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Source: https://associationofprofessionalsales.site-ym.com/resource/rss/news.rss

<rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">
<channel>
<title>News</title>
<link>https://members.the-isp.org/news/</link>
<description><![CDATA[ See below for our latest news, events and features. ]]></description>
<lastBuildDate>Mon, 6 May 2024 12:38:12 GMT</lastBuildDate>
<pubDate>Thu, 24 Jun 2021 13:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<copyright>Copyright © 2021 Institute of Sales Professionals</copyright>
<atom:link href="http://members.the-isp.org/resource/rss/news.rss" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"></atom:link>
<item>
<title>Introducing the Institute of Sales Professionals</title>
<link>https://members.the-isp.org/news/570920/</link>
<guid>https://members.the-isp.org/news/570920/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" style="padding: 0 15px; float: left;" src="
/resource/resmgr/news_images/ISP-logo-600x315.jpg" />

Thursday 24 June 2021




Today, we are proud to launch the Institute of Sales Professionals (ISP), a single, united voice for the entire sales profession. 




The new organisation brings together the Association of Professional Sales (APS) and the Institute of Sales Management (ISM), led by one team, under one name, dedicated to setting professional standards in sales.


As one organisation, the Institute of Sales Professionals can focus on the interests of the whole profession, building standards and skills, and speaking with one voice to government and the wider business community.


By the end of this year, the Institute of Sales Professionals (ISP) is also planning to submit an application to become a chartered institute with the same status as other respected professional organisations.


In the meantime, the ISP will continue to:



:: Provide highly relevant events and insights to help sales professionals excel in an ever-changing world :: Expand its list of nationally-recognised sales qualifications and work with the education sector to ensure those qualifications are widely available :: 
Work with MPs, government and industry to ensure sales is given the standing it deserves as a true profession



As we look to the future, we are also launching the Emerging Professionals Network (EPN) to encourage and support people starting out in sales. 

The EPN will be a vibrant and inclusive network for emerging salespeople to share their expertise, support each other and develop their skills and knowledge through tailored content and guidance.



To mark the launch of the Institute of Sales Professionals, we are building a new website, and starting to add content and develop the site’s design and functionality.



For now, the existing APS site will still be the go-to address to check on events and news, and for members to to log on.
New ISP site: <a href="https://www.the-isp.org" target="_blank">https://www.the-isp.org</a>
 
Existing APS site: <a href="https://the-aps.com" target="_blank">https://the-aps.com </a>




Andy Hough, CEO of the Institute of Sales Professionals, said: “Today’s launch of the Institute of Sales Professionals is a landmark moment for the sales industry.




“Our new organisation combines the distinguished history of the ISM with the progressive approach of the APS to provide a strong, forward-looking body for everyone who works in sales.


“Business-to-business selling is critical to the UK economy. It creates wealth, sustains millions of jobs and supports our hospitals, schools and other vital public services. Selling is skilled work, but too often it is overlooked, that’s why the Institute of Sales Professionals is so important to campaign on behalf of our amazing profession.


“Our dedicated membership is a credit to our profession and together we are building a revolution in sales.“
]]></description>
<category>Report</category>
<pubDate>Thu, 24 Jun 2021 14:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>Announcing the Emerging Professionals Network</title>
<link>https://members.the-isp.org/news/570931/</link>
<guid>https://members.the-isp.org/news/570931/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" style="padding: 0 15px; float: left;" src="
/resource/resmgr/news_images/EPN-logo-600x315.jpg" />

Thursday 24 June 2021




In another first for the sales industry, the Institute of Sales Professionals is pleased to announce a new initiative to support people at the start of their selling career.





Today, we are launching the Emerging Professionals Network (EPN) - part of the wider Institute of Sales Professionals.




The EPN is a vibrant and inclusive network for those new to sales to share ideas, build expertise, support each other and develop themselves through tailored content and guidance. The network will also provide a friendly environment to discuss opportunities and challenges and get advice from experienced salespeople and sales leaders acting as mentors.



Recognised career paths leading to sales-specific accreditations and qualifications are key to driving up skills and standards across the profession, and the EPN is there to support those leaving school or college, as well as those choosing to change jobs and work in sales for first time.



Economics and politics graduate, Jasmine Thompson, a sales apprentice and joint leader of the EPN said: “We have already had a lot of interest in our network and are welcoming new salespeople from a variety of companies and sectors.




“The EPN provides a great opportunity for career development and support. Selling is exciting but it’s competitive and belonging to our network means you will stand out from the crowd by showing your customers and future employers that you are dedicated to improving your skills, knowledge and behaviour.



“The EPN will not only help with sales education and development, it also provides a friendly network where we can meet like-minded professionals and enjoy some down time, away from work.”



Fellow EPN leader Josh Travers is a degree-level apprentice with Royal Mail. He gave evidence to a recent parliamentary inquiry by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Professional Sales and spoke about the importance of changing the perception of sales and selling.




Josh said: “The EPN offers a great opportunity to define a new standard for dynamic professionals working in sales.



“Sales is a fun and rewarding career but it was never spoken about in school; it just seemed to be something that people fell into. That’s partly why we wanted to set up the EPN. We wanted a network to support and encourage new sellers, but we also wanted to change the often negative perception of sales and encourage more people to consider our profession.



“The EPN is friendly and energetic and we are looking forward to driving positive change together. Businesses can’t survive without selling and having talented people working in our industry is crucial for the future of the UK economy.”

 ]]></description>
<category>Report</category>
<pubDate>Thu, 24 Jun 2021 14:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>APS launches expert panel to lobby government on B2B sales</title>
<link>https://members.the-isp.org/news/564538/</link>
<guid>https://members.the-isp.org/news/564538/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" style="padding: 0 15px; float: left;" src="
/resource/resmgr/news_images/parliamentary-cttee-600x315.jpg" />

Wednesday 19 May 2021




A new parliamentary advisory committee launched by the Association of Professional Sales has its first working meeting today.




The expert panel of leading academics, businesspeople and consultants was set up by the APS to help the Association engage with the government and devolved assemblies to promote the importance of business-to-business (B2B) selling on the UK economy.


The group, known as the Parliamentary Advisory Committee on Sales (Pacs), is supporting the APS mission to:


:: Convince the government that sales needs to be regulated by a chartered institute

:: Persuade ministers and civil servants to work with industry and academia to provide young people with training pathways into sales careers

:: Support British sellers in acquiring world-class sales skills that will help us build new markets overseas


This afternoon’s meeting will be addressed by Mark Pawsey MP, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Professional Sales.




The committee will also hear a presentation from Mark Hart, professor of small business and entrepreneurship at Aston Business School, who was instrumental in developing the government’s flagship ‘Help To Grow’ scheme, announced in the February 2021 budget.



Mark Hart is the Deputy Director of the national Enterprise Research Centre and advises a number of UK government departments and devolved administrations on enterprise issues. Mark is also the programme director and academic lead for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Programme in the UK.


<a href="https://members.the-isp.org/resource/resmgr/appg/superchargingsales.pdf" target="_blank"><img alt="" style="padding: 0 15px; float: right;" src="
/resource/resmgr/news_images/supercharging-sales-250x354.jpg" /></a>



Stephen Kerr, a fellow of the APS, co-chair of the advisory committee and newly elected member of the Scottish parliament said:
“We hope this important committee of business experts can do for sales what the Sage advisory committee has done for the government. It will provide a bedrock of informed advice and support, to enable good decision-making and push forward the agenda of the sales profession.”



The recent APPG Sales report, Supercharging Sales, published in March, found that good business-to-business selling was the motor that will pull the UK economy out of recession. However, the needs of the B2B sales profession are too often overlooked by the government.


Professional selling - especially at small businesses - needs more recruits, better recognition and wider availability of high-quality, work-based training. Compared to other sectors of business it is widely misunderstood and under-supported by policymakers.


The parliamentary report is calling for action on a number of fronts to support the sales profession and help the UK to do business across the world as an independent trading nation.
]]></description>
<category>Report</category>
<pubDate>Wed, 19 May 2021 08:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>APS gets approval to assess key business apprenticeship</title>
<link>https://members.the-isp.org/news/565647/</link>
<guid>https://members.the-isp.org/news/565647/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" style="padding: 0 15px; float: left;" src="
/resource/resmgr/news_images/Bid-proposal-600x315.jpg " />
 

The apprenticeship for bid proposal coordinators is raising the skills base of the wider UK sales profession.



Monday 17 May 2021




The Association of Professional Sales (APS) in partnership with the Association of Bid Proposal Management Professionals (APMP) is celebrating a new milestone in business development.



The APS, working with APMP UK, has been approved by Ofqual, the government’s exam regulator, to be end point assessors for an apprenticeship in bid and proposal management.


Bid and proposal professionals are key to how companies win work. Apprentices are trained across various business teams to learn the whole process of bid management, from tracking pipeline opportunities, through customer engagement, competitive tendering, presentations, negotiations, contract award, to implementation and delivery.


The apprenticeship for bid proposal coordinators runs for 18-24 months. The course is already raising the skills base of the wider UK sales profession and has the backing of organisations like Aviva, NG Bailey, Lloyds, Costain, Canon and DHL who were involved in creating the initial apprenticeship standard.


The first cohort of apprentices began their courses in 2019 and will have their final assessments by the APS over the coming month. About 60 apprentices are already on the programme with training from JGA Group and RHG Consult.



Dan Hodgetts, APS head of operations and quality said: “We are delighted that Ofqual has given the APS its approval to begin end point assessment for the level three bid and proposal apprenticeship.



“Working with APMP UK, the APS is setting the benchmark for this important qualification from sign-up to certification.


"The APS is pleased to add this apprenticeship to the growing portfolio of assessments that we are developing over the next 18 months.


“This is an important endorsement of the work the APS is doing to develop career paths in sales. High quality training is raising the bar for skilled sales professionals working across a variety of sectors."



John Usher, APMP UK chief development officer said: “It’s great to be working alongside the APS, winning Ofqual approval to assess this important business apprenticeship.



