Do you think that managers with a practical experience are better than their colleagues with academic background specially in sales management?

I believe it is safe for both sides to start at the bottom and move up the ladder. To be a sales manager one needs sales experience. When the product is a software , computer  server  or  a very technical thing like projector, specialized  camera, X-ray, or anything that has lots of technical matters  then one needs to be through on the subject. A sales engineer is needed. Because he has to answer technical questions from people who are highly educated and they would not buy if they do not get the correct answers.

Otherwise a seasoned salesman can be a manager without an MBA degree. Because being a salesman he has learnt to read a person’s emotions. He would understand when a sales man is not giving his best effort by just looking at him. He has learnt how to handle pressure. He knows how to transmit the pressure from his boss to  his team in a sales session so that the target is met at the end of the day. But without knowledge of strategic management, product pricing mechanism, promotion techniques etc he may not be able to reach the top but can certainly do well in middle management.

when we say manager with practical experience ,do you mean without education??

if yes ,it will really depend on the type of job he is handling.

i need to know more onfo. inorder to help.

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i think both of them have excellent sidepractical manager knows somethings from the practical work that may not be said at the acadimic experience anth the acadimic also can know some hidden sidesbut on my opinion the practical is better

It all depends on the industry that one is in, from my experience in building and plant maintenance i think that is is essentail that a manager has hand on (Practical) experience. If you want to talk the talk then you must be able to walk the walk?.

I do not believe practical experience is always an advantage.

It really depends on other factors, sometimes fresh pair of eyes are better than having academic background, the ability to look outside the picture is a big plus for most scenarios and the ability to ask questions if you did not have academic background can be an advantage if it helps challenging the status quo.