selling competency for sales staffs of passenger sales and promotion department at northern region branch - vietnam airlines

Nat io n a l ec o n om i c s u niv er si ty
Ne u bus i nes s s ch oo l

GIANG THI THANH XUAN
SELLING COMPETENCY FOR SALES STAFFS
OF PASSENGER SALES AND PROMOTION DEPARTMENT
AT NORTHERN REGION BRANCH - VIETNAM AIRLINES

SUPERVISOR: ASSOCIATE PROF. DR. TRAN THI VAN HOA
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Hanoi – 2013
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This thesis is completed in order to fulfill the requirement from Master of Business
Administration (MBA) program, Business School – The National Economics
University (NEU Business School)
First of all, I would like to express my sincere thanks to all of MBA professors of
National Economics University, who have given me a lot of valuable knowledge as
well as skills for my study and my work. I would like to send my sincere thanks to
my supervisor, Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Thi Van Hoa who supported and
guided me so enthusiastically to complete my thesis.
And, I want to send my thanks to top managers of NRB for their advices and
directions to conduct the research. I also thank to my colleagues and customer who
support me for the job as well as for my thesis. They have given the data, helped me
to answer my interview and shared their experience to compete the thesis
Last but not least, thank so much for my family and all my classmates who always
help and encourage me to finish this thesis.
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TABLE OF CONTENT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT i
TABLE OF CONTENT ii
ABBREVIATIONS iv
LIST OF TABLES vi
LIST OF CHARTS vii
LIST OF FIGURE viii
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ix
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION 1
1.1. Rationale 1
1.2. Research objectives 2
1.3. Research questions 2
1.4. Research methodology 3
1.4.1. Research process: 3
1.4.2. Collecting data 3
1.4.3. Analyzing data 4
1.5. Research scope 5
1.6. Research structure 5
CHAPTER 2
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ON COMPETENCIES 6
2.1. Nature of competency 6
2.1.1. Definition of competency 6
2.1.2. Classification of competencies 7
2.1.3. The characteristic of competency 9
2.2 Competency components and models 10
2.2.1 Competency components 10
2.2.2 Competency assessment 14
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2.3. Factors affect to competency 19
2.3.1 External factors 19

2.3.2 Internal factors 19
CHAPTER 3
REQUIRED SELLING COMPETENCIES FOR SALES STAFF AT
NORTHERN REGIONAL BRANCH 21
3.1. Introdution of northern regional branch 21
3.1.1. Overview of VNA and Northern Regional Branch 21
3.1.2. Northern Regional Branch’s structure 25
3.2. Job analysis for sales Staffs at Northern Regional Branch 26
3.2.1 Passenger Sales and Promotion (SPD) department’s function 26
3.2.2 Job description for Sales staffs at Northern Regional Branch 26
3.3 Requirement of selling competencies for Sales staffs at northen Regionla
Branch 27
3.3.1 Required Knowledge for Sales staffs 30
3.3.2 Required skills for Sales staffs 32
3.3.3 Required Attitude for Sales staffs: 35
3.3.4 Summary for required selling competencies for Sales staffs at Northern
Regional Branch 35
CHAPTER 4
ANALYZE THE CURRENT SELLING COMPETENCIES
OF SALES STAFFS AT NORTHERN REGIONAL BRANCH 36
4.1 Responded profile 36
4.2 Current competencies 37
4.2.1. Current knowledge 37
4.2.2 Current selling skills 40
4.2.3 Current attitude of sales staffs 47
4.3 Gap analysis 48
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4.3.1 The gap between required and current selling competencies of sales staffs
at NRB 48
4.3.2 Causes of the gaps between current and required selling competencies of

