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The Institute of Sales Professionals says it is encouraged by the UK’s finance minister Rishi Sunak’s Spring Statement in which the Chancellor of the Exchequer promised to look at tax incentives to boost vocational training. The ISP is urging the government to focus on professional sales skills and qualifications to close the skills gap and promote a more business-like attitude… 

Reports from Q1 2022 Sales tips from an advertising guy: Stephen Mangham Former Ogilvy Saatchi and Saatchi and Saatchi ad man Stephen Mangham shared his insightful views of the KAM market from the fresh perspective of someone who had a very successful career in advertising observing the companies that get things right and those that do not. Marketing is “the… 

SalesWorks appoints trainers Consultancy SalesWorks has appointed Cara Pepper and Alzaysha Johnson as sales training leads. The role sees them working with clients to design and deliver sales training programmes, tailor programmes for advanced reps to refine and improve their skills, and spotlight areas of focus to up-skill teams, improve processes and increase revenue. +

Philip Morris Limited (PML) opened its first sales apprenticeship scheme to applicants in February. The first group was scheduled to start work in April across four English cities: Nottingham; Northampton; Sheffield and London. +

Only 25% of sales organizations are directly measuring sales behaviours that drive sales success, claims ValueSelling Associates. “Our research findings mean that 75% of sales teams are driving down the interstate with their focus fixed on the rear-view mirror,” President and CEO, Julie Thomas tells the Journal. +

The importance of business-to-business (B2B) selling for jobs and growth in the UK was highlighted at Westminster on 19 April. In a debate at Westminster Hall, Mark Pawsey MP called for government support and recognition for the professional B2B sales sector. The MP, who leads the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Professional Sales, explained that the UK has struggled to recruit and… 

Being there is still important in the modern B2B sales process. Businesses increasingly communicate with customers and prospects in new ways as technology advances. Today’s sales reps use a variety of tools to accomplish their tasks – email, social media and video-chat tools among others. Consequently, traditional in-person sales meetings have become less common. Nevertheless, even as the B2B sales… 

Value First, Then Price: Building Value-Based Pricing Strategies, edited by Andreas Hinterhuber and Todd C Snelgrove, is the definitive book on value selling. To celebrate the publication of the second edition we have interpreted some of the main points in one of the key chapters of the book: “Quantifying your value so customers are willing and able to pay for… 

Too shy to sell? Why organisations need introverts. Do you ever hear the words “introvert” and “sales” in the same sentence and wonder if it is even possible to be successful in sale and shy or introverted? The conventional stereotype is that sales is an extrovert’s playground, but the reality is that this is simply not true.Countless industry giants are… 

Engage buyers using the basics of value-based selling. We all know the frightening stats: buyers spend 17% of their time interacting with sales professionals, and nearly half (43%) prefer a completely rep-free experience (Gartner). Yes, this is alarming. However, this roadblock is just that, a roadblock – it’s not impassable. After all, the buying journey is complex and contains numerous… 

Exploring the changing face of value in B2B sales. It seems as if the phrase “sell on value, not on price” must have been around since shortly after the dawn of B2B selling, and it would be hard to argue with the sentiment. But what do we actually mean by value, and perhaps more importantly, how do our customers perceive… 

Ambitious sales teams may want to take inspiration from tech giant SAP’s flagship Master’s programme for sales leaders and frontline sales managers. This ten-year sales transformation journey has seen 140+ managers trained to become transformational leaders, representing a unique investment by SAP in its Leaders in Sales – no other company has sustained the costs and efforts around such a… 

Reports from the Q2 and Q3 sessions Getting inside the head of a buyer (or what techniques and tips can you adopt to improve your commercial strategic negotiations?) John Viner-Smith has a Master’s in International Purchasing, and has been a senior category manager at JP Morgan, Dixons Stores Group and BP. He is a Founding Partner at Amplius Partners and… 

Digital is enhancing the way we manage business and sales organisations, but analytics are underpinned by relationships and human behaviours. The value tied up in customer relationships is vast but hard to measure; purpose is now a profit centre and predictable human behaviours can help us to forecast sales more accurately. These were just three of the key takeaways from… 

Three perspectives on enhancing sales skills through sales competitions. What are the challenges of being a sales competition director? Johannes Reiterer: Directors of a sales competition are faced with various challenges. One of the biggest is to establish a realistic and challenging competition case study. The case requires development of a concrete and consistent storyline, generation of briefings for role-play… 

How embedded is coaching in your organisation? Let’s explore the fundamental question first: does coaching work and is it worth investing in a coaching culture? The use of coaching has increased, complementing established learning interventions and the research evidence of its effectiveness is robust. A recent review of quantitative studies concluded that workplace coaching does show a good effect size… 

It’s all about time, skills and mindset. Successful sales managers must master a range of important skills. They need to make sure that they recruit the right people and help them to realise their potential, encourage their teams to follow and contribute to the organisation’s learned best practices, ensure that opportunities are well-qualified, that pipelines are well managed and that… 

Q: What are the top-three new agenda items that sales leaders will be thinking about for 2022? IM: Buying behaviours have evolved tremendously throughout the digital age, seeing the most accelerated growth specifically throughout the pandemic, and sellers must rapidly adapt accordingly. Working and living in the same space caused many people to rethink what is important to them, leading… 

Australian Institute of Sales, New Zealand Institute of Sales – Stuart Edmunds, Director; Association of Professional Sales – Andrew Hough, CEO Q: What will be the top-three agenda items for sales leaders as businesses emerge from the pandemic? SE: 1) Staffing (retention, attraction, development – with the skills shortage). 2) New-customer acquisition and accelerating pipeline. 3) Increasing virtual/remote selling capabilities…. 

Waldemar Adams, Global Senior Vice President, SAP Customer Success COO Office; Grant Van Ulbrich, Director, Sales Transformation – International, Royal Caribbean International Q: What will be the top-three agenda items for sales leaders as businesses emerge from the pandemic? WA: 1) Ensure customer success. 2) Budget achievement and growth plans. 3) Manage their teams successfully, with empathy. GVU: Our focus…