“Bid proposal apprentices will develop commercial skills that are essential to organisations and valued across all sectors.


“This is a very accessible programme. It has an excellent course structure that gives apprentices a step-by-step training in creating strong, customer-focused proposals and opens the door to a rewarding business career.”




About the APMP



APMP UK is the UK chapter of the Association of Bid Proposal Management Professionals (APMP), the representative body for professionals in bid, proposal and capture management.
Founded in 2001, APMP UK promotes the professional growth of its members by advancing the arts, sciences and technologies of winning business.


]]></description>
<category>Report</category>
<pubDate>Mon, 17 May 2021 10:07:18 GMT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>Safestyle UK wins industry first for commitment to ethical selling</title>
<link>https://members.the-isp.org/news/563027/</link>
<guid>https://members.the-isp.org/news/563027/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" style="padding: 0 15px; float: left;" src="
/resource/resmgr/news_images/Safestyle-team-600x315.jpg" />

Safestyle UK commercial director Gary Pickering (front, third from right) with the commercial leadership team



Thursday 29 April 2021




Safestyle UK, the windows and doors company, has become a market leader in its campaign for professional, ethical selling.



The company is the first in the home improvement sector to be awarded ethical sales business accreditation after its sales team passed the professional registration assessment established by the Association of Professional Sales (APS).


Having set an ambitious target, all of Safestyle’s 350 salespeople have successfully completed the APS exam, demonstrating the company’s commitment to professional development and customer service.


Passing the APS assessment is now a requirement for any salesperson who joins Safestyle.


The APS worked with Safestyle to develop the current APS, ethics assessment to make sure it included industry and consumer-specific questions focused on customer care with a particular focus on vulnerable customers who depend on the integrity of Safestyle’s sales team.



Gary Pickering, commercial director at Safestyle UK, said: “Receiving such a prestigious award is great for Safestyle. As we take our sales culture to a whole new level to stay ahead of our competitors, it shows our customers we have a sales force they can trust.



“Each and every one of our sales consultants will have a professional accreditation and training to provide Safestyle customers with the very best levels of service.”


“We are promoting a culture of continued professional development and continuous improvement, because we want to grow our business in a sustainable way, by putting the customer first 


“Membership of the Association of Professional Sales is of critical importance to Safestyle. It demonstrates our commitment to professional and ethical selling; and it demonstrates our commitment to our colleagues and to our customers.”



Andy Hough, APS chief executive said: “The APS is delighted to be working with Safestyle. Congratulations to their dedicated team of hard-working sales professionals for achieving ethical business status.


“Standards are important, and Gary Pickering’s commitment to ethical standards and a professional sales culture has played an important part in our decision to work with Safestyle.


“The Association of Professional Sales is developing sales knowledge, skills and ethical behaviour across all industries and our partnership with Safestyle is another important step in helping companies build strong, trusting relationships with their customers. This is not only good for business; it is the right thing to do.”



Watch the video:
 

<a href="https://youtu.be/sWa2ZoKjw8o" target="_blank"> Andy Hough of the APS in conversation with Safestyle's Gary Pickering</a>


]]></description>
<category>Report</category>
<pubDate>Thu, 29 Apr 2021 14:28:09 GMT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>How to save valuable time, and focus on people who will buy</title>
<link>https://members.the-isp.org/news/561946/</link>
<guid>https://members.the-isp.org/news/561946/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" style="padding: 0 15px; float: left;" src="
/resource/resmgr/news_images/Clock-in-sky-600x315.jpg" />

Friday 23 April 2021



By:
Nigel Swaby, a fellow of the former Institute of Sales Management that recently merged with the Association of Professional Sales, is a business leader with over 35 years commercial and business development experience across an array of sectors.



When I became managing director of an IT recruitment business, I was keen to find out how much my sales force knew about the sales process. I recall asking a simple question: “How do you spend most of your time?” Some said, writing proposals; others mentioned prospect or client meetings. A few replied that they focused on getting to know their candidates while keeping an eye on the competition. All worthwhile activities, but the answer I was hoping for was more of an admission: “I waste too much time with people who aren’t going to buy.”


It's easy to forget, but unlike other factors, your time is finite.


How often do we hear the phrase: there aren't enough hours in the day? It’s tempting, but we should try not to use this as an excuse. We all get 24 hours a day, and in sales, one of the very best ways to manage your time is in the art, and science, of qualification – making sure your prospect is a good fit for your product or service, so you know who is worth your time and energy, and – in the nicest way – who is not.


With today’s technology, companies can have the best systems for assessing prospects, sales performance, and customer relationships. There is no doubt that social media’s analytical tools can help with marketing efficiency, measuring the return on marketing investment. All great and useful stuff, but let’s not forget the human element in situations where it may not be practical to market your company’s products or services through social media alone; where only face-to-face will suffice. Try selling a multi-million-pound investment-bank trading-platform through Facebook and see how you get on.


For me, the bedrock of successful selling is to qualify, qualify and qualify, throughout the entire sales process, and to do that you need to become something of a sales detective. Your forensic research will give you the edge over the competition and you will invest less time with those who aren’t likely to buy.


I would not wish to insult anyone’s intelligence, or waffle on about basic sales techniques or sales qualification, but my aim is to make you think about your own environment, and the way you, or your company sells. It’s easy to say you have identified a prospective customer, and believe your company has the perfect solution for their needs, but make sure you’ve assessed all the angles, and mined any diamond bits of information. Don’t let your qualifying process be dull and mechanical, because there is a danger you will miss a real gem. Believing that your company’s offering is a neat solution to your prospect’s needs isn’t enough.


Look for the diamond in all areas of qualification. Think of all the dynamics and angles surrounding each qualifying parameter.


Let’s take just one simple example: people. Build up profiles of all the players involved, their backgrounds, likes, dislikes, hobbies and other interests and so forth. Perhaps some key influencer used to work for one of your current clients? Find out more about this person and, if appropriate, ask for a recommendation. What about the key contact, your prospect, do they have a good reputation? Perhaps they are just scouring the marketplace to amass ammunition to beat down the incumbent supplier?


When you are face-to-face with your prospect, immerse yourself in the environment, absorbing all you hear, see and even smell; taste the air!


Always look out for a clue, the angle, ways to hone and refine your questioning. Are you feeling at ease or a little awkward? They will probably be mirroring the way you feel. Notice the body language, body twitching, feet moving. Is your prospect agitated, and where are their eyes directed? What type of personality are you dealing with: the nervous, shy, retiring type, or Mr Ego who lies back in his chair with hands clasped behind the back of his neck?


Adapting your approach to each personality type will enhance your chances of a successful outcome. Become an expert in human behaviour. You’ll invest less time with those that aren’t genuine prospects. The detective work goes on and on.



Of course, this strategy may be overkill if you are selling low-value, high-volume commodity items, but it is crucial for successful selling into high-value major accounts. There’s nothing really intellectual about sales qualification, but it is a thoughtful discipline which must be structured and measured in a systematic way to ensure time is optimised, rather than being relegated down the list of things to do.




Remember, it all comes back to one thing: your time. The better salespeople are at qualifying, the more time they have to focus on legitimate prospects, maximising conversion success rates, ultimately resulting in generating greater profits.




If you’ve found this article thought provoking and of value, then the invested time spent with me writing it and you reading it, has been worthwhile.




One final thought, in UK average-life-expectancy terms, the value of one hour to a 50-year-old, has the equivalent value of two hours to someone who is 20. Time gets more precious year by year. To reiterate, your time is finite. Don’t waste it.





© Nigel Swaby, March 2021.



<img alt="" style="padding: 0 15px; float: left;" src="
/resource/resmgr/news_images/Nigel-Swaby-200x249.jpg" />


Nigel Swaby, a fellow of the former Institute of Sales Management that recently merged with the Association of Professional Sales, is a business leader with over 35 years commercial and business development experience across an array of sectors, including film, music, childcare, education, financial systems and software.

]]></description>
<category>Opinion</category>
<pubDate>Fri, 23 Apr 2021 08:00:45 GMT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>From connections to customers: how social media can boost the way you sell</title>
<link>https://members.the-isp.org/news/557764/</link>
<guid>https://members.the-isp.org/news/557764/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" style="padding: 0 15px; float: left;" src="
/resource/resmgr/news_images/Adam-Gray-DLAignite-600x315.jpg" />

Wednesday 24 March 2021



By:
Adam Gray, co-founder and head of intellectual property (IP) for DLAignite - a global strategy and training business that helps organisations to see social media as the platform for closing the distance between clients, prospects, remote employees and potential recruits.



Back in the mists of time, before LinkedIn, Facebook, WhatsApp and other social platforms, a salesperson who wanted to communicate with a potential customer started with a phone directory and a phone.


Now we have a world of possibilities.


Instead of a phone book, a seller has access to a vast digital directory. LinkedIn alone has 740 million members in more than 200 countries and territories - a phone book for the modern age - not just names, but job titles, responsibilities, companies, business contacts, employment and education history.


This is a goldmine, but it still takes serious prospecting, which starts with a structured plan to help narrow your focus on those who might be interested in what you have to sell.


On the whole, you can split your marketplace into three groups: the interested – your prospects; the not interested; and the others – your suspects.


In the old phone-directory days, you would cross out the names of people you had spoken to that weren’t interested; and you would add to your customer relationship manager (CRM) the details of those that were. (You would also cross out their names in the phone book.) Those you had not spoken to did not have a line through their names, so you were still free to call them. Simple, but despite the names being in alphabetical order, completely random.


Now, with social media, you have the perfect mechanism for turning a random approach into a targeted approach. Social selling lets you set out your stall, build recognition and trust, and narrow your focus. This is key because your digital shop window can be seen by an almost unlimited number of suspects.


Where the phone book gave you hundreds of possibilities, the internet provides a hitherto undreamt-of degree of scale to your messaging, but just like the old phone directory, a big list rarely moves you closer to actually selling something. For that there is the need for a process and procedure, in the same way as those needed for accurate forecasting, deal flow and revenue generation from the pipeline in your CRM.


