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At IÉSEG, sales are not taught through theory alone. For Romain FRANCK, professor of Sales, “sales are above all a set of skills that develop through action and experience. To truly master commercial negotiation, you need to practice around thirty negotiation interviews… But how can students get that experience and train when they’re not in the field?”

To prepare students as effectively as possible, and in line with companies’ expectations, IÉSEG decided to immerse them in real-life sales scenarios—with their codes, surprises, and the tension inherent to operational negotiation—thanks to the AI platform MuchBetter.ai.

The limit of “traditional” methods: Practice… but how much?

For years, professors relied on role plays or peer-to-peer simulations. But they lacked the realism—the authentic motivation or tension that exists in a real negotiation. Inspired by top American sales schools, Romain FRANCK turned to AI-assisted negotiation tools, already widely used in major North American universities.

For several months, he explored the market and contacted many companies to test their solutions. In June 2025, he discovered MuchBetter.ai: a sales simulation tool tailored to the French context and fully customizable.

“We can configure each case, each evaluation criterion, choose the language (and even add a French accent in English), break down cases step by step, define evaluation criteria, and give each student immediate, personalized feedback,” he explains.
The platform’s playful features—gamification, rankings, weekly scoring, “podiums”—strongly motivate students, who dive into the challenge and strive to progress session after session.

A large-scale system tested in “Test & Learn” mode

To ensure the platform was suitable for learning, Romain first tested MuchBetter.ai with students from the Executive Specialized Master’s in Sales Management and Business Development.

“The first advantage is that there were fewer participants, and they were experienced sales professionals. They knew exactly what companies expect. The verdict was unanimous: they loved the exercise, and even they saw immediate value for their own professional practice. I then spent the whole summer customizing the entire course, and in September 2025, I launched this innovative module with the 1,200 students in the Bachelor cycle,” Romain FRANCK continues.

The course is built around 8 progressive sessions. The first one, intentionally destabilizing, serves as a “crash test,” pushing students to confront their weaknesses. They quickly see how far they need to go—and how they can improve.

“Then, in each session, students work on a very specific aspect of the sales interview: preparation, needs identification, argumentation, objection handling, active listening, reformulation, closing. In total, I identified more than 80 criteria the AI evaluates. These range from posture and time management to the relevance of follow-up questions and the authenticity of the exchange. For each criterion, the AI provides a precise score and, most importantly, evidence of success or failure. At the end of each session—beyond rankings and grades—the real value of MuchBetter.ai is the personalized feedback that details what students did well, what can be improved, and what they overlooked. I always keep time for a full debrief, sometimes replaying simulations with additional explanations.”

Practice at the heart of the classroom—and at home

The system allows smooth rotation in class: each student can repeat every simulation several times to practice the required skills. MuchBetter.ai also allows them to redo the exercises outside class hours.

“The most motivated students can run the simulation ten or even twenty times. Thanks to AI, motivation is never limited: each student progresses at their own pace, without waiting their turn or worrying about being judged by others. Even though all key information (product, supplier, price, main objections, customer profile…) is preconfigured, the dialogue adapts based on the student’s responses. No two interviews are ever the same,” Romain adds.

Evaluation with rigor and kindness

Students have even given a nickname to the AI voice that guiand evaluates them: Claire. “Claire doesn’t miss a thing, but she’s fair and kind,” they say. With her, even the shyest students gain confidence: they dare to try again, improve, and progress without fear of public judgment.

But does the AI also grade them? “Partly… Students are assessed based on the 80 criteria I defined. Some are clear-cut—respect for techniques learned in class, like BANT, SPIN, paraphrasing—but others are more subjective: Did they properly conduct the discovery phase? Did they ask the right questions? Did they use the answers during the discussion? Did they present arguments aligned with the buyer’s initial needs? Were they polite and professional throughout? Did they listen without interrupting? It’s impressive how well the AI captures these nuances, allowing students to receive highly personalized evaluations—something I could never do for 1,200 students! But this grade is only one part of their overall assessment. Students also complete an in-person test to validate the core sales techniques they must master,” explains Romain FRANCK.

A transferable, future-oriented methodology

Has MuchBetter.ai improved the way students learn sales techniques and made the learning experience more engaging and dynamic? “We are nearing the end of the seven sessions, and soon I’ll be able to objectively compare the crash test grades with the final session results—and even with last year’s grades under a more traditional format. I have no doubt about the outcome: I’m certain the students have progressed tremendously, and I’ll have tangible proof to show it.”

Could this approach be replicated at IÉSEG? Romain FRANCK is convinced: MuchBetter.ai could easily be adapted for job interview simulations, HR scenarios, team management situations—anything involving human or client interactions in companies.

Romain concludes: “At IÉSEG, we believe in the power of learning through action, repetition, and personalized evaluation. The corporate world expects talents who can adapt, negotiate, and analyze situations. Thanks to MuchBetter.ai and the thoughtful use of AI in education, our students are prepared, confident, and ready. For many, Claire becomes an invaluable asset from their very first job interview!”