sales staffs at NRB 55
CHAPTER 5
RECOMMENDATION AND SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE SELLING
COMPETENCIES OF SALES STAFFS
AT NORTHERN REGIONAL BRANCH 57
5.1. The orientation of Human resource Development at northern Regional
Branch 57
5.1.1 The objective and strategy of Human resource development of NRB 57
5.1.2 The objective of sales staffs development of NRB 58
5.2. Solutions to improve Selling competencies for sales Staffs to meet the
Requiremnet 59
5.2.1 Training solutions 59
5.2.2 Non – training solutions 65
5.3 Recommendation for each Factor in northern Regional Branch 69
5.3.1 Recommendation for the leaders 69
5.3.2 Recommendation for the HR department 70
5.3.3 Recommendation for sales staffs 70
71
CONCLUSION 72
REFERENCES 73
ABBREVIATIONS
HR Human Resource
KSA Knowledge, Skills and Attitude
iv
MBA Master of Business Administration
NEU National Economics University
NRB Northern Region Branch
OJT On the Job Training
PA Performance Appraisal
SPD Sales Promotion department

VNA Vietnam Airlines
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1 Description of require competencies 28
Table 3.2: Required ‘Fundamental knowledge’ for sales staffs 31
Table 3.3: Required ‘Company strategy awareness’ for sales staffs 31
Table 3.4: Required ‘Communication skills’ for Sales staffs 32
Table 3.5: Required ‘Presentation skills’ for Sales staffs 33
Table 3.6: Required ‘Problem solving’ for Sales staffs 33
Table 3.7: Required ‘Time management skills’ for Sales staffs 34
Table 3.8: Required ‘Customer care skills’ for Sales staffs 35
Table 3.9: Required attitude for Sales staffs 35
Table 4.1: Respondents of the research 37
Table 4.2: Current knowledge of Sales staffs 38
Table 4.3: Gap between required and current fundamental knowledge 38
Table 4.4: Current strategy awareness of Sales staffs 39
Table 4.5: Gap between required and current strategy awareness 40
Table 4.6: Current communication skills of Sales staffs 40
Table 4.7: Gap between required and current communication skills of Sales staffs 42
Table 4.8: Current presentation skills of Sales staffs 43
Table 4.9: Gap between required and current presentation skills 43
Table 4.10: Current problem solving skills of sales staffs 44
Table 4.11: Gap between required and current problem solving skills 44
Table 4.12: Current time management skills of sales staffs 45
Table 4.13: Gap between required and current time management skills 45
Table 4.14: Current Customer care skills of sales staffs 46
Table 4.15: Gap between required and current Customer care skills 46
Table 4.16: Current Attitude of sales staffs 47
Table 4.17: Gap between required and current attitude of sales staffs 47
Table 4.18: Current competencies and the gap with requirement of Sales staffs 48

Table 5.1: Recommended training courses for Salesmen 60
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LIST OF CHARTS
Chart 1.1: Research process 3
Chart 3.1 Result of passenger transportation 24
Chart 3.2: Required selling competencies for the sales staffs at NRB 36
Chart 4.1: Gap between required and current fundamental knowledge 39
Chart 4.2: Gap between required and current communication skills 42
Chart 4.3: Gap between required and current performance sales of salesmen 48
Chart 4.4: The gap between required and current competencies 54
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LIST OF FIGURE
Figure 2.1 The Iceberg Model 10
Figure 2.2 Competency components 11
Figure 2.3: Selling competency assessment process 18
Figure 3.1 Northern Regional Branch structure 25
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Today, sales staffs play an important role in a company and the sales staffs always
need to improve their selling competencies to do the job more effectively. In order
to help NRB find out the selling competencies of Sales staffs, the author focus on
analyzing the current selling competency and give the commendation and solutions
for improving selling competencies of Sales staffs. More specifically, this thesis is
designed to answer four questions below:
 Which are the requirements of selling competency for sale staffs at Passenger
Sales and Promotion department – VNA’s NRB
 What are the current selling competencies of sales force at Passenger Sales
and Promotion department?
 What are the gaps between current and required sales staff’s selling
competency at Passenger Sales and Promotion department?