Turning suspects into conversations, then prospects, then leads, pipeline and revenue takes time and energy. This does not happen by chance.


To target your search, set out your key performance indicators: connections, messages, views, posts, likes, comments, shares, and then note how these drive conversations, calls, forecasts and eventually revenue. The important thing is that there is a relationship between your social activity and revenue, if the right things are measured and promoted and the right lessons are learned.




To make sure your digital shop window is enticing, I would recommend focusing on the following:



<ul>

<li>
Profile - does your profile say what it needs to say about you and your business? (This isn’t necessarily what you want it to say or think it should say.) </li>
<li>
Network - is your network focused in the right area? If you have no connections, or very few within your nominated accounts, your social behaviour will have little benefit. </li>
<li>
Engaging - are you liking and commenting on the posts of people you want to be noticed by, and how would they regard your posts and profile? </li>
<li>
Publishing - when you have started to build a network, regularly publish interesting comments and posts, so i) they remember who you are, ii) you maximise the chance of being in the right place at the right time, iii) they continue to build trust in you. </li>
<li>
Skilled, ethical selling – promoting yourself as a member of your professional body – like the newly merged Association of Professional Sales (APS) and the Institute of Sales Management (ISM) gives you credibility and status.
<a href="“/news/556947/Sales-industry-united-APS-merges-with-ISM.htm'">Read More..</a>
</li>
<li>
Knowledge – sharing and commenting on the latest thought leadership, like the latest parliamentary report called Supercharging Sales: Investing in B2B selling for jobs and growth will demonstrate that you are across industry trends.
<a href="“/resource/resmgr/appg/superchargingsales.pdf'">Read More..</a>
</li>
<li>
Spam – the more you publish, the more you’ll be noticed, but go for informed, interesting, targeted comments and posts. Think about your market audience and post for them.
</li>
<li>
Personal - If you post about who you are rather than your products and services, you are more likely to start conversations. Remember when you meet a prospect face-to-face, or now by phone or video call, you don’t sell straight away, you talk about mutual interests, sport, children, pets, lockdown living whatever interests you have in common.
</li>

</ul>


For complex business-to-business purchases a buyer needs more than a brochure.
They need a connection. Social selling gives you the chance to project your image and role within your organisation to help you build a strong business relationship. In time, you customers will see you as a knowledgeable, trusted adviser because good communication builds business.

]]></description>
<category>Insight</category>
<pubDate>Wed, 24 Mar 2021 12:33:43 GMT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>Sales industry united: APS merges with ISM</title>
<link>https://members.the-isp.org/news/556947/</link>
<guid>https://members.the-isp.org/news/556947/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" style="padding: 0 15px; float: left;" src="
/resource/resmgr/news_images/aps-ism-2-handshake600x315.jpg" />

Thursday 18 March 2021




The Association of Professional Sales (APS) is merging with the Institute of Sales Management (ISM) to form a single, unified membership body for the sales profession.

In a momentous development for UK sales, the two bodies which have represented salespeople in the UK concluded negotiations this week. The merger will result in a new organisation, which is to be called the Institute of Sales Professionals (ISP).



Andrew Hough, the chief executive officer of the APS, said: “This merger is fantastic news for the sales profession. Together we are stronger and can achieve great things. 
"The ISP will be able to speak with one clear voice for all salespeople and sales businesses across the UK in the work we do with industry and government. 
“We are delighted to welcome ISM members to join us on our campaign to transform professional sales.”




The development comes after the ISM went into liquidation. Founded in 1911, and with an illustrious history that included a close association with the future Edward VIII, the ISM hosted the annual British Excellence in Sales Management Awards (Besma), and ran a digital magazine called Winning Edge.




Patrick Joiner, former director of the ISM, said: “I am convinced that this decision is in the best interests of the membership of the ISM, the former shareholders and the sales profession as a whole.
"The new body will be a dynamic, influential, and effective voice. It will more effectively represent the sales profession at a time when we will be on the front line in generating the commercial activity that will lead our economy out of the post-covid recession.“




Mr Hough said: “APS and the ISM have always shared the same values. We are both committed to professionalising sales by building skills and knowledge. We both want salespeople to be respected by other professions and by wider society, and we want to recruit the brightest and best to an exciting and well-rewarded career. 
"As a unified voice, our campaign for chartership and our advice to government and business organisations will carry even greater authority, helping to ensure that our profession continues to grow in stature and respect.”

]]></description>
<category>Report</category>
<pubDate>Thu, 18 Mar 2021 15:04:56 GMT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>MPs publish major report on vital role of B2B selling for Covid-19 recovery</title>
<link>https://members.the-isp.org/news/555391/</link>
<guid>https://members.the-isp.org/news/555391/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" style="padding: 0 15px; float: left;" src="
/resource/resmgr/news_images/APPG-report-Parliament-600x3.jpg" />

Tuesday 9 March 2021




MPs on the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Professional Sales have published a major new report on the vital role that B2B selling must play in the UK’s recovery from recession.




The report finds that the B2B sales sector will be key to the country’s fortunes in 2021 and beyond, helping to propel the economy out of its Covid-induced downturn and enabling the UK to make the most of new trading opportunities around the world.




But the MPs also noted that the pandemic had intensified the existing shortage of B2B salespeople. Selling during Covid-19 has required more advanced skills and capability with digital sales technology - but these skills and capability are in short supply, especially at SMEs.




The number of job adverts for B2B salespeople comfortable with operating in an all-digital marketplace rose in intensity by 25% during 2020, and demand for skilled sellers was already back to its pre-Covid levels despite the continued lockdown.




In the report, the MPs call for the government to:





<ul>

<li>promote respect for B2B selling, including endorsing the Association of Professional Sales’s petition to become the professional body for the sales industry</li>
<li>increase recruitment to the profession via the flagship higher and degree-level apprenticeships in B2B selling pioneered by the APS, and nationally-agreed standards of training in B2B selling from Kickstart upwards</li>
<li>assist the spread of higher skills in B2B sales among the existing sales workforce</li>
<li>offer tax breaks for investing in sales skills and digital sales technology</li>

</ul>


Some of the measures in the report, including more support for SMEs taking on apprentices, was included in last week’s budget, but many were not. With 75-80% of large corporates now saying they actively prefer transacting business via virtual meetings, SMEs need to use technology in order to remain competitive.




Mark Pawsey MP, chair of the APPG for Professional Sales, told MPs and sales professionals at the online launch of the report: “There is a real imperative for sales, and I drew attention, in my remarks in the Chamber yesterday to the fact that exports last year went down by 14.7%; that’s 54 billion pounds worth of sales that have gone begging. And if that’s not a call to arms, and a wake-up call to get out and get selling, frankly, I don’t know what is.




"The aim of the government is to provide us with new sales opportunities in new markets around the world, so let’s make certain that we attract the brightest and the best into the sales profession, and get selling. In the words of the report, 'supercharging' our sales."




The report, Supercharging Sales: Investing in B2B selling for jobs and growth, was published online at 13:30 on Tuesday 9 March. The 40-page report can be found in full here:





<a href="http://the-aps.com/resource/resmgr/appg/superchargingsales.pdf" target="_blank">http://the-aps.com/resource/resmgr/appg/superchargingsales.pdf</a>




Page 5 contains a summary of the whole report in 100 words and a list of three key recommendations, followed by a three page executive summary. The full list of recommendations starts on page 32.



A recording of the launch of the report by MPs can be watched online at the APPG’s Facebook page here:




<a href="https://www.facebook.com/APPGProfessionalSales" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/APPGProfessionalSales</a>]]></description>
<category>Report</category>
<pubDate>Tue, 9 Mar 2021 13:45:00 GMT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>Why business-to-business sellers are crucial for Covid-19 recovery</title>
<link>https://members.the-isp.org/news/555388/</link>
<guid>https://members.the-isp.org/news/555388/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" style="padding: 0 15px; float: left;" src="
/resource/resmgr/news_images/Mark-Pawsey-Commons-600x315.jpg" />

Tuesday 9 March 2021




Mark Pawsey MP is chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Professional Sales and a former sales leader. He also sits on the influential Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee - a select committee of the House of Commons. 
His foreword to a new parliamentary report, published on Tuesday 9 March 2021, calls for action to support the sales profession to boost the UK’s recovery, jobs and skills .




You can read the full report here: <a href="https://the-aps.com/resource/resmgr/appg/superchargingsales.pdf">Supercharging Sales: Investing in B2B selling for jobs and growth</a>





Mark writes...


As a business-to-business salesman I spent years driving the motorways of Britain to talk to clients and understand their needs, and as a B2B manager I helped my sales team to win business and drive prosperity.




So it’s with the benefit of personal experience that I can assure you that the UK wouldn’t function without B2B selling, which is a huge part of the economy. Since I left the profession, the job has only become more demanding - requiring deep product knowledge but always with a high need for customer insight, empathy, communication, collaboration, strategy and critical thinking.




I was a founder member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Professional Sales, and our first inquiry in 2019 looked at why so many SMEs were underperforming at this essential business activity. We highlighted too little B2B sales knowhow and slowness in taking on new technology. Snobbery about selling was another problem, stopping good recruits
coming into the profession.




If we fixed these problems the economy would enjoy significant growth in productivity. Here’s what we said in 2019, and every word rings truer today:
“Our report identifies a critical shortage of professional salespeople that affects every business, but SMEs in particular. It also highlights a negative attitude in Britain towards selling that is holding the economy back. The government needs to intervene to close the skills gap, and to promote a more business-like attitude towards selling.”




Several months after our report was published, Covid-19 arrived and caused a revolution in the way we sell, on top of a deep recession. So this, our second inquiry, looks at the changes caused by the pandemic,
and the lessons we need to learn. Can good, ethical, professional B2B selling help tackle the huge challenges the economy now faces?




Many thanks to the expert contributors from business and academia whose views are quoted throughout.
Our findings are that SME owners need to learn to sell in a new way. Many have only started adopting digital technology and are being held back by a lack of business-to-business selling skills. B2B salespeople need to be upskilled, and more need to be trained. We say that the government must intervene to help, as the recession has left many SMEs too weak to do it alone.




