The wide array of businesses and eminent brand names vying for the Distinguished Salesperson Award (DSA) and Outstanding Young Salesperson Award (OYSA) this year speaks volumes about the importance of professional salesmanship in Hong Kong.
In its 39th year, the DSA is organised by the Sales and Marketing Executives Club of the Hong Kong Management Association in collaboration with Sales and Marketing Executives International of New York. The Outstanding Young Salesperson Award was first introduced in 1985 as part of the annual event.
For long-term patron HSBC, the variety of competitors showed how the local sales profession had grown and the standard of salesmanship had improved since 1995, when the bank took on sole sponsorship of this initiative, said Susanna Cheung Lo Wai-ching, HSBC's head of retail banking.
'Back then, a much smaller profile of businesses took part in the DSA, with many of them being insurance operators,' Mrs Cheung said. 'The quick diversification of the participating industries indicates an increased awareness that effective selling is important to all businesses.
'This also shows there is popular support and strong recognition of the award as the 'Oscar-equivalent' honour for the local sales profession.'
Having participated in some of the DSA activities herself, Mrs Cheung said she was deeply impressed with the candidates' passion for their profession. She said HSBC was delighted that its sponsorship had helped the DSA develop into a respected professional benchmark and robust platform for driving sales excellence.
