Answer to Question #188175 in Management for PAS

Question

a) Write notes on : Qualities of sales manager ( Please give at least 10 qualities with elaboration)

b) Differentiate between personal selling and advertising. ( Please give at least 10 points for difference)

Answer 1

A good sales manager should possess the following attributes;

1)     Should lead by example; it will make juniors be accountable, push them out of their comfort zone and be able to challenge them to do more.

2)     Should be Loyal; He/she should make his staff know that he/she is on their side and sincere.

3)     Should have passion in his/her work; it helps in leading and inspiring a team.

4)     Should be a person of high Integrity; this means doing the right thing all through and the staff will emulate.

5)     Should have a positive attitude. It’s up to a builder’s leadership to put smiles on the faces of the sales team and set the tone for the company.

6)     Should be a coach; Seventy per cent of a sales manager’s time should be spent coaching, either in groups or one on one. With this, he/she can delegate duties to undertake training junior staff.

7)     Should be available; this requires more of being able to work with the sales team than the paperwork at the office.

8)     He/she should have intrinsic motivation, implying that he should be more self-motivated than waiting for external forces to motivate him.

9)     Should be involved in Continuous learning because they need to be up to date with the current market changes to offer a vision to the sales team.

10) He/she should be good at listening and communication.

Differentiate between personal selling and advertising.

Firstly, personal selling is the verbal communication of the message, to one or more customers, so as to create sales while Advertising is one of the widely used techniques of promotion, wherein modes like television, radio, newspapers, internet, etc. are used for creating demand or interest of the customers towards the product or services offered by the company.

Secondly, Personal selling is a two-way communication while advertising is one-way communication. Thirdly, personal selling conveys a message to a few customers only in relatively high time while advertising conveys a message to end number of individual in less time. Fourthly, personal selling uses Sales personnel while advertising uses mass media.

Fifthly, personal selling facilitates direct and instant feedback while advertising lacks direct feedback. Lastly, personal selling is a personal form of communication and uses a push strategy while advertising is an Impersonal form of communication and uses a pull strategy.