Bringing Sales to a wider audience.

Beyond Del Boy... The real value of the sales profession

Why sales professionals should feel great about what we do.

When you meet someone new and they say, “So what do you do?” Do you proudly say, “I’m in sales” or do you make some vague, slightly embarrassed comment about being “on the commercial side of the business”?

The sales profession has long been beset by negative stereotypes. In the UK these stereotypes have been around for decades, Arthur Daley, Del boy Trotter and more recently some of the hard sell, “in your face” selling behaviours we see from competitors in the TV show, The Apprentice.

The ISMM’s much needed mission has always been to promote the sales profession and encourage a clear differentiation between sophisticated, professional selling and the old stereotypes, between ethical and unethical selling and also between B2B selling and the low scope end of the sales spectrum.

But lets take it a step further, it’s undisputable that sales and selling skills are the engine room for almost any business, the thing that makes a business thrive and survive or not. But it’s more than that even, I’d argue that it is a force for good in society. 

Everybody needs to be able to sell and persuade. It doesn’t matter if it’s persuading your partner which restaurant to go to or which holiday to take, persuading your kids that they really must do their homework or persuading your managers to give you the resources needed to meet your objectives, or your customers to buy your product - it’s all essentially sales. It doesn’t matter if you’re in a job named sales or not, we all need the knowledge and skills to sell and to influence if we are to get what we want in life.

What does this mean in practical terms? Eureka! - A social enterprise has been doing work over the last 6 years that has been taking the teaching of sales skills to a wider audience. This enterprise business has been teaching sales, marketing and enterprise skills to kids, young people and unemployed people. They have been using the ISMM qualifications to teach these groups the skills they need not only to have a highly transferrable skill set that will give them a head start in applying for jobs in business, sales, and marketing, but also so they have the skills to be able to sell and market themselves and articulate their own value and the benefits they can bring to employers. They have been working with schools, colleges, local authorities and the European Social Fund to bring sales and enterprise skills to these often-vulnerable groups. Even Ofsted recognise the value of this saying in a recent report, “Enterprise education,….not only prepares children for their future life as consumers, producers and citizens, but contributes to outstanding achievement throughout the school.” For unemployed people, both NEET young people and older people, learning sales skills gives them increased confidence and the ability to communicate well and persuade people around them and especially employers. 

Why does this matter to anybody already in sales?

1.      It’s good for improving the reputation of sales and moving away from negative stereotypes, which is a big positive for anyone in sales.

2.      It means we are building a good future pipeline of recruits for the sales profession.

3.      It means that as businesses or individuals we can fulfill our social responsibility and be contributing to our communities and feel good about it via our sales expertise.

How can businesses / individuals get involved?

·         Apprenticeships and work experience programmes are a massive area of government investment. Taking on a sales apprentice or a work placement person is a great way to get involved.

·         Go and talk in schools/ colleges/ universities and “evangelise” the value of sales skills and sales careers.

·         Support and sponsor programmes for schools/ colleges in your areas that introduce and train sales and enterprise skills, it’s great PR, ticks the CSR box and is usually a tremendously rewarding thing to do. Contact us if you want more details of how to do this.

Sales is a great profession to be in and those of in it should feel proud about what we do. These wider applications of what we do give us the opportunity to further extend the importance and value of our profession.

Eureka iBook!

Eureka have been working in conjunction with St Albans Job Centre Plus and Oaklands college running courses in Sales and Marketing.  As a result of this we have been able to put together an ibook showcasing the work we've done, and what the delegates have achieved.  To download a pdf of this ibook, please click here.

If you would like the full ibook version, please contact us by clicking here.

Oaklands college and Eureka working together

Eureka recently ran an innovative programme for the unemployed in conjunction with Oaklands College St Albans and the local Job Centre Plus.

*Congratulations to all attendees!

