The prospects for marketing professionals are very bright, says Deepak Mathur, General Manager, NV Distilleries and Breweries Pvt. Ltd. Excerpts from an interview:

What is the scope of sales and marketing as a career?

Practically, every industry or business is dependent on sales and marketing. Be it consumer durables, electronic goods, or even services, marketing and sales are key activities without which no company can survive. Therefore, there is a lot of potential in this field.

What are the future prospects in this field?

There are tremendous job prospects in this field. A person with excellent marketing skills can soon rise from a field job to a company’s managerial cadre. Apart from MNCs and other companies functioning in India, export promotion firms and big export houses will be needing more and more marketing people for their overseas offices.

What are the basic qualities required to be a successful marketing professional?

It is a highly specialised field. A sales person cannot become a successful professional unless he has specific skills and drive. First of all, one must possess good communication skills and be ready to do a lot of travelling.

Besides, a salesperson must think the customer to be more intelligent than himself and not try to cheat or mislead him about the product.

What is the minimum qualification to get a suitable job in this profession?

Although it is entirely a skill-based job, the minimum qualification is graduation with a postgraduate diploma in sales and marketing. Candidate who posses an MBA degree from a reputed university, have a definite edge over others.