Assam ASSEB HS Sales Management & Advertising study plan

Define sales management and distinguish it from marketing, listing at least five distinct responsibilities of a sales manager

Explain the nature and scope of personal selling and compare it with advertising as a promotional tool in two written paragraphs

Describe the AIDAS theory and the buying decision process, and map each selling step to the matching buyer stage in a table

Identify and define each of the seven steps of the selling process from prospecting to follow-up with one concrete example per step

Outline the structure of a complete sales presentation: approach, need identification, presentation, demonstration, objection handling, close and follow-up

Classify common buyer objections into price, product, timing and competitor categories and write a response strategy for each

Distinguish at least five closing techniques such as trial close, assumptive close and alternative-choice close, and state when each works best

Draft the opening 60 seconds of an approach for a specified product and buyer profile

Compare line, line-and-staff and functional forms of sales organisation and state two advantages and two limitations of each

Explain the factors that determine sales force size, including workload and incremental methods, and compute sales force size using the workload approach for a given set of numbers

Describe how sales territories are designed and revised, including balancing workload and potential

Distinguish sales quotas from sales territories and list the main types of quotas with their uses

Outline the recruitment process for sales personnel and compare at least three internal and three external sources of candidates

Describe a structured selection process covering application screening, interviews, tests and reference checks, and explain the limits of each tool

Design a short induction and training programme specifying content areas, methods and duration

Explain the main motivation theories relevant to salespeople, including need hierarchy and expectancy ideas, and link each to a practical incentive scheme

Distinguish sales forecasting from sales budgeting and from sales control, and state the purpose of each

Compare at least four forecasting methods, including judgemental, survey, test-market and quantitative trend methods, with their strengths and weaknesses

Prepare a simple sales budget showing how the budget is built from forecast, selling costs and desired profit

Identify control tools such as quota reports, call reports, expense ratios and sales audits, and explain what each detects

Define advertising and explain its role for consumers, firms and society, distinguishing it from publicity and personal selling

Classify advertising by purpose, audience and medium, giving one example of each type

Compare major media such as print, broadcast, outdoor, digital and direct mail on reach, cost, selectivity and flexibility

Explain the steps of media planning from setting media objectives to scheduling, and distinguish reach, frequency, continuity and media mix

Identify the components of an advertisement: headline, subheadline, body copy, slogan, illustration and logo, and state the function of each

Explain the principles of layout such as balance, emphasis, unity and white space, and critique one sample layout against them

Describe the main methods of setting an advertising budget, including percentage of sales, affordable, competitive-parity and objective-and-task, with their drawbacks

Outline methods of measuring advertising effectiveness, separating pre-testing from post-testing techniques

Explain the ethical issues in advertising such as misleading claims, puffery, stereotyping and targeting of children, and state the role of self-regulation

Summarise the key definitions and frameworks from Domains 1 and 5 in a condensed revision sheet

Solve two timed mixed-topic problem sets under exam conditions covering forecasting calculations and effectiveness measurement

Identify personal weak areas from practice answers and list three specific topics to re-revise