Deborah Okoro

Organizations should equip human resources and sales managers with the vital information and knowledge needed to recruit and select salespersons with the required qualities to help them achieve improved sales performance. This paper aims to determine a salesperson’s educational qualification, selling experience, and persuasive ability and their effect on the salesperson’s performance at Innoson Motors Manufacturing Company Ltd. The study surveyed 131 company staff to collect the data; only 120 questionnaires were correctly filled and returned. First, the study checked the instrument’s reliability (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.982). Data were then analyzed using a simple linear regression analysis. The findings revealed that salesperson educational qualification has a significant positive effect on salesperson performance (r = 0.944; t = 54.251; F = 2943.209; p < 0.05). Next, salesperson selling experience was found to have a significant positive effect on salesperson performance (r = 0.964; t = 68.905; F = 4747.922; p < 0.05). Finally, salesperson persuasive ability was found to have a significant positive effect on salesperson performance (r = 0.960; t = 64.812; F = 4200.634; p < 0.05). Hence, company managers can use the findings of this paper to understand that employing highly educated, experienced, and persuasive salespersons will lead to improved salesperson performance.

Acknowledgment
We wish to appreciate the good work done by some of the researchers who contributed immensely to the development of the study’s framework and methodology. Among them: Professor Gerald Nebo, Associate Professor Chinedum Obikeze, Dr. John Anetoh and Dr. Wali Kemkamma. We also commend the effort of Mrs. Okolo Jennifer for typing and editing the work. In a similar tone, we wish to thank our respondents for equipping us with the required information that made this study a success.