If we turn round attitudes, and if we upskill our workforce, then B2B selling will be a major force to power the UK out of recession, creating jobs and building new markets overseas. Let’s get selling!




About the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Professional Sales




The APPG for Professional Sales is supported by the Association of Professional Sales which provides its secretariat and research. The group was founded by APS fellow Stephen Kerr in 2018, when he was MP for Stirling. The APPG is now led by Mark Pawsey, the MP for Rugby, who also sits on the influential Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee - a select committee of the House of Commons.

]]></description>
<category>Opinion</category>
<pubDate>Tue, 9 Mar 2021 13:30:00 GMT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>MPs warn the UK must boost B2B selling skills for Covid-19 recovery</title>
<link>https://members.the-isp.org/news/555190/</link>
<guid>https://members.the-isp.org/news/555190/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" style="padding: 0 15px; float: left;" src="
/resource/resmgr/news_images/Mark-Pawsey-Report-600x315.jpg" />

Monday 8 March 2021




An MP-led inquiry is warning that Britain is suffering from a shortage of salespeople and of sales expertise. Much more needs to be done to recruit and train people with strong business-to-business selling skills, to drive the economy out of the recession caused by the Covid-19 crisis, and to find new global trading opportunities outside the EU.





The findings of the inquiry are being published on Tuesday by MPs on the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Professional Sales. 



Mark Pawsey MP, the chair of the all-party group, is launching the report - Supercharging Sales: Investing in B2B selling for jobs and growth - from 13:30 - 14:00 on Tuesday 9 March, with contributions from inquiry witnesses. The event will be shown live on the APPG’s Facebook page:<a href="https://www.facebook.com/APPGProfessionalSales" target="_blank">Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/APPGProfessionalSales</a> 



The Covid-19 pandemic has had a profound effect on business. It has accelerated the digital revolution in how we trade, but exposed an acute skills shortage in professional business-to-business selling. Action now will equip the UK to do business across the world as an independent trading nation, boosting our future productivity and prosperity.




Speaking in June 2020, the Prime Minister set out his vision for the UK as an economic powerhouse which depends on our ability to sell the best of British.




Boris Johnson MP said: “We need now a new dynamic commercial spirit to make the most of UK breakthroughs, so that British ideas produce new British industries and British jobs.”




This “new dynamic commercial spirit” depends on the UK’s ability to sell.



 
About the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Professional Sales




The APPG for Professional Sales was set up to:




<ul>
<li>Improve recognition by parliament and industry of the importance of sales and its impact on the UK economy</li> 
<li>Promote and advance sales as a profession</li> 
<li>Boost the success of British industry, especially in international trade</li> 
</ul>


The cross-party group is supported by the Association of Professional Sales which provides its secretariat and research. The group was founded by APS fellow Stephen Kerr in 2018, when he was MP for Stirling. The APPG is now led by Mark Pawsey, the MP for Rugby, who also sits on the influential Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee - a select committee of the House of Commons.




About the APS The Association of Professional Sales is the leading authority for salespeople, a not-for-profit organisation, reinvesting in the sales profession to build standards, trust and education. The APS is engaged with MPs to promote
professional selling across UK businesses and has worked with the government and business leaders to establish sales apprenticeships up to degree and master’s level. The Association is campaigning for a Royal Charter to give skilled, ethical salespeople
the same status as other professions like accountants, lawyers, architects and surveyors. Expert, ethical, professional salespeople are crucial for business success.

]]></description>
<category>Report</category>
<pubDate>Mon, 8 Mar 2021 12:50:00 GMT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>APS Fellowship: Senior Leadership Development</title>
<link>https://members.the-isp.org/news/554935/</link>
<guid>https://members.the-isp.org/news/554935/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" style="padding: 0 15px; float: left;" src="https://members.the-isp.org/resource/resmgr/news_images/APS-logo-Darren-Bayley-600x3.jpg" />
 At the Association of professional Sales, forward-thinking sales leaders can connect, share experiences and gain insight through informal face-to-face and online meetings - a chance to interact with peers locally, nationally and internationally. 
The APS brings together individual salespeople, sales leaders and those at the cutting-edge of their organisations. Our community enables members to learn from diverse markets, companies, regions and
cultures.

Beyond the benefits of being part of this society of sales leaders, the APS also provides access to a rich range of debate and learning opportunities. We are focused on creating an environment where sales academics and practitioners can meet and grow together.
<ul>
<li>Weekly, global round table sessions</li>
<li>Monthly webinars </li>
<li>White papers and reviews</li>
<li>Research </li>
<li>Catalogue of leadership development content accessible via the APS learning management system</li>
<li>Informal self-directed networking</li>
<li>Leadership development including Sales Directors Course, Key Account Management Development and a Masters in Strategic Sales Leadership.</li>
<li>Access to APS and Cranfield Centre for Sales Excellence </li>
</ul>
<h4>By Fellows For Fellows… </h4>
The Association are celebrating the leadership of 2021 initiatives by its fellows, and we are delighted that Darren Bayley, a Founding Fellow of the APS and a long-standing sales leader has agreed to lead the fellowship engagement programme for 2021/22.

”I am looking forward to working with the APS leadership team to further enhance fellow and member engagement during the coming year. My aim is to be able to unlock the power of the APS professional network to allow all APS fellows to benefit from the
insight, development opportunities and fellowship associated with being part of the APS sales community. 
As Sales Director for Straumann UK & Ireland, an experienced Chartered Professional (CMI and CIM) and Section Manager for the International Team for Implantology (the largest international academic organization in implant dentistry and related tissue
regeneration), Darren has already begun work on an action plan to increase engagement with the senior membership of the Association and looks forward to sharing this soon. 
 “As we continue to grow our Association we will seek to further enhance engagement and fellowship within this professional community” adds Bayley. 
This will include ensuring APS Fellows benefit from: 
<ul>
<li>Increased insight into current trends impacting sales professionals. </li>
<li>Access to a knowledge bank of the most up to date research from sales academics around the world. </li>
<li>Shared best practice on sales transformation, organizational development and go to market strategies.</li>
<li>Insights from other segments, markets and countries to support sales leaders look beyond the boundaries of their own industries.</li>
</ul>
All of these elements combine to support the Associations vision of creating a knowledge-based community for our fellows, thereby helping them create sustainable value and success within their own companies. 
The Association also looks to its Fellows to be active in supporting its work with educational establishments promoting sales as a career along with its work with the Government and the All Party Parliamentary Group For Sales where we work to shape policy.
All of which contributes to increasing the standing of sales as a profession and recognition of its positive impact on the economy, business, individuals and society. 
During the course of this year, we will be reaching out to APS Members and Fellows for their support in helping to further the goals of the APS.
<h4>We look forward to working with you.</h4>]]></description>
<category>Opinion</category>
<pubDate>Fri, 5 Mar 2021 11:16:29 GMT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>APS launches new venture to support sales professionals in Asia</title>
<link>https://members.the-isp.org/news/550676/</link>
<guid>https://members.the-isp.org/news/550676/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" style="padding: 0 15px; float: left;" src="
/resource/resmgr/news_images/20210217-zeeenath-kuraisha-6.jpg" />

Wednesday 17 February 2021




The Association Of Professional Sales (APS) is moving into an important new phase of its work in Asia Pacific and Japan strengthening its support for professional salespeople across the region.





After three years building interest and connections, through its head office in Singapore, APS Asia has been formally incorporated as a business to provide a strong platform for development.




Leading this important venture is our new managing director and shareholder of APS Asia, Zeenath Kuraisha.




Zeenath is a veteran sales expert with three decades of telesales, inside sales and customer and partner management experience. She also serves as president of the Singapore chapter of the global association for inside sales professionals, the AA-ISP.




The challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic have highlighted the importance of professional networks like the APS, and developing and supporting talented salespeople with recognised professional standards is a priority for many businesses across Asia.




Zeenath commented: "I am proud to pioneer and promote the APS across Asia Pacific countries, bringing in the best minds to set standards and behaviours and work with organisations to develop expert salespeople.


"Over the coming months you can expect to see the Association of Professional Sales Asia grow its activities by engaging with senior sales leaders across the region. This is a great opportunity to support the development of qualified sales talents and leaders of the future.”




Andy Hough, APS founder and chief executive officer, added: "Asia is an important region for the Association as we look to grow the standing of sales as a profession.





“Part of this journey is our support for sellers in differentiating themselves and their employers through self-development and aligning to recognised standards. 



“Sales is a true profession which offers a rewarding, long-term career and we believe that Asia will see growth in the number of sellers and an increasing need for life-long career learning.“

]]></description>
<category>Report</category>
<pubDate>Wed, 17 Feb 2021 12:03:59 GMT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>APS meets government to boost support for B2B sales</title>
<link>https://members.the-isp.org/news/535257/</link>
<guid>https://members.the-isp.org/news/535257/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[

Thursday 5 November 2020






The Association of Professional Sales has been meeting government ministers and MPs to support business-to-business (B2B) selling and boost UK trade through the coronavirus pandemic.





Recent research from B2BMarketing shows that business-to-business selling is worth £1.7 trillion to the economy. Professional B2B selling will safeguard jobs, support our public services and is vital for UK prosperity.


As part of our campaign, we have had talks with ministers from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Department for Education.


The BEIS select committee has also published our written evidence on sales and post-pandemic growth. <a href="https://lnkd.in/dVvSgRE" target="_blank">You can read our submission here: https://lnkd.in/dVvSgRE</a>






Our work with MPs on the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Professional Sales is focused on a new inquiry about supporting SMEs to develop their selling skills and digital know-how through the covid crisis.



During our recent meeting with business minister Paul Scully MP we discussed representing the business of professional sales within government and talked about the need for up-to-date digital selling skills across the profession.


In a subsequent meeting with education minister Gillian Keegan MP, we promoted the value of sales apprenticeships which are making a significant difference to APS members like Royal Mail and E.On. We also discussed help for SMEs to take on sales apprentices
to improve their productivity and profitability.



