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Personified Promotion
- EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS: the most popular and also the most perplexing source
of sales manpower are the colleges. College graduates are recruited because of the desire by
management to upgrade the sales force to meet the growing sophistication of the market. The
college graduates background in training such as business and engineering. Management
thinkings; that the advantage of college graduate recruits may be useful because of their
poise, maturity, character, persistence and exposure to social life. The grade record of the
graduate can provide some indication of mental capabilities, the ability to accomplish set
tasks and the aptitude for training or school. The employer may have a top management
job in field sales in view, thus college graduates are thought to have good qualities for top
jobs in sales management.
Limitations in this source arose from the fact that college graduate’s attitude toward sales
job are not nearly favourable because of some misconception by the graduates about the
job. These misconceptions can be categorized as follows:
• POOR IMAGE: Salesmen are described as maladjusted, shallow and insincere.
• UNREWARDING INTELLECTUALLY AND CREATIVELY: Selling is characterized as
simply manipulation for personal gain. The financial rewards involved in selling are
considered a poor substitute for a sense of accomplishment.
• DULL, MONOTONOUS ROUTINE: The sales job is monotonous and repulsive in
personal tone. A job as salesman would be a waste of four years of college.
• ILL SUITED FOR THE JOB: College graduates don’t feel qualified to sell; they feel they
are not extrovert enough to get the sales job done.Fresh college graduates don’t usually stay with their first job thus resulting in high labour
turnover for the employer. College sources increase the possibility of over-qualification, that is,
the hiring of candidates who far exceed the minimum requirement of the selling job. Such new
recruit may find the routine of selling job boring as a result he becomes ineffective on the job.- EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES: this is another prime source of sales manpower which is
very useful where the designated manpower need is urgent and preliminary screening is
desired. Candidates register their names with agency who screens and fits them into listed
employment. thus, making the employment process quicker. Agencies tend to specialize in
an area of labour employment; therefore, sales personnel can be recruited in an agency that
specializes in listing sales personnel. Agencies can serve well where a prospective employer
wishes to remain anonymous.