Qualities to look for in your marketing person

For Entrepreneurs like you who have just started your business or are running the business for quite some time, it is imperative that the key person marketing your company should think on the similar lines as you do and should act like your right hand man. For this you need to spend time with him to understand things that he is good at and things that he lacks and train him accordingly. If you are recruiting a fresher or someone who has less experience, make sure that adequate training is provided to him so that confidence (of knowledge) shows on his face when he talks with your prospects.

The following are some tips that will help you to select the right person as your marketing personnel/ manager, because marketing and sales is not everybody’s cup of tea

Academic Qualification:

Normally many companies prefer an MBA or other equivalent degree as a qualifying criterion for this position but this should not be rigidly followed. People having good exposure, knowledge and are go getters or people who have had experience in handling key marketing processes before can be promoted to this role. Avoid putting a fresher at a key position initially. He should be put under an experienced person so that he gets an insight of the business that you are in and it’s working. “If you know how to market, hire someone whom you can mentor to do the job and if you have no clue of how can your product / service be marketed, hire someone, who has done it before in your industry” says Namit Nangia, CEO, LifeMojo.com.

Personality characters: 

A person representing your company as the marketing head or executive should have good sense of dressing and should dress up well. He should be a polished gentleman with a pleasing personality, who talks sense. He should be a good entertainer to whom people love to listen.

Inherent skills:

There are certain qualities that, if present in a person makes him a successful marketing person. Look out for these. They are:

• Quick Grasping skill- To understand the various challenges encountered by people and to suggest an appropriate solution to them from the portfolio of products that you have, you require a person, who is quick in grasping and understanding things. “You need to ensure that they are smart enough to read the market's response and adopt the marketing strategy quickly” adds Nangia
     
• Promptness- A prompt person gives you the benefit of quick reply to your eager customers, who do not have the patience of listening to you again and again for engagement.

• Right temperament and attitude: A person doing marketing should have an interest and passion to do so. He should be a self motivated go getter, a person who is lively and possess the right attitude to look at life. He should be a person, who is not afraid to take risk and does not get discouraged by the defeats but considers it as learning for future.

• Confident in influencing: Though confidence can be inculcated but there are certain people, who have a good confidence level right from the early stages of their life because of the way they are bought up and remain confident in whatever they do and wherever they are. Get these people to work for you- they can do wonders. 

• Shrewd: Being an entrepreneur, who has limited resources to invest, the bottom line, is that you basically require a person, who knows how to extract money out from the business done.

I leave you with these tips so that you can think of and decide for the right person, who has the capabilities to represent your company as the marketing person.