The thesis applied KSA (Knowledge, Skills and Attitude) competency model and
competency assessment method (Self-competency assessment, Superior-
competency assessment, Customer-competency assessment) to analyze. In this
research, the author uses both primary and secondary data for analysis. The author
has conducted in - depth interview, discussion with NRB’s managers to obtain their
views on Sales staffs’ selling competencies. Furthermore, the sales staffs and
customer survey has been conducted for 90 days from April to June to collect the
evaluation for sales staffs’ selling competencies. Total of 134 questionnaires has
been sent for this survey and 128 complete responses from customers were
received, taking account for 95.52% of the total questionnaires sent.
After conducting research, the author found the real gaps between required and
current selling competencies of Sales staffs on knowledge, skills and attitude. In
term of knowledge, the biggest gap presents in “Sales and sales management” (1.17
point). In term of selling skills, the biggest gaps presents in “Problem solving skill”
(1.34 point). In term of attitude, the gaps found are relative small (under 0.5 point)
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so this competency component is considered good. The main causes of these gaps
are there is lack of detailed job descriptions for Sales staffs at NRB, lack of accurate
performance’s assessment, motivation’s policies, training plan and lack of
experienced sales staffs.
According to the survey result, the author gives some commendation and solutions
to improve the sales staffs’ selling competencies. The strategy to improve such
competencies is in both training and non-training ways. The training solutions
comprise courses (including 6 short supplementary programs) to enhance specific
competency with the biggest gaps. For the non-training solutions, the author would
recommend setting clear job description for sales staffs, enhancing HR system,
creating more motivation for sales staffs. It is expected that these recommendations
can somehow support to enhance selling competencies of Sales staffs.
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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale
Nowadays, in both domestic and global economies, selling is increasingly becoming
more vital. Personal selling involves direct interaction between salespeople and
customers. It requires good interpersonal skills and training because of its highly
professional nature. Sales staffs are pre-occupied with creating value for both their
firms their customers. Sales staffs can build long-term exchange relationships that
benefit both their customers and the company it represents. Sales staffs is critical to
the sale of many goods and services, especially major commercial and industrial
products as well as consumer durables (Dalrymple, 2004). Therefore selling
competencies for sales staffs in the company is an important issue.
The Northern Region Branch (NRB) is Vietnam Airlines’ (VNA) representative and
coordinator of sales activities in passenger, luggage, cargo and package
transportation of VNA in the northern cities and provinces. Its growth of revenue
from passenger and cargo services has reached over 15% annually, and kept
increasing over years. They take in charge of controlling sales network as well as
carrying out researches, evaluate the effectiveness of sales policies and current
service standards to promote sales, improve VNA' service quality. So the sales
staffs play a key role in NRB. Consequently, sales staffs’ competencies are required
as perfect as possible.
In fact, although the sales staffs were recruited with a good profile met with the
NRB’s recruitment’s requirement, when doing the real job, some of them do not
satisfy the needs of work. These staff could not have enough competence to satisfy
the work or have less knowledge absolute the selling skill, inactive attitude. Another
side, the sales volume always increases per year and the competition is fiercer.
Furthermore, the customer’s evaluation on NRB’s sales staff every year still low.
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From these rationales, the writer has chosen the topic “Selling competency for sales
staff of Passenger Sales and Promotion department at Northern Region Branch –
Vietnam Airlines”.

1.2. Research objectives
This research will follow those main objectives:
 To clarify the selling competency’s requirements for sales staff at Passenger
Sales and Promotion department.
 To analyze the current selling competency of sales staff and then find out the
gap between required and current selling competency.
 To propose the solutions to close the gap between evaluated and required
selling competency of sales staff at Passenger Sales and Promotion
department – VNA’s NRB.
1.3. Research questions
To match and gain the above objectives, the writer set out some questions that need
to find the answers to solve the problem:
 Which are the requirements of selling competency for sale staffs at Passenger
Sales and Promotion department – VNA’s NRB
 What are the current selling competencies of sales force at Passenger Sales
and Promotion department?
 What are the gaps between current and required sales staff’s selling
competency at Passenger Sales and Promotion department
What are solutions to improving selling competency for sales staff of Passenger
Sales and Promotion department?
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1.4. Research methodology
1.4.1. Research process:
Chart 1.1: Research process
Source: Author’s idea
In this thesis, both secondary data and primary data are used for identifying required
and current selling competency of Sales staff at NRB.
1.4.2. Collecting data
In order to complete this thesis, data was collected from two sources:
1.4.2.1. Secondary data:

