life span than Marvin’s offerings.
Unlike vinyl windows and doors — made from thermoplastic materials that expand and contract with changing weather — Marvin’s fiberglass products remain stable, maintaining their structure regardless of temperature. Notably, Marvin’s Ultrex® fiberglass is eight times stronger than vinyl.
After highlighting the value Marvin windows would bring to “Sam” and his company’s projects, Linnea acknowledges his concern that switching window suppliers can be a hassle. However, she presents a thought-provoking question: If Dream Homes is constructing high-end homes, why wouldn’t the company want to use high-quality windows?
She encourages “Sam” that this decision should be about the overall quality of the project and the longevity it offers to homeowners. This is a long-term investment.
The judges name Linnea as a finalist in the competition, and she moves on to the second round. She has secured a meeting with “Mr. Miller,” a Dream Homes client building a lake home in Brainerd.
Linnea Axtman ’26, a Frozen Showdown finalist, delivers her sales pitch to a Marvin employee posing as “Sam Smith,” owner of fictional Dream Homes Inc., in round one of the competition.
The next morning, Linnea and the eight other finalists are led upstairs while the rest of the Frozen Showdown attendees watch them interact with “Mr. Miller” — played by Chris — via a conference room camera.
“It’s powerful to give students the opportunity to take what they have learned in a classroom setting, synthesize it, and apply it to a real-life sales experience, especially under pressure,” Chris said. “I love giving back and supporting students. For me, that’s what playing ‘Mr. Miller’ is about.”
Again, Linnea has 12 minutes to present her sales pitch. Her goal this round is to secure “Mr. Miller’s” trust in Marvin as a project partner and convince him to move forward with utilizing Marvin fiberglass windows.
She speaks with a calm confidence and maintains composure and a conversational tone, even as “Mr. Miller” introduces unexpected disruptions, like stalling to search for his glasses in his bag’s many pockets or interrupting the flow of the meeting by attempting to make a phone call.
“You can try to plan as much as you want, but being able to think on your feet and adapt, that’s the fun part,” Linnea said.
“Mr. Miller” has objections as well, which include the price point of the windows. Without missing a beat, Linnea confidently says, “We don’t sell on price; we sell on value,” promising better overall quality for his family’s dream home, a longer-lasting product, and the capability to customize design and size — a popular reason homeowners choose Marvin products.
There is a brief pause in the conversation — “Mr. Miller” is clearly impacted by her words. He nods and says that he, too, values quality. Linnea inquires, “Are we good to move forward?” He says yes.
Linnea stands, thanking her newest client for his time and trust in her and Marvin to create his dream home. She walks downstairs and is met with applause and encouraging words from Eric, her mentor and professor, and the other students.
One by one, the finalists finish their sales pitches. The room that was once quiet and attentive to the viewing screen quickly fills with conversation. Linnea and her teammates’ faces are a tapestry of triumph, relief, and maybe a touch of uncertainty as everyone waits for the judges to deliberate.
Linnea is awarded third place — an impressive achievement in her first-ever university-level sales competition.
The competition may be over, but its impact lingers. Convinced that the technical skills will come with time, Linnea reflects that the Frozen Showdown has been a chance to hone her interpersonal skills.
“Being responsible for a sales pitch and feeling confident talking to people — that’s what this experience provides,” she said. “The real-world practice, networking opportunities, and confidence building will stick with me when I leave.”
She wants to keep her career options open, but she says that experiential learning opportunities help her determine if a specific career path is right for her.
“This competition pushed me out of my comfort zone and emphasized the importance of asking thoughtful questions,” Linnea said. “This helped me tailor my presentation to focus on what the customer would value most.”
Her takeaways from the inaugural Frozen Showdown are profound — the challenges she faced helped build her confidence, refine her sales skills, and experience the impact of a company that puts its values into action.
“Marvin invests in their people, they invest in their community, and they invested in us by providing this opportunity,” Linnea said. “They set the bar high as an employer.”
As the students prepare to fly home, their minds race with possibilities. They leave Warroad not just as competitors but as future professionals and, hopefully, with a clearer vision of the career trajectories that lie ahead.
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