NASCO Awards 2015 on July 24

by Rohana Jayalal

The Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM) will hold its premier event, the National Sales Congress (NASCO 2015), dedicated to sales personnel, on July 24 at the Waters Edge, Battaramulla.

The event will recognise and reward the efforts and performance of the sales personnel across the country. Entries close on June 11.

A press briefing in this connection was held at Hilton Residence Colombo recently.

The NASCO awards will be presented by the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing for the 15th consecutive year in 15 diverse business sectors. Territorial managers, sales executive, sales supervisors and front liners are recognised under each business sector.

In addition to Gold, Silver and Bronze awards, the Best Female is also recognised under each category. Organisations can nominate up to two people under territorial managers for the sector, four under sales executive sales supervisors, and seven under front liners.

NASCO 2015, Head of Judges, Stephan Paulraj said that the objectives of NASCO are to raise the standard of sales professionalism, recognise and reward the performance of sales professionals in Sri Lanka.

The organising committee is expecting at least 350 entries this year.

SLIM President Ruwan Liyanagamage said, "We have come to a juncture where it has become difficult to find sales personnel and retain them. This problem has become a major issue for the marketing fraternity."

"When it comes to finding sales people, it was more difficult to find people who understood the subject and were able to carry out sales duties," he said.

"As the national body of marketing we have a great responsibility on our shoulders to ensure that we train sales personnel properly to be competitive in the market.

NASCO 2015 is a great platform where we can work together to improve the capacity of the sales force," Liyanagamage said.

"The awards recognises, motivates and nurtures the sales fraternity by enhancing their learning curve in salesmanship. It also facilitates cross industry sales learning, imparts greater exposure to sales professionals, builds confidence and comprehensively develops leadership and presentation skills," he said.

NASCO 2015 Advisor to Panel of Judges, Group Director, Ceylon Biscuits Limited, Nandana Wickramage said, "The respect for sales personnel was going down many years ago. When businesses kept on growing, everyone wanted to find people at the lowest possible cost to sell their products."

"The sales profession should be valued by the people. Some people say that sales professionals sell products by lying.

That perception should be changed. Sales personnel are people who are honest and could go up the ladder, and there is a period where a sale representative can perform at his best," he said.