The new age of sales enlightenment

28th January 2017 |   Journal Of Sales Transformation

2017 looks set to be a landmark on the road to sales professionalism.

Could 2017 be a turning point for the sales profession? There are a number of factors that play into this question.

First of all, we can see inescapable signs of the growing importance of sales roles within a wider business context. Equally, there is an increasing emphasis on the role of education in preparing young people for a career in sales.

Consider the following from the Sales Educators’ Academy, a programme for sales educators who teach business school students: “According to a recent study, 82% of all marketing majors and 66% of all college of business students are headed for a sales-related job.”

This research underlines significant demand for well-educated entrants to take up sales-related roles within business. Then, consider this from the Sales Education Foundation: “According to a survey of sales managers, sales programme graduates ramp up 50% faster than their non–sales educated peers. They also experience 30% less turnover.” The SEF contends that sales programme graduates require less training than their non-sales educated peers; the result is an average saving of over $180,000.00 per hire.