- From the previous studies which the writer searched. There are some
researches on competency. They focus on definitions, how to analysis the
competency and the requirement for competencies. Thus, the information in
the previous studies will be a useful data source for our research.
- From NRB’s documents, reports, policies, regulations, labor agreement:
show the performance of sales staff
- Other articles on newspapers, journals, books, magazines related to
competency subject.
Sale staff’s job analysis
Required selling
competence for
sale staffs
Gap analysis
Theoretical Background on
competence
Interview with Leader and
Managers
Surveys: - Managers
Sale Staffs
Customer
Current selling
competence of
sale staffs
Recommendation
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1.4.2.2. Primary data: In this research, primary data is very important source. Two
methods used to collecting primary data are: interview and questionnaires survey.
- In – deep interview: The author had interviewed with 4 key persons in NRB.
They were Mr Nguyen Thuong Hoang Hai – Director of NRB; Mrs Le Kim
Anh – Deputy Director of NRB; Mr Truong Vinh Hung – Acting General

Manager of Sales Promotion department (SPD) and Mrs Le Thi To Linh –
Sales Manager of SPD. The author made a schedule in detail for the
interview. All the questions were well prepared before interviewing them. So
it helped the author did not lost the information.
Besides, the author was ready to collect and take note information from the
leaders during the interviews. They shared with the author a lot of
information about required selling competency for sales staffs of SPD in
NRB. According to their requirement of selling competencies, the author
designed a list which contained required components of selling competency
to make an assessment model.
- Survey: A survey had been carried out with questionnaires of 134 sent to 4
key leaders and managers of, all of 30 sales staffs and 100/173 customers
(including travel agents, corporate accounts and tour operations). The author
chose the sample of customers following the method of “Respondents'
willingness to participate”. These questionnaires were given directly to
leaders and sales staffs and were delivered by email to the customers. The
questionnaires allowed them to evaluate Sales staffs’ selling competencies by
giving points (from 1: very bad to 5: very good) in each components. There
are two different form for NRB staffs and the customers.
1.4.3. Analyzing data
Through the data and information collected from secondary and primary research,
the author used Microsoft Excel software to analyze such information. The author
converted numbers into percentages and averages to show the portions and gaps
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between current and required selling competencies. These numbers could show
which component should be amended.
1.5. Research scope
Object: The thesis focus on selling competency of sales force in NRB - VNA
Location: in the Northern Vietnam, in 2013
Time:

• Secondary data: collected in 2011 – 2012
• Primary data: will be collected from April to June, 2013
1.6. Research structure
This thesis includes five main chapter as following:
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Theoretical background on competency
Chapter 3: Required selling competencies of sales staffs at NRB
Chapter 4: Analyze the current selling competencies of sales staffs at NRB
Chapter 5: Recommendation and solutions to improve selling competencies of sales
staffs’ at NRB
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CHAPTER 2
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ON COMPETENCIES
2.1. Nature of competency
2.1.1. Definition of competency
As Wikipedia source, the term "competence" first appeared in an article authored by
R.W. White in 1959 as a concept for performance motivation. Later, in 1970, Craig
C. Lundberg defined the concept in "Planning the Executive Development
Program". The term gained traction when in 1973, David McClelland, Ph.D. wrote
a seminal paper entitled, "Testing for Competence Rather Than for Intelligence". It
has since been popularized by one-time fellow McBer & Company (Currently the
"Hay Group") colleague Richard Boyatzis and many others, such as T.F. Gilbert
(1978) who used the concept in relationship to performance improvement. Its use
varies widely, which leads to considerable misunderstanding.
However, till 1990s when Furham clarify it by giving an explanation: “The term
competence is new and fashionable, but the concept is old. Psychologists interested
in personality and individual differences, organizational behaviors and
psychometrics have long debated these questions of personality traits, intelligence
and other abilities”
And from there, there are many definitions were stated by famous authors and

