Sales Promotion Executive Career Information

Strategies include competitions, free gifts, money-off coupons, two-for-one offers, sales incentives and token collection. These may reach the consumer in retail outlets, at events and exhibitions or text messaging. Promotion programs may involve direct mail, telemarketing, television or radio advertising, catalogs, exhibits, inserts in newspapers, Internet advertisements, Web sites, in store displays, as product endorsements and special events.

Purchase incentives may include discounts, samples, gifts, rebates, coupons, sweepstakes, and contests. Sales Promotion Executives also direct the firm's sales program. They assign sales territories, set goals and establish training programs for the sales representatives. Other functions of the Sales Promotion Executive include advising the sales representatives on ways to improve their sales performance.

In large, multi-product firms, they oversee regional and local sales managers and their staffs. Sales Promotion Executive are also responsible for maintaining contact with dealers and distributors. They analyze sales statistics gathered by their staffs to determine sales potential, inventory requirements and monitor the preferences of customers. Such information is vital to develop products and maximize profits.

Promotion executives are involved in devising, developing and implementing ideas for promotional marketing campaigns, with particular responsibility for ensuring the smooth running of a campaign and coordinating the diverse activities that contribute to it.

Responsibilities of a Sales Promotion Executive:

Sales promotion executives are key players in the organisation of sales campaigns. It is their responsibility to ensure that the work is proceeding according to plan, to keep everybody else involved in the campaign informed and up to date and to provide central administrative support to the team. This is the normal entry-level position for new graduates, reporting to an account manager. Such executives’ tasks typically include:

• Briefing other agency staff, such as creative teams and production departments

• Liaising with clients, other agency staff, external suppliers of goods and services

• Researching ideas, clients and markets

• Attending meetings and brainstorming sessions and reporting back

• Monitoring the progress of work and producing status reports

• Writing and proof-reading copy

• Costing supplies and projects and compiling budgets

• Preparing and checking invoices and bills

• Maintaining information on projects and clients

• Assisting in the preparation of presentations to clients

• Carrying out a variety of other administrative tasks

Working Conditions: Substantial travel and long hours, including evenings and weekends, are common. Working under pressure is unavoidable when schedules change and problems arise but deadlines and goals must still be met.

Attendance at meetings sponsored by associations or industries often is mandatory.

The need also arises to travel to national, regional and the local offices as well as to the various dealers and distributors. Job transfers between headquarters and regional offices are common, particularly among the sales promotion executives.

Job Opportunities:

College graduates with related experience, a high level of creativity and strong communication skills have the best job opportunities. Those who have new media and interactive marketing skills will be particularly sought after.

Computer skills are vital because interactive marketing, product promotion and advertising on the Internet are increasingly common. The ability to communicate in a foreign language may open up employment opportunities in many rapidly growing niche markets around the country, especially in large cities.