Andy Hough, APS founder and CEO said: “We are pleased to be working with government and MPs at Westminster to support the UK's vital B2B sales sector to help safeguard jobs and build a strong recovery through the pandemic. Professional, ethical selling
is the key to developing new business opportunities and good trading partnerships which will be so important for post-Brexit Britain.



“Best-practice sales skills, supported by the latest digital technology, will make the UK economy more resilient, diverse and inclusive.”

]]></description>
<category>Report</category>
<pubDate>Thu, 5 Nov 2020 10:35:59 GMT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>Royal Caribbean wins new sales award</title>
<link>https://members.the-isp.org/news/531755/</link>
<guid>https://members.the-isp.org/news/531755/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" style="padding: 0 15px; float: left;" src="
/resource/resmgr/news_images/royal-caribbean-and-aps-logo.jpg ">

Friday 23 October 2020




In a clear commitment to ethical selling, a new cohort of salespeople at Royal Caribbean Group have won the industry-leading Investor in Sales Award.





The award, conferred by the Association of Professional Sales (APS), is granted to sales teams who pass an exacting test to appear on the APS register of professional, trustworthy sellers.




In a cruise-industry first, Royal Caribbean’s sales teams in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) won the award in May 2019. Now they have been joined by sales colleagues across Singapore and South East Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America
and the Caribbean.




Team motivation and retention rates increase when staff are given the opportunity to develop their careers and working with the APS, Royal Caribbean Group has expanded the capacity of its sales academy to focus on education and professional accreditation.
The alliance shows trade partners and customers that Royal Caribbean Group employees are professional and ethical salespeople.




The partnership between the APS and Royal Caribbean Group features a revolutionary digital sales training academy with the latest, university-led sales education and ethics. The academy focuses on building long-standing, trusting relationships with Royal
Caribbean Group’s travel partners and customers.




More than 50 percent of sellers need to pass the APS accreditation exam to win the coveted Investor in Sales Award. So far, almost 60 per cent of Royal Caribbean Group sales staff, in the international regions mentioned above, have gained professional
accreditation. Many more salespeople are set to follow.




Of the new achievement, Grant Van Ulbrich, Director of Sales Transformation International, said: “I am exceptionally proud of our partnership with the Association of Professional Sales. The accreditation programme established in the EMEA markets was a
great success, so to expand it around the world just made sense. The appetite for learning and gaining qualifications for professional sales is significant and has been welcomed by our sales teams and travel partners.”




Sean Treacy, Senior Vice President of International at Royal Caribbean International, added: “The work to achieve this accreditation focuses on developing trusted relationships between our customers and hard-working salespeople. We are very pleased to
earn this coveted award for promoting professional development across our sales teams. Selling is a skilled profession and expanding our accreditation with the Association of Professional Sales makes ethical and business sense. It’s the right
thing to do.”




Andrew Hough, founder and CEO of the APS, said: “Royal Caribbean Group is a globally-recognised leader of cruise lines, highly respected within the holiday, travel and tourism sector and we are delighted to be working with them. The APS is very impressed
by the Group’s leadership and their ambition to build strong customer relationships by developing an ethical and highly professional sales force.




“In a competitive market, Royal Caribbean Group are putting guests first by developing skilled salespeople and valuing their important role at the heart of the company. We are pleased to work with partners who share our ideals of self-development and
ethical, professional sales.




“We congratulate them on taking our Investor in Sales Award to the next level. The Group has 170 international sales members and so far 58% have earned their accreditation. The remaining staff are learning and making good progress towards earning their
own professional, APS accreditation.”




About the APS The Association of Professional Sales is the leading authority for salespeople, a not-for-profit organisation, reinvesting in the sales profession to build standards, trust and education. The APS is engaged with MPs to promote
professional selling across UK businesses and has worked with the government and business leaders to establish sales apprenticeships up to degree and master’s level. The Association is campaigning for a Royal Charter to give skilled, ethical salespeople
the same status as other professions like accountants, lawyers, architects and surveyors. Expert, ethical, professional salespeople are crucial for business success.




About Royal Caribbean Group <a href="https://www.royalcaribbeangroup.com" target="_blank">Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE: RCL)</a> is the new operating business name for <a href="https://www.royalcaribbean.com" target="_blank">Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.</a> Royal Caribbean Group is the owner of four global cruise vacation brands: Royal Caribbean International, <a href="https://www.celebritycruises.com" target="_blank">Celebrity Cruises</a>, <a href="https://www.silversea.com" target="_blank">Silversea</a> and <a href="https://www.azamara.co.uk" target="_blank">Azamara</a>. Royal Caribbean Group is also a 50% owner of a joint venture that operates TUI Cruises and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. Together, our brands operate 63 ships with an additional 16 on
order as of July 10, 2020. Learn more at <a href="https://www.royalcaribbeangroup.com" target="_blank">www.rclcorporate.com</a> or <a href="https://www.rclinvestor.com" target="_blank">www.rclinvestor.com</a>.



]]></description>
<category>Report</category>
<pubDate>Fri, 23 Oct 2020 11:30:38 GMT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>The power of purpose before profit: from Black Lives Matter to Covid-19</title>
<link>https://members.the-isp.org/news/528065/</link>
<guid>https://members.the-isp.org/news/528065/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" style="padding: 0 15px; float: left;" src="
/resource/resmgr/news_images/20200928-black-lives-matter-.jpg">
Thursday 1 October 2020

In this article, the third in a series busting the myths of sales leadership, Andrew Hough, chief executive of the Association of Professional Sales, challenges the common perception that the only purpose of business is profit.


Recently we have seen two remarkable examples of the power of shared purpose.




The death of George Floyd under the knee of a police officer generated a spontaneous wave of support for the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. Around the world the public rallied, taking to the streets despite the health risk to show their passion for
the cause. Conversations about BLM exploded on social media. The movement proved so powerful it gained the attention of the corporate world. Company after company issued press statements, committing to re-examine their own practices. Publishers
began to reassess how many black authors they publish. Healthcare employers reconsidered rotas to move Bame staff away from the frontline of the covid crisis. We will have to wait and see how deep-rooted the changes are, but there is little doubt
that BLM has shifted how we think.



The early weeks of the Covid-19 lockdown in the UK provided an even more extraordinary example of shared purpose in action. Tens of millions of people consented to restrict their movements, even when they passionately wanted to see their family and
loved ones. Millions volunteered to help others. Millions donated food. Support groups sprang up unprompted in every community. Fear of the virus, empathy for the victims, desire to do something helpful, plus a call to action by the government,
resulted in an outpouring of altruism and a remarkable solidarity in obeying the lockdown, often at high personal cost.
 


Both the response to Covid-19 and the BLM movement demonstrate classic behaviours triggered by a sense of shared purpose.

Individuals showed:


<ul>
<li>significant rise in motivation</li>
<li>spontaneous changes in behaviour</li>
<li>efforts above and beyond what was required</li>
<li>ingenuity and creativity in overcoming obstacles</li>
<li>emotional as well as intellectual engagement, often passionate</li>
<li>empathy for others</li>
<li>a sense of community and joint enterprise.</li>
</ul>


Now, imagine: what would it be like if employees applied those powerful, positive behaviours at work? A fraction of the energy and sense of purpose poured into the BLM protests and responding to Covid-19 would be enough to galvanise any company’s
fortunes. Customers would be delighted, revenues would increase, and at the end of the year shareholders would be looking at a healthier balance sheet.


Profit vs Purpose

Let’s keep in mind those examples of what is possible when people work with a shared purpose. Because when we look at the state of business before Covid-19, that energy and confidence were not much in evidence.


 

<blockquote style="margin: 0 0 0 40px; border: none; padding: 0px;">
<blockquote style="margin: 0 0 0 40px; border: none; padding: 0px;">


Productivity across Europe had shown very little increase for the past 20 years. The UK economy was one of the worst affected by this stagnation. Concerns about the wellbeing of workers were on the rise. The huge cost to business of days lost through
absenteeism was continuing to grow.

</blockquote>
<blockquote style="margin: 0 0 0 40px; border: none; padding: 0px;">

 

</blockquote>
</blockquote>

There was no shortage of people trying to diagnose and fix what was going wrong. There were more leadership consultants, mentors, executive development programmes and MBAs than ever before. But few of the solutions they came up with seemed to make
a difference to the way the workforce felt or acted. There was a sense that leadership was in a rut, unable to inspire or offer new direction. In too many sales teams, leadership had nothing to offer to motivate salespeople but the pursuit of
their quota and the need to deliver shareholder returns. 


The people in sales teams who felt the lowest sense of engagement with work were those in the millennial age group, born between 1981-96. This is the largest group in the workforce, and their efforts should have been the engine driving the business
forward. Instead, they felt detached from their organisations and uninspired by the aims of their leaders. They moved jobs frequently.


Yet this is an age group which, as a whole, has a strong streak of idealism. They crave a cause to identify with. Many were, in fact, the very people who took to the streets to protest that Black Lives Matter. 



The need for better leadership


It seems a long time ago now, the status quo before the protests, and the pandemic.


The huge disruption caused by Covid-19 has forced businesses to reassess their business models repeatedly. And with a steep rise in cases, and more regional lockdowns, there is uncertainty about what this winter will bring.

Meanwhile many of the millennial salespeople who felt disengaged from work are now fearful for their jobs. Hundreds of thousands are on furlough. Some have been laid off. The rest are getting used to new ways of working. Wellbeing is at a low ebb,
and anxiety and depression are on the rise.


 

<blockquote style="margin: 0 0 0 40px; border: none; padding: 0px;">
<blockquote style="margin: 0 0 0 40px; border: none; padding: 0px;">


Times of great disturbance call for leadership. It is clear that the kind of leadership on offer will have to change. Addictive leadership, doing things the way that they have always been done, will not do. The simple pursuit of profit will not serve
when customers are not buying, and their needs are changing. You cannot motivate salespeople by rewarding them for hitting quota when no one is hitting quota. It is a time for new thinking.

