How to Build a Future-Ready Salesforce in Consumer Goods Industry?

Sales is a ubiquitous process across industries and sectors, so is the profession. All companies want sales professionals to sell their products and services to prospective customers and ensure consistent growth. The sales staff are the backbone of the FMCG and consumer goods & service sector as the products are non-durable and fast-moving. Only a competent professional can implement an effective sales strategy.

The consumer goods industry is one of the fast-growing industry and India’s fourth-largest sector. The trade is expected to grow 20-25% per annum and the market is set to grow 9-10% this year. The relaxations in the FDI norms in the consumer goods retail industry has encouraged investment. Between 2000-2020, India witnessed US$ 16.28 billion FDI inflow.

Demand for skills

The growth of the industry also sees an increase in talent requirement. The sales as a key role give many opportunities in the consumer goods industry. As and when the Indian market is widening by expanding to the rural market, the industry needs sales professionals from diverse backgrounds with abilities to sell the products to rural clients. The consumer goods market is very dynamic and undertakes innovations and development in products on a daily basis to compete with the market pressure from other companies.

Furthermore, industry 4.0 is an age of disruptive technologies to replace many manual processings and operations. The companies are hugely investing to incorporate artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), data science, information of things (IoT) and robotic process automation (RPA). In the era of these cutting-edge technologies, the workforce must be more agile and innovative. Also, the companies have a great role to build such workforce by upskilling new and current staff.

The modern sales is becoming smart along with digital advancement. The salesforce must also be smart enough to explore these developments. This highlights the significance of a modern curriculum with innovative modules and hands-on training. In consumer goods sales, individual career growth solely depends on the skills rather than academic qualifications.

Upskilling with Manipal ProLearn

Manipal ProLearn Sales Academy of Excellence is a great place for upskilling the employees in the consumer goods industry. The training in the Academy aims to build such talents who are ready to solve typical challenges for distributed field sales. The programs here covers sales and order management, inventory management, field marketing management, sale-force productivity and field sales operations in order to increase the efficiency.

Other benefits the Manipal ProLearn Sales Academy of Excellence provides include

ü  Higher Revenues due to Sustained training interventions Visibility to field-sales efforts

ü  Inventory optimization across the distribution value-chain

ü  Fast, easy & timely communication and engagement on offers to distributors and retailers

The Academy offers an end-to-end training process for the newly onboarding sales staff. The Sales Academy assess the selected candidate and give four-week on-campus residential training on the customized syllabus as specified by the client company. Later the candidates are given a six-month on-job-training in locations as per client priorities with remedial support before final assessment and certifications. Following the successful completion of the program, the candidates are recruited at the client organization. This model can be extended to companies looking for varied roles including trained hires across industries.

The training program for sales officers includes sales functional and sales behavioural modules. These comprehensive modules are delivered in classrooms in a hands-on training session. The Academy also provides training across the stages of the sales and distribution cycle such as sales route management, pre-sales activities, distributer management, inventory tracking, order booking, logistics management, order delivery & return, invoice & collection, campaign execution and offer management.

In short, it is imperative to modernize the sales force to meet the growing necessities of the consumer goods industry. A group of capable sales staff can drive their companies to success in the future.