The National Sales Congress (NASCO), organized by the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM), opens applications for the SLIM NASCO awards 2020/2021. All interested parties who look forward to taking part in this most anticipated event in Sri Lanka’s annual corporate calendar, can submit their entries from the 9th of December 2021 to the 21ST of January 2022.

Celebrating its 21st year as the premier event dedicated to recognizing the efforts and performance of sales personnel, while uplifting them to the next level, NASCO is eagerly awaited by Sri Lanka’s dynamic sales professionals who seek to shine on this prestigious platform benefitting both their careers and the human capital profile of the companies they represent.

The only credible and respected award ceremony for sales professionals – SLIM NASCO has become a badge of honour for sales professionals and corporates. The organizers aim to honour the sales professionals whose potential knows no bounds and aims to recognize individuals who have powered through blazing roads to change the game, having conquered the steepest mountains to reach the pinnacle of excellence.

Thilanka Abeywardena, President of SLIM noted, “We recently launched ‘Future Ready Sri Lanka’, a national initiative, with the objective of encouraging Sri Lankans to adapt to the new normalcy, challenge dependent and risk-averse mentality, and enforce an entrepreneurial and innovative mindset through the right skills and knowledge to drive our nation towards economic recovery and prosperity. Since the beginning of the year 2020 and throughout 2021 we, as a nation, faced economic downturns owing to the Covid-19 pandemic and we have had to rethink our business strategies while exploring new opportunities. Over the years, SLIM has engaged in plenty of activities to develop and recognize sales personnel in Sri Lanka. SLIM NASCO is one of the key events in the SLIM event calendar and it strives to support sales professionals to develop and lift them up to the next level. Sales professionals play a pivotal role in the business organization and make a significant contribution to the growth of the economy, and we want to recognize and appreciate their efforts.”

Chinthaka Perera, Vice President – Events at SLIM stated, “The role of sales used to be heavily physical, but now, especially since the pandemic, it has become something entirely different. The sales personnel now make great effort to overcome the challenges posed by this new normal by placing sales at the centre of their strategy, leveraging sales to discover and meet new customer needs while improving the sales experience offered to the valued clientele. We believe that it is very important that sales personnel are guided on how to adapt to this ‘new normal’ and as the apex body for the Sri Lankan Marketers, we strive to support them in their journey.”

Nuwan Thilakawardhana, Project Chairperson of NASCO 2021 said, “SLIM NASCO has grown to become a premier sales awards event in the country, and it serves as the ideal motivational tool to inspire sales professionals to optimize the skills and enhance their capacity. NASCO has been an outstanding success year after year and even in 2020, amidst the pandemic, we were able to recognize our valued sales personnel spread across the nation. We strongly believe that sales professionals stand tall and have the maximum capability to adapt to new ways of doing sales, benefitting not only their livelihoods but also greatly contributing to the revival of the economy.”

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic Sri Lanka was posed with major macro-economic challenges such as increased rate of inflation, lack of foreign capital inflows, political instability followed by the global health emergency. It has been a tough business landscape for all businesses but despite the challenges, the sales personnel across all industries have been required to rise and face these challenges to create positive outcomes. The industry changes and latest technology have eased the task of sales personnel and took it to new and greater heights. Thereby, even during these challenging times, SLIM warmly invites organizations to apply for this year’s NASCO 2020/2021 awards enhancing opportunities for their best sales personnel to go beyond their potential.

The NASCO 2020/2021 Awards will be judged on the performance for the financial year starting from 1st January 2020 or 1st April 2020 until the financial year ending 31st December 2020 or 31st March 2021.

The entry kit can now be downloaded at www.nasco.lk and all entries must be submitted by 5.00 pm on 21st January 2022. Applicants may contact Gangani Liyanage on +94 703266988 for further details.