</blockquote>
<blockquote style="margin: 0 0 0 40px; border: none; padding: 0px;">

 

</blockquote>
</blockquote>

The way to a new normal



Sales leaders need to bring their teams together and communicate a sense of shared purpose. If sales leaders could harness a fraction of the energy poured into the BLM protests and the response to Covid-19, then their businesses would come roaring back
from the downturn. In 2015, PR firm Burson-Marsteller and IMD Business School found that “strong, well-communicated purpose” can contribute up to a 17% improvement in financial performance.




Any leader who picks up the challenge will be pushing at an open door. Research has repeatedly shown that employees want purpose at work. In a recent survey, 63% of millennials said that the primary purpose of businesses should be “improving society”
instead of “generating profit.”




“Millennials don’t just work for a paycheque — they want a purpose,” writes Jim Clifton, chairman and CEO of Gallup. The polling company’s research paper How Millennials Want to Work and Live reveals that 63% of millennials believe the primary purpose
of businesses should be “improving society” instead of “generating profit.”




Having a sense of purpose improves their wellbeing and sense of belonging at work. Purpose-driven employees will not only sell 37% more (Shawn Achor’s research) but have 66% less sick-leave and 51% lower job turnover (Forbes and Gallup), and show 300%
more innovation according to Harvard Business Review.



The problem and the solution



So what are the obstacles to businesses changing to become more purposeful? The answer up till now, I regret to say, has been us - the junior and middle managers and directors. We are the ones who failed to understand the message and filter it down throughout
the organisation. We are the ones who clung addictively to the past, making financial gain the beginning and end of the way we managed salespeople.




As Dee Hock, the inspirational founder of Visa International, put it:


 

<blockquote style="margin: 0 0 0 40px; border: none; padding: 0px;">
<blockquote style="margin: 0 0 0 40px; border: none; padding: 0px;">


“Money motivates neither the best people, nor the best in people. It can move the body and influence the mind, but it cannot touch the heart or move the spirit; that is reserved for
belief, principle, and morality.”


</blockquote>

 

</blockquote>

There is no need for this to continue: indeed, the argument for change has become overwhelming, and it is down to us to do something about it. Business leaders can be the galvanising force for change.




Jeremy Moore, the founder of leadership experts, Zoomcow, told an Association of Professional Sales webinar that if you want to inspire loyalty and engagement, and promote the wellbeing of your team, you need to show them three important qualities:
trust, empathy and respect.




These attributes do not merely improve working relationships, they demonstrate how customers too, need to be treated.



Defining purpose



So how can you inspire a sales team, give them purpose and help them identify with their business and be proud to serve it?




Right now, the best place to start is with professionalism and a strong ethic of serving the customer in their hour of need. Acquiring the skills to do the job despite difficult circumstances. Striving to be better, despite the obstacles.


 

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<blockquote style="margin: 0 0 0 40px; border: none; padding: 0px;">


From its founding six years ago the Association of Professional Sales (APS) has consistently spread the message that continuous professional development, qualifications and professionalism are the best way to give salespeople a sense of direction and
purpose. The learning that started in lockdown can continue into the future. That will be good not just for individual salespeople, who want to improve their skills and polish their personal brand, but also good for their company, their customers,
for wider society and the environment.

</blockquote>
<blockquote style="margin: 0 0 0 40px; border: none; padding: 0px;">

 

</blockquote>
</blockquote>


I’ll finish with the example of Royal Mail, a company that has been a close partner of the APS since its inception. Royal Mail has had plenty of business challenges over the past few years, but has faced them down, and is now enjoying excellent results
and performing strongly in its retail markets.




Graham Davis, who as group sales director at Royal Mail oversaw the transformation of the sales team, said that the company used to be frightened of change but ultimately came to welcome it for the opportunities it brought.




First, managers were helped to transform their own leadership by becoming qualified coaches. In the course of two years they tripled the amount of time they spent coaching from 25% to 75%.




“Technology manages. People lead,” said Davis, who is now chairman of the APS board. “You establish values, attitudes, beliefs and customs. You encourage people to challenge themselves inside, and outside, work. At the end, you have a motivated sales
team engaged in that vision of the future.”




The changes threw up some inspiring stories. One of Graham’s colleagues in sales was terrified of flying, but she challenged that fear. Six months later she was wing-walking. Graham was stunned: “She was on the wings of a plane – flying! She wouldn’t
get on a plane, then she is strapped to the wings of one. Suddenly your team thinks anything is possible.”

]]></description>
<category>Opinion</category>
<pubDate>Thu, 1 Oct 2020 13:02:01 GMT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>Royal awards triumph for APS members</title>
<link>https://members.the-isp.org/news/522582/</link>
<guid>https://members.the-isp.org/news/522582/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" style="padding: 0 15px; float: left;" src="
/resource/resmgr/news_images/Princess-Royal-Awards-600x31.jpg">
Friday 21 August 2020



Two corporate members of the Association of Professional Sales (APS) have been named winners of the prestigious Princess Royal Training Awards 2020.


Royal Mail and Brother UK were among a select group of companies to receive the award, conferred by HRH the Princess Royal for training excellence.


Royal Mail was praised for its Business to Business Sales Professional (BSc degree) Apprenticeship Programme, based on the apprenticeship standard pioneered by the APS in 2018. 


To win an award, organisations must demonstrate that training has had a measurable impact on business performance. Royal Mail were able to show this because their sales apprentices outperformed their sales targets whilst still spending time learning
new skills.
 


Brother UK was commended for developing an employee appraisal toolkit that put learning and professional development at the centre of the company’s system of rewards. Brother has a 60-strong sales team based at their headquarters in Manchester. The
whole team has completed professional registration with the APS to achieve our Investor in Sales award for their commitment to ethical selling.


In her citation, Princess Anne said Royal Mail had demonstrated that investing in their people through training and skills had delivered tangible benefits.


The Princess Royal commented: “The commitment of your organisation to the development of your employees, especially during these acutely difficult times and as we aspire to recovery post Covid-19, demonstrates that you will be prepared to play your
part in the nation’s economic recovery.”


The degree apprenticeship in B2B sales was first conceived by the Association of Professional Sales. The Association set up and supported the trailblazer group of employers which created the apprenticeship standard in 2018.


Ben Turner, the chief operating officer at the APS, said: “This is great news. The degree level apprentices are a credit to Royal Mail and have proved their commercial importance to the organisation. 


"Their sales apprenticeship programme is providing great career opportunities and increasing revenue at the same time, even though the apprentices are spending 20% of their time in off-the-job training.”


André Lahiff, the apprenticeship programme leader at Royal Mail, said: “This is great recognition of the approach we are taking in the continued professionalisation of sales.”


APS chairman Graham Davis, former group sales director at Royal Mail who led the trailblazer group, commented: “This is a huge achievement by the Royal Mail team. Credit should go to Consalia, and Middlesex University and all the others concerned with
making the programme a success.


“When this left the trailblazer group it was a great concept. What André Lahiff has achieved in its execution in some very difficult times has been remarkable.”


Phil Jones MBE, managing director of Brother UK, said: “By ensuring the right people with the right skills are making the most of their talents, we have gained a competitive advantage that’s difficult to replicate.


"It gives me a lot of confidence that as a result, our business partners cite Brother UK as one of the best vendors they work with.” 


Ben Turner added: “We are proud that membership of the APS is part of Brother UK’s learning and development strategy to increase employee engagement and sales performance. Brother has won this prestigious award three times, showing that CPD is central
to their success.”



<a href="https://www.princessroyaltrainingawards.com/news/uk-businesses-training-is-recognised-by-hrh-the-princess-royal-on-her-70th-birthday/"> Click here to see full details of the Princess Royal Training Awards 2020</a> ]]></description>
<category>Report</category>
<pubDate>Fri, 21 Aug 2020 10:10:00 GMT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>First apprentices qualify in major step for professional selling</title>
<link>https://members.the-isp.org/news/515769/</link>
<guid>https://members.the-isp.org/news/515769/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" style="padding: 0 15px; float: left;" src="
/resource/resmgr/news_images/bauer-aps-logos-600x315.jpg" />
Tuesday 7 July 2020

They are the pioneers of the sales profession - 15 young salespeople who have become the first to complete a new, nationally-recognised apprenticeship in sales. Their success leads the way for thousands more to follow.
The fifteen, who have successfully followed the Level 4 apprenticeship for sales executives, were trained by their employers and the Bauer Academy,[1] and assessed by the Association of Professional Sales (APS)[2] which led the way in creating the apprenticeship.
The Level 4 programme requires aspiring B2B and B2C sales professionals to meet new national benchmarks in areas including ethics, customer relations, and the use of digital sales technology. As well as their completed apprenticeship, certified by the government’s Institute for Apprenticeships (IfA), the 15 have also achieved a separate Level 4 sales diploma from the APS, and have the right to call themselves qualified sales executives.
There are nearly 1,000 more sales apprentices taking the Level 4 apprenticeship at the moment; and with many others due to start soon, the APS looks forward to welcoming a growing number of skilled salespeople into the profession.
Ben Turner, the chief operating officer of the APS, said: “This initiative promises to make the UK the world leader in developing its salespeople. The injection of professional sales knowledge, skills and behaviours will stand the UK economy in good stead in the challenges that lie ahead.”
The APS - the non-profit, professional and awarding body for the sales industry – established the trailblazer group which agreed the course content and the standards for the 18-month programme.
Now, as the government-approved assessor,[1] the APS has quality-assured, tested, and passed this first cohort of apprentices as qualified sales executives. Level 4 qualifications are equivalent to the first year of an undergraduate, bachelor’s degree.
Bauer Media UK, which owns the Bauer Academy, was part of the apprenticeship trailblazer group which worked with the APS, industry leaders, academics and the IfA, to draw up the standard for the sales apprenticeship. The Bauer Academy then compiled their programme, based on the standard, and registered the first learners who have now achieved their apprenticeship and APS qualification.

The sales apprentices studied with senior tutor Rajni Birdi, development coach Astei Amirashayeri and their colleagues at the Bauer Academy.


