Sales and Marketing Course Details - Fees, Subjects, Syllabus, Duration, Eligibility, Career Scope

What is Sales and Marketing

Sales and Marketing - A product can be formed, upgraded, styled by a firm but to make sure that it reaches the masses is only via the Sales and Marketing team. No business commodity can sell on its own for a very long time if there is no marketing of it. The awareness of a product or service's existence and that it reaches the correct customers, whom you are targeting as someone who needs that product or service. There are no stipulated rules for selling a service but a real-time scenario of the market with quick solutions. Nowadays, the archetype has shifted to digitalization only making it more and more interesting. The slogan remains the same as 'Maximum outreach, Maximize the sales'.

To be a professional in the Sales and Marketing department, students have many options to get the education needed and pursue their dreams. There are many certificate courses like – Marketing Management, Digital and Social Media Marketing strategy course, Sales Management. At graduation level aspirants can pursue Bachelor in Business Administration (BBA) or Bachelor in Business Management (BBM) and can specialise in marketing as it is one of the essential parts of the business management course.

After which, students who desire to gain more in-depth knowledge in Sales and Marketing, take up Master of Business Administration in marketing [MBA (Marketing)] which gives the required boost to carry it out as a career in India. 

Eligibility Criteria (UG & PG) of Sales and Marketing

Criteria for undergraduates:

• The aspirant must have completed their 10+2 examination from a recognized board in any stream.

• The candidate if they are in a general category must score at least 60% in most universities and if they are SC, ST, OBC category students then at least 55%.

• Some colleges and universities have an entrance exam, which the applicant must qualify for by attaining the required cut off scores to get admission.

Criteria for graduates:

• The aspirant must have a bachelor's degree from any stream – Science, Commerce, Management, Humanities or have a professional degree of – CA/CS/ICWA.

• Final year graduate students are also allowed to apply.

• The candidate if they are in a general category must score at least 50% in most universities and if they are SC, ST, OBC category students then at least 45% or equivalent CGPA during their graduation. 

Sales and Marketing Entrance Exams

To become an expert in Sales and Marketing, one must first get a bachelor's degree and then a master's degree. But to get into a good college one needs to clear some entrance examinations. On graduation level, most colleges consider the student's class 12th marks only. That is, if they get the cut off marks as decided by the college, he/ she can take admission. But some take a test which is mentioned below.

Some entrance tests for undergraduates are –

• Symbiosis Entrance Test (SET) – This test is organized by Symbiosis International (Deemed University) every year in May for candidates who wish to pursue Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA). They test students on English, Quantitative Aptitude, Logical reasoning and General awareness.

• Delhi University- Joint Admission Test [DU JAT] – this is a national level entrance exam conducted to grant admission to the colleges which are a part of Delhi University to pursue BBA, BMS, BA(Hons). It is organized by the National Testing Agency (NTA) every year in 20 cities in India. They test students on - English, Quantitative Aptitude, Logical reasoning and Business & General awareness.

Some entrance tests for Postgraduate program are–

• Common Admission Test (CAT) – It is the most convenient test among all MBA entrance examinations. To get admitted into the prestigious Indian Institute of Management (Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Lucknow) and Faculty of Management Science (FMS), Delhi, which are some of the top colleges for MBA (Marketing), one requires a good score in CAT exam. It takes place every year in November. It tests students based on verbal ability, Quantitative aptitude and logical reasoning.

• Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT) – To get admission in the esteemed Xavier institute, graduates must appear for this test and score a high percentage to get an interview call. With Xavier Institute of Management, Jamshedpur being the best college for MBA in marketing, this test becomes essential to take. They test students on verbal ability, quantitative aptitude, logical reasoning and general awareness.

• Symbiosis National Aptitude Test (SNAP) - It is conducted by Symbiosis International Institutes in December, every year. They test a graduate's verbal ability, quantitative aptitude, logical reasoning and general awareness. Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune is one of the top colleges to pursue MBA (Marketing).

• Narsee Monjee Aptitude Test (NMAT) – This test is conducted by Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Sciences, Mumbai every year from October to December. This is another college which provides MBA Marketing. The topics of the test are – Language ability, Logical reasoning and Quantitative ability.

Required Skillset for Sales and Marketing

Education and training are required in every industry to be able to perform well. But there are some soft and hard skills which can't be learnt by reading books or attending a lecture. These skills need to be practised with a little bit of guidance, which not only changes one's personality but also helps with organizational behaviour at the workplace, enhancing his/ her work and making it look effortless. Some of the important and required skills of a Sales and Marketing specialist are-

Communication skills – Strong verbal communication skills are needed to convince potential buyers to buy a particular commodity or service. Giving details in a concise, clear manner and painting the picture of its need in the client's life.

Analytical Reasoning – They will need to explore and analyze which group of people (based on age, a place they stay, the weather of that place) need and will want to buy the product or services being offered. They have to reason out by surveying the market and read carefully the information they have of the customers.

Creativity – Attracting clients in new and innovative ways be it promotional games or winning coupons

Handle objections – A product can and might have some drawbacks or competitors, so a marketer must have the presence of mind to handle these negatives and present it in the best possible manner else it could lose customers

Technical skills – A marketer will need to maintain excel sheets, apply social media strategies, conduct email marketing and also might use customer relationship management software.

Writing skills – Can write in proper English or any other language in a concise but correct manner, thus clearing the potential queries any clients might have. No grammatical and spelling mistakes.