school. Each of definitions is general or rather specific meanings depend on the
context and the objective of their research. So, people might get confused with these
different definitions. And actually, people can recognize by themselves and state
their own definition about competency.
As time passed by it has arisen the necessary for the brief and clear definition of
competency, these days a definition that we usually use says:
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“Competency is the standard requirement for an individual to properly perform a
specific job. It encompasses a combination of knowledge, skills and behaviors
utilized to improve performance.”
So, competencies refer to skills or knowledge that leads to superior performance.
These are formed through an individual/organization’s knowledge, skills and
abilities and provide a framework for distinguishing between poor performances
through to exceptional performance. Competencies can apply at organizational,
individual, team, and occupational and functional levels. Competencies are
individual abilities or characteristics that are keys to effectiveness in work
2.1.2. Classification of competencies
According to the report “The Competent Use of Competency – Based Strategies for
Selection and Development” by Anna Carroll – Interaction Design, Inc. and Judith
McCrackin – THOUGHTSPACE, Inc. there are four types of competencies that in
combination can effectively leverage individual, team and organizational
performance. Types of competencies include:
- Key – for all employees.
- Team – for group that are interdependent and project – focused.
- Functional – finance, research and development, etc.
- Leadership and management.
2.1.2.1. Key competencies
Key competencies are used to describe the elements of behavior that are important
for all employees. They support organization values, desired culture, and
performance expectations in such areas as customer service, teamwork and personal

responsibility. They provide a clear definition of selection criteria to be used in
behavioral event interviews. Clearly – defined key competencies can help the
organization ensure that new employees are a good match to culture and general
performance standards.
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In addition, key competencies can help provide focus on priority employee
development topics. Corporate – wide development activities in areas such
financial/business skills, team collaboration, or customer service often arise as
development targets for a board range of employees.
2.1.2.2. Team competencies
Team competencies describe specific capabilities and characteristics of a team as a
work unit. They are important in organizations that have embraced team – based
work systems and can provide a clear focus for team assessment and development.
Important team competencies, supported by research on high performance teams,
would include the capability to:
o Set collective goals
o Establish priorities
o Define roles
o Identify and solve problems
o Establish effective work process
o Manage conflict constructively
o Create and sustain an environment of trust and collaboration
o Maintain an outcome focus
2.1.2.3. Functional competencies
Functional competencies describe more specialized knowledge and skills for roles
such as project manager, customer service representative and manufacturing
engineer. Competency descriptions need to be boarded enough to be used by a
range of people in the same role.
For functional competencies, it is important to keep the descriptors from getting
technically detailed that they lose their practical purpose. Functional competencies

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can be a repository for specific knowledge used and learned by many to deliver
excellent results.
2.1.2.4. Leadership and management competencies
Specific challenges of the workplace of the future include the growth of outsourcing
and the expansion of remote, contract, or temporary workers; continuing technology
migration; the growth of information access and information networks; the
continual reengineering of work, and the growth of internal and external business
partnership. These challenges demand a clear focus on relevant leadership and
management competencies, including the ability to learn.
2.1.3. The characteristic of competency
Basing on “The handbook of Competency Mapping” – Seema Sanghi, there are five
types of competency characteristics, such as:
- Motives: the things a person consistently thinks about or wants and that
which causes action. Motives “drive, direct, or select” behavior towards
certain actions or goals and away from others.
- Trait: Physical characteristics and consistent responses to situation or
information.
- Self – concept: a person’s attitude, value or self-image.
- Knowledge: information a person has in specific content areas.
- Skill: the ability to perform a certain physical or mental task.
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Figure 2.1 The Iceberg Model
Source:Handbook of Competency Mapping – Seema Sanghi
As illustrated in Figure 2.1, knowledge and skill competencies tend to be visible
and relatively “on the surface” characteristics of people. Self-concept, trait and
motive competencies are more hidden, “deeper” and central to personality. Surface
knowledge and skill competencies are relatively easy to develop; training is the
most effectively way to secure these employee abilities. Core motive and trait
competencies at the base of the personality iceberg are more difficult to assess and