Rajni commented: “We are delighted to salute the first fully-qualified sales apprentices. I know how hard they have worked, and to see them develop further, into skilled, knowledgeable salespeople is very gratifying.

“Bauer is so pleased to be part of this successful process to develop skills, knowledge and ethical behaviour across the entire sales profession and we look forward to welcoming more sales apprentices in the near future.”
Frankie Bannerman, account manager for radio advertising at Bauer Media UK, is one of the first apprentices to qualify: “I thoroughly enjoyed taking on the sales executive apprenticeship. My skills and confidence grew enormously in my role as an audio account manager.
“The content of the programme was extremely interesting, covering everything from customer engagement to time management. We all had the chance to develop our skills and build our customer base.
“I’m really glad I decided to take on the apprenticeship and would highly recommend it to anyone who wants a career in sales.”
Ben Turner added: “Many congratulations to the hard-working apprentices who have just completed their training. This is another big step forward for the standing of the entire sales profession. It’s fantastic news. I couldn’t be happier.
“This has been a significant commitment for the apprentices and the companies they work for. I praise the apprentices’ dedication, and their organisations for supporting them through the process.”
<hr />
References

[1] The Bauer Academy is a government-approved apprenticeship training provider owned by, and operating inside Bauer Media, one of the world’s biggest media businesses. Bauer works with levy-paying businesses to create bespoke and flexible apprenticeship programmes. Bauer’s clients include ITV, Reach plc, Sue Ryder, Double Negative and the7stars.
Details of the Sales Executive apprenticeship:
<a href="https://baueracademy.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Bauer-Academy-Sales-Executive.pdf" target="_blank">https://baueracademy.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Bauer-Academy-Sales-Executive.pdf</a>

[2] The APS is the government-approved, awarding organisation and end-point assessor for Level 4 sales qualifications, and apprenticeships regulated by two government bodies: the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) and Ofqual, the exam watchdog.

Background information
Level 4 apprenticeships for sales executives are equivalent to the first year of an undergraduate degree and are for both B2B and B2C salespeople. They run for up to 18 months.
Employers are able to claim a maximum of £6,000 for the training costs of each apprentice on this course, drawn from the apprenticeship levy which was set up by the government in April 2017.
Level 4 apprenticeships for sales executives were created as a result of committed work by the Association of Profession Sales alongside industry leaders and training providers. They received government approval in November 2018.
<a href="https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/apprenticeship-standards/sales-executive/" target="_blank">Further details are available on the Institute for Apprenticeship website: https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/apprenticeship-standards/sales-executive/</a>

About the APS
The Association of Professional Sales is the non-profit, professional and awarding body for the sales industry whose mission is to build standards, education and trust in selling.
The APS has led the development of sales apprenticeships across the UK, with standards for both Level 4 and Level 6 (degree-level) apprenticeships approved in 2018. We established trailblazer groups of employers, training providers and academics, who agreed the benchmarks for the new qualifications, and won the backing of the Institute for Apprenticeships and government departments.
Apprenticeship programmes offer thousands of sales employees the chance to secure higher level qualifications while working in fulfilling jobs, without the need to pay fees.
 For employers, this is a perfect opportunity to develop a new generation of skilled salespeople who can forge strong and profitable relationships with their customers.]]></description>
<category>Report</category>
<pubDate>Tue, 7 Jul 2020 12:02:10 GMT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>The connection between professional learning and performance</title>
<link>https://members.the-isp.org/news/514767/</link>
<guid>https://members.the-isp.org/news/514767/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The Association of Professional Sales connects sales performance with professional learning and development.
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbnyeqYyQks&feature=youtu.be"><img alt="" src="https://the-aps.com/resource/resmgr/news_images/Connectionbetweenlearningand.png" style="width: 500px;" /></a>]]></description>
<category>Insight</category>
<pubDate>Sun, 28 Jun 2020 13:18:14 GMT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>Better together: how alliances matter even more during Covid-19</title>
<link>https://members.the-isp.org/news/514772/</link>
<guid>https://members.the-isp.org/news/514772/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" style="padding: 0 15px; float: left;" src="
/resource/resmgr/news_images/Partnership-wordcloud-600x31.jpg" />
Thursday 25 June 2020

Alliances between companies can develop markets, build value and profits, and now more than ever, those partnerships can give new impetus in challenging times.
Alliances expert Mario Joao, with more than 20 years experience in international companies and different industries told today’s webinar audience of sales professionals that it wasn’t easy to develop relationships when you can’t travel and meet people face to face, but he said, it’s important to keep working together to create winning strategies.
Joao, Vice President of Global Alliance Partners at Aveva, the industrial software specialists, has an impressive record. He built his department from scratch but has returned remarkable revenue figures in a clear demonstration that his structured, methodical approach works. This begins with agreeing the shared mission, setting out the value and the engagement model, then step by step, the details of how the alliance will work through to how success is measured.
Each partnership is tailor made.


Underpinning all this is the development of trust between parties. Trust is key in all good business relationships, but especially those that depend on partnerships between companies.
Joao said that alliance partners “can’t build trust by throwing a PowerPoint presentation.” Aligning “mission, values and culture” is important because “trust is not an on-off switch it takes time,” but it will pay off, if built from a solid foundation.
Customers, he said, really appreciate it when their vendors and partners work together to offer unique value to them: “Our growth and the deals we are winning, it's all due to the fact that we are aligning, we are creating the strategy even in this challenging time.
“We started our Q1 in April, right in the middle of this lockdown and surprisingly, everybody within the organisation not just me, has been positively surprised with some of the results. 

“A true partnership will be successful if it's a two way street. If it's just one-way, it's setting up a partnership for failure,” he continued.


“I talk a lot more with my alliance partners over this period than last year, it's important.”


And when it comes to making partnership profitable, there is a key guiding principle, he said. It’s all about “expanding the pie, not just dividing it.”
<a href="https://the-aps.com/page/Events">This webinar, in the APS series Lockdown to Looking Forward, was held on Thursday 25 June. For more online masterclasses, to help professional sellers through the coronavirus crisis, click here: </a><a href="https://the-aps.com/page/Events">the-aps.com/page/Events </a>]]></description>
<category>Insight</category>
<pubDate>Thu, 25 Jun 2020 21:32:09 GMT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>Good leadership begins with a long look in the mirror</title>
<link>https://members.the-isp.org/news/513932/</link>
<guid>https://members.the-isp.org/news/513932/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" style="padding: 0 15px; float: left;" src="
/resource/resmgr/news_images/Leadership-mirror-600x315.jpg" />
Tuesday 23 June 2020

There have never been so many MBA-qualified leaders in the ranks of British business, yet somehow the key indicators that show a healthy business stubbornly refuse to rise.

What is going wrong? Why have productivity, staff retention and employee wellbeing been stagnant or declining for a decade?

Jeremy Moore, founder of Zoomcow consultancy, diagnoses a basic supply side error: leaders are falling back on theory and the way things have always been done, and are failing to provide the leadership that is really needed.

“So stop reading theory books, and look at the real impact you’re having on the team you lead,” Moore advises clients.

Moore, who has coached hundreds of executives worldwide, along with the GB junior rowing squad, believes in the power of good leadership to transform the fortunes of a team.
Good leadership starts with a hard, unflinching look in the mirror.
The corporate equivalent of staring in the mirror is to measure what is going on in your organisation. What is the state of employee morale? Is wellbeing improving or on the decline? How do staff feel about the way they are led? How do they rate your leadership on the key qualities of trust, empathy and respect? How does their rating compare with your own view of how well you lead? 

This last comparison is an uncomfortable but necessary thing to do, Moore says. It is no good brushing resentment at the perceived arrogance, contempt or hypocrisy of leaders under the carpet, when you can hold it up to the light and learn from it.

He categorises poor leadership behaviour as “addictive” leadership, because it involves clinging on to unhelpful behaviours that deep down you know are bad but somehow can’t help repeating.

To illustrate the devastating effect of addictive leadership, Moore tells the story of how he left his private equity job in the City after a bruising experience with a new manager who failed to show the three key leadership qualities of trust, empathy and respect. A successful and high performing team was split apart and demoralised because the incoming boss made every single team member re-apply for their job with the threat of the sack hanging over them.

When it was Moore’s turn, the boss clapped him on the back and offered him his own job, saying he was “on my team”. Moore refused, and quit the business. 

“The uncomfortable truth is that we know what we should deliver, but we don’t deliver it,” Moore told the audience of APS fellows during today’s inspiring webinar.
 “How many of us work for an organisation that we would be happy for our children to work for? 

“We need a far more sophisticated understanding of leadership and the effect we have on people. Listen to our own intuitions, and use an incredibly powerful thing called free will to turn away from addictive choices. We can all choose to have an impact on the people we lead.”
<a href="https://the-aps.com/page/Events" style="color: #666666;">For more online masterclasses, to help professional sellers through the Covid crisis, click here: https://the-aps.com/page/Events</a>]]></description>
<category>Insight</category>
<pubDate>Tue, 23 Jun 2020 13:04:46 GMT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>MPs and sales leaders to discuss professional selling post lockdown</title>
<link>https://members.the-isp.org/news/513777/</link>
<guid>https://members.the-isp.org/news/513777/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" style="padding: 0 15px; float: left;" src="
/resource/resmgr/news_images/Parliament-evening-600x315.jpg" />
Monday 22 June 2020

MPs will tomorrow be discussing initiatives to keep the UK selling through the coronavirus crisis.


Sales leaders are welcome to attend and listen in to the virtual meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Professional Sales.
The evening session, on Tuesday 23 June, will be hosted by APPG chair, Mark Pawsey, the MP for Rugby who also sits on the influential Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee - a select committee of the House of Commons.

The agenda focuses on selling challenges and opportunities as the country starts to emerge from lockdown:
<ul>
<li>How business-to-business selling is responding to the current situation, and the impact of Covid-19
</li>
<li>The likely shape of professional selling in the future and how sellers will adapt to a new way of doing business.
</li>
<li>Engaging government to help the profession and companies struggling with sales, particularly SMEs.</li>
<li>An update on government plans for apprentices and economic growth, looking at initiatives from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and other departments.
</li>
</ul>

The cross-party group on sales is supported by the Association of Professional Sales (APS) which provides its secretariat and research. The group was founded by APS fellow Stephen Kerr during the last parliament, when he was MP for Stirling.


