A career in Sales and Marketing as well as Business Development requires rigorous client-focus. It is fast-paced as well as highly rewarding. If you have chosen Sales and Marketing as your specialization in MBA and are looking forward to march up the ladder of career success, you will have to be highly self-motivated and try to build long-term and renewable relationships with your clients.

5 Bytes for Career in Sales and Marketing

1. Importance of Metrics:

Number crunching comes almost automatically to some while other are wary of it with and think that it stifles creativity in those who deal with marketing. Metrics are important to understand where a business is going and when and how to take action. If implemented correctly, it can in fact enhance creativity and help you take bigger risks. However, data quality is very important to make sense out of all the measurements and analysis. Strategic decisions about data standardization, data integration and data management can be your key to quick wins and put you ahead of your peers.

Epoch Research Institute India Pvt Ltd offers a 2-month SAS Business Analytics Program that focuses on Data Management & Reporting. Institute of Applied Statistics & Quality Management too offers a Post Graduate Diploma in Applied Statistics & Data Management (PGDASDM).

2. Social Media Syndrome:

Time and again, a new technology creeps into the market and becomes ‘hot' with Gen Next. But the charm fades with time and it becomes just another fad going around. Social media is just one more communication channel. Whether it will work or not for your business depends on how well you know consumer behavior of your target audience. You do not have to just do what everyone else is doing. Think before you leap.

3. Consumer Segmentation and Buyer Personas:

One of the most important tools for B2B marketing or even B2C marketing is thinking about your target customer and add details to his or her persona. The minutest details you visualize in your buyer personas prove important in figuring out consumer segmentation for your business. It also helps you to deal with your buyers at a more emotional level. Dig in deeper and reach out to people's subconscious.

4. Revenue Performance Management:

Whether it is a B2B business or a B2C one, meeting revenue objectives is very important for those who want to make a mark in a career in Sales and Marketing. This is where Revenue Performance Management comes into play. Irrespective of what industry you are entering, the basics about revenue performance give you an unfair edge over others.

5. Riding the Whale:

Making changes in organizations are often whale-sized projects and require a lot of commitment and patience to tame. Patience and their ability to pursue an objective is one thing that sales and marketing personnel are expected to have almost as much as their knack of handling and influencing people. Having a good network of other sales and marketing professionals in and out of your organization, and learning from their successes and failures will help you position yourself better and feel better at times too.

Learn more about how to make a Career in Sales and Marketing with us.

Source: Ruchi Shrimali (Shiksha Team)

Date: 8th June, 2011