develop; it is most cost effective to select these characteristics.
2.2 Competency components and models
2.2.1 Competency components
To identify the competency components, the writer use the KSA model. KSA
(Knowledge, Skills and Attitude) is a competency model used to recruit and retain
qualified individuals for successful job performance
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Figure 2.2 Competency components
Sources: Author’s consolidation
2.2.1.1 Knowledge:
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Knowledge is a body of information needed to perform a task relations and

negotiation, and personnel information systems. Knowledge is gained through
learning or experiencing. Knowledge includes understanding about jobs. It refers to
a context of information relevant to job performance such as before performing a
job we have to have knowledge of policies and procedures. (Source:
www.businessdictionary.com)
Knowledge is also process of accumulation from learning, trainings, observing,
working and studying forms others. Knowledge is affected by some elements like
levels of studying, working experience and personal orientation. Knowledge
acquisition involves complex cognitive processes: perception, learning,
communication, association and reasoning.
In an organizational context, knowledge is the sum of what is known and resides in
the intelligence and the competence of people. In recent years, knowledge has come
to be recognized as a factor of production in its own right and distinct form labor.
For the sales staff, there are major types of knowledge that most often mentioned as
needed:
- Product knowledge: pricing structure, history of the product, how to
use the product, product distribution and delivery…
- Customer knowledge;
- Knowledge of the industry;
- Knowledge of the competition;
- Knowledge of the company
2.2.1.2 Skills:
Skills are the learned ability to carry out pre-determined results often with the
minimum outlay of time, energy, or both. In other words, skill is the abilities that
one possesses. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific
skills. In the domain of work, some general skills would include time management,
teamwork and leadership, self - motivation and others, whereas domain-specific
skills would be useful only for a certain job. (Source: www.businessdictionary.com)
12
Skills include many different fields. Each person has to apply a lot of skills to

achieve high efficiency in work. Each occupation, job title, different areas require
different skills. In depends on the ability applications of individual to specific work.
It can be divided follow as:
- Functional skills (work skills): Those are basis skills that used for solving normal
problems in daily situation. For example, there are communication skills,
listening skills, questioning skills, analyzing skills, decision – making skills….
- Adaptive skills (Personal skills and Interpersonal skills): Those skills related
to personality traits that help the worker adapt to new or changing
environments, such as flexibility, positive work attitude and assertiveness.
There are some most commonly skills for sales staffs as communication skills, time
management skills, presentation skills, problem solving skills…
2.2.1.3 Attitude:
“Attitude” is a predisposition or a tendency to respond positively or negatively
towards a certain idea, object, person, or situation. Attitude influences an
individual's choice of action, and responses to challenges, incentives, and rewards
(together called stimuli). Four major components of attitude are (1) Affective:
emotions or feelings. (2) Cognitive: belief or opinions held consciously. (3)
Cognitive: inclination for action. (4) Evaluative: positive or negative response to
stimuli. (Source: www.businessdictionary.com)
Attitudes are positive, negative or neutral views of an “attitude object” i.e. a person,
behavior or event. Professional attitude is understood as the way of thinking and
behaving at work. Attitude can affect one’s working willingness, tendency of
achieving knowledge at work and affect the result of job performance.
Some attitudes are essential and are the basis of a successful sales staff:
- Empathy: the ability to understand a situation from another person’s
perspective. Empathy enhances a person’s ability to make predictions about
others and helps to create a supportive/confirming atmosphere. The former
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