Under Kerr’s chairmanship, the APPG recruited 60 MPs as supporters, making it one of the larger parliamentary groups, and held an inquiry on how sales can stimulate a better economic performance by SMEs.


The first meeting of the re-formed APPG, following December’s general election, took place on Tuesday 11 February 2020. MPs discussed the subject areas for their next report to Parliament, as well as registering a new cohort of MPs to continue this important work.


The initial inquiry report by the APPG (https://bit.ly/31fEDlN), published last October, studied the selling challenges faced by small and medium-sized enterprises. The group took evidence from business leaders, academics and economists and found that Britain was critically short of professional salespeople with the right leadership, negotiation and digital skills to win deals in new marketplaces.


The report sets out 24 recommendations that can be condensed into four key initiatives:

<ul>
<li>1 Study sales ethics and techniques in schools and colleges and create sales research centres at universities.</li>
<li>2 Help SMEs to develop sales skills, to manage sales better, and to embrace digital sales technologies.</li>
<li>3 Recognise sales as a profession with a standards body established by Royal Charter to ensure high ethical standards.</li>
<li>4 Appoint a sales tsar to take responsibility for driving change, and for ensuring that this vital part of the economy is understood at the heart of government.</li>
</ul>]]></description>
<category>Report</category>
<pubDate>Mon, 22 Jun 2020 12:55:05 GMT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>Business collaboration to keep you selling in a crisis</title>
<link>https://members.the-isp.org/news/513729/</link>
<guid>https://members.the-isp.org/news/513729/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" style="padding: 0 15px; float: left;" src="
/resource/resmgr/news_images/Strategic-alliance-600x315.jpg" />
 


Thursday 18 June 2020

When business is tough, key allies can help you not only survive, but thrive.


In today's lunchtime webinar, hosted by the Association of Professional Sales (APS) alliance experts Peter Simoons and Anoop Nathwani explained how successful collaborations could boost business through the coronavirus crisis.


Good partnerships between companies combine strengths and resources to mitigate risk and build rewards. Now for instance, when options and cash might be severely limited, the answer to developing essential digital innovation and building market share, could be a strategic business alliance, they said.


Nathwani and Simoons told sales professionals that in many cases, partnering had become a “must-do” option. They warned that creating and maintaining productive alliances required people with the right skills, competencies, capabilities and behaviours; but the returns could be stellar, with positive partnerships leading to innovation, growth and rewards.


Peter Simoons explained that effective alliances “create value together that we cannot create alone. We create synergy. We create 1+1=3.”


Nathwani said good business collaborations don’t just boost innovation: “I would say alliances and partnerships are the new innovation.”


Nathwani set out three main area which drive partnerships: knowledge transfer and digital technology; market development - where companies expand into new markets, or look at brand leverage with other organisations to enter those new markets; and thirdly, efficiencies, cutting costs and mitigating risk.


Trust between partners is key to a flourishing alliance, and so is planning.


Peter Simoons quoted a report by APS partners, the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals, which said that companies which follow a structured alliance process consistently report a better chance of succeeding – up to 80%, while companies that jump in, ad hoc, have only a 20% success rate.


Today’s webinar was hosted by Ben Turner and Nina Christiansen of the APS. 

<a href="https://the-aps.com/page/Events">
For more online masterclasses, to help professional sellers through the Covid crisis, click here: https://the-aps.com/page/Events</a>
]]></description>
<category>Report</category>
<pubDate>Thu, 18 Jun 2020 15:55:03 GMT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>Dear Prime Minister: APS campaigns on apprenticeships</title>
<link>https://members.the-isp.org/news/512091/</link>
<guid>https://members.the-isp.org/news/512091/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Full text of letter from Andrew Hough, CEO, Association of Professional Sales to the Prime Minister
To: The Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP
Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
London
SW1A 2AA

Tuesday 9 June 2020


Dear Prime Minister,


I am writing as the CEO of the Association of Professional Sales (APS) to support your 3 June proposal for a guaranteed apprenticeship for every young person who needs one.


Expanding apprenticeships, especially those leading to qualifications, will inject business skills into the economy and help to drive the UK out of recession. We would urge you to make good on your promise with a financial commitment to help employers offer apprenticeships across the UK.


As the non-profit, professional body for the sales industry, we have a particular interest in encouraging sales apprenticeships. An October 2019 inquiry report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Professional Sales, which we sponsor, identified sales apprenticeships as a vital way to increase the commercial capability of SMEs and boost UK productivity.


There is an acute shortage of modern, professional sales skills in SMEs, which account for 99% of British companies. Brexit is going to require UK firms to find new markets to sell products and services abroad. To take advantage of the opportunities presented by Brexit, it is important that Britain knows how to sell.


The APPG inquiry [1] heard evidence that while many SMEs are willing to take on apprentices, there are also obstacles that deter them. These include cost, extra bureaucracy, and a lack of expertise in managing trainees.


For these reasons, we urge you to commit funds for apprenticeships in the post-lockdown, economic stimulus package that the chancellor is due to announce in July. To give small businesses confidence to proceed, funding should be extended to include paying a percentage of apprentice wages - a point also made by the Institute for Fiscal Studies. In our view, this return to the government’s former model of financial support for apprenticeships need only be temporary; but with a recession about to bite, and many redundancies in prospect, there needs to be a financial incentive to convince businesses to invest in extra staff.


Apprenticeships contributed a gross productivity gain of £2.4bn to the UK economy in 2019-20, according to the CEBR; and they offer many other benefits. Social distancing measures have made it essential for businesses to sell online in order to survive, yet many SMEs are critically lacking in digital skills.[2] Hiring ‘digital natives’ will help them to adapt.


I am sure you know that other countries are supporting in-work training as a way out of recession, with France announcing a €1bn boost for apprenticeships on 4 June.


Please see the link below to the APPG report. We hope you will give consideration to the APS’s suggestions.

Yours sincerely,

Andrew Hough
CEO


<a href="https://bit.ly/2zmnIlU" target="_self">1 APPG inquiry report, section 4 https://bit.ly/2zmnIlU</a>
<a href="https://bit.ly/2zmnIlU" target="_self">2 APPG inquiry report, section 6 https://bit.ly/2zmnIlU</a>
]]></description>
<category>Report</category>
<pubDate>Wed, 10 Jun 2020 16:20:37 GMT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>APS calls on PM for skills investment to counter recession</title>
<link>https://members.the-isp.org/news/512089/</link>
<guid>https://members.the-isp.org/news/512089/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Wednesday 10 June 2020

The Association of Professional Sales (APS) has written to the Prime Minister backing his guarantee of an apprenticeship for every 2020 school leaver who needs one,[1] and urging him to support the pledge with extra money.
Andy Hough, the APS chief executive, told Boris Johnson and the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak in separate letters that investing in sales skills was particularly important given the worsening economic situation. 

The UK unemployment rate is likely to rise from 4% to 11% this quarter, according to a forecast released today by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.[2] The OECD forecasts an 11.5% slump in the UK economy over the second half of this year. 


Apprenticeships have already been an economic success story for the UK, adding £2.4bn in productivity to the UK economy in 2019-20. In the view of the APS, the non-profit professional body for the sales industry, expanding apprenticeships is essential to fill the skills shortages that are damaging productivity. Skills shortages are particularly acute in the sales sector.[3]


Guaranteed apprenticeships will not only be a lifeline to school leavers in this summer’s difficult jobs market, but will represent a wise investment in the UK’s future commercial capability. Sales apprentices with higher-level qualifications accredited by the APS [4] will increase productivity, and help to generate the revenue that will pull the country out of what is forecast to be the deepest peacetime recession in 100 years.[5]


Skilled sales people will also be essential to identify new overseas markets for British goods and services after Brexit.


Small and medium-sized businesses are however unlikely to offer more apprenticeships unless the government is prepared to offer further financial incentives. The APS is urging Rishi Sunak to include a contribution towards apprentice wages in the economic stimulus package he is due to announce in July, in addition to existing support for training costs.


Andy Hough, CEO of the Association of Professional Sales, said: “Investing in sales apprenticeships is an investment in Britain’s future, creating a solid skill base for sales in the UK.


“Apprenticeships in sales are already directly contributing to increased economic performance. Every apprenticeship that up-skills people will be important to the economy, however in the recession that will last well into 2021, it is sales with its ability to generate revenues that will be most vital.”


Ben Turner, chief operating officer of the APS, responsible for education and training, said: “Calling for salary support may seem like a temporary return to the old apprenticeship scheme, but it is in fact a targeted extension of the furlough scheme, building our nation's commercial skills to address both this recession and increasing our post-Brexit commercial revenue capability.”


NOTES


1 Boris Johnson, Downing Street daily coronavirus briefing, 3 June 2020.
“For young people in particular, who the risk is they will be out of jobs for a long time, I think it’s going to be vital that we guarantee apprenticeships.”

2 Source: OECD, 10 June 2020, http://www.oecd.org/economic-outlook/

3 The Missing Link, APPG for Professional Sales inquiry report, October 2019, page 6. https://bit.ly/2zmnIlU

4 The APS is the accrediting body for B2B Sales apprentices at Level 6, leading to a degree, and at Level 4. Research suggests that higher level apprenticeships that lead to qualifications in business skills have a greater economic impact.

5 Laurence Boone, OECD chief economist: “By the end of 2021, the loss of income exceeds that of any previous recession over the last 100 years outside wartime, with dire and long-lasting consequences for people, firms and governments. Extraordinary policies will be required to walk the tightrope towards recovery.”
<a href="https://the-aps.com/news/512091/Dear-Prime-Minister-APS-campaign-on-apprenticeships.htm" target="_self">Click here to see letter to the Prime Minister.</a>]]></description>
<category>Report</category>
<pubDate>Wed, 10 Jun 2020 16:12:02 GMT</pubDate>
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