Rather than just focusing on the traditional elements of employability training such as interview technique or CV writing, the programme taught the participants practical commercial skills about sales and marketing, like influence, self-branding and marketing and self-presentation. These are skills that are universally applicable in virtually all working environments, employed or self-employed. The participants also achieved an Institute of Sales and Marketing Management Level 1 qualification.

During the course participants acquired these new skills by working on active and engaging exercises that ranged from branding, sales and marketing exercises and games, personality profiling to creating their own videos, i-books and digital portfolios.

This creative partnership between Eureka and Oaklands produced a highly beneficial and successful outcome with all participants feeling that they had achieved a big step forward in practical skills and confidence. So much so, that one participant landed a job on the final day of the programme!
Some comments from course participants:

“I think this is the best workshop I’ve attended so far, I have learned very much in terms of marketing myself and selling my skills and experience"

Ami

“I really enjoyed myself on this course and have learned a lot about sales and marketing. Because of this I feel more confident in applying for jobs and attending interviews in the future”

Mark 

Joining the Dots- Connecting with Employers

What is a young person to do?

With the rising cost of University and the decline of jobs for young people what is the future generation to do?

Recent information on the economy from the government suggests that

although GDP grew in Q3 2012, inflation also grew significantly too, from 2.2 to 2.7%. Consumer spending continues to fall and unemployment is at 8.2% with youth unemployment at 21% - more than 1 in 5 young people are out of work.

What does this mean? It means that times are still hard and likely to remain so for some time to come. Is there a light at the end of the tunnel? Well, I believe there is…

There are opportunities out there for young people, but the million-dollar issue seems to be connecting the unemployed young people with the opportunities that are available for them. For example: recent figures in Central Bedfordshire suggested that in October last year there were about 3,000 unemployed young people and yet 1,756 unfilled vacancies. West Herts College in Watford reported that around 30% of apprenticeship opportunities went unfilled last year.

What needs to be done to “join the dots”?

Job readiness programmes would best serve our young people by teaching them how to fill out CV’s properly and how to communicate effectively with potential employers or apprenticeships. Young people often need support with many of the “soft skill” areas needed to secure these jobs/ apprenticeships.

Focus on what’s important, such as:

〈        Boost their confidence and make them feel able to apply

〈        Help them through some of the technical “hoops” to apply

〈        Help them to be resilient and overcome circumstances (or people) they find difficult that form barriers to them getting, or staying in jobs / apprenticeships

Eureka bespoke programmes are here to help young people with all of this.. Eureka provides rounded and practical support to young people on a technical skills and support basis. We engage young people by listening to what it is they want and what they feel their needs are. We then make sure to cover all the key points: CV’s, interview skills, communication, how to fill out an application on line and hard copy, how to dress, and so much more.

The skills needed are necessary for any job application and/or interview as a first step process. Many young people are discouraged because they cannot even get an interview. Rejection is difficult for adults and repeated rejection can really discourage a young person from even trying. It is time we all had a look at what we can do to “connect the dots” for our young people, for it is they, who will create our future…

Course was an added bonus!

I first came to the group as a support for a young person, who is also a friend, so was not expecting to take part on the course.  I never really knew what I wanted to do career-wise with my life, but left the first day knowing exactly what that was!  I have found this course has helped me immensely on my own journey of self-discovery.  I have gained a new confidence which I never had before and an understanding of myself and the way I act and react to others, as well as a greater understanding of sales and selling.  I have found this course to be of great benefit and feel that it would benefit others too, not just youth.

Titan Enterprise Partnership

Eureka is currently supporting a consortium of 12 schools in Birmingham in delivering a year long enterprise challenge.

Hosted at the Birmingham Science Park, home of many new creative, technology based businesses, the young people  (from years 9-11) were challenged  to come up with an on line business and give support in starting to think about how they can tackle the challenge. They have a year to work through all the stages on entrepreneurship from idea generation, branding and product development to sales, marketing and trading with customers and Eureka will be there to help them with practical and engaging support and training along the way.

First impressions count!

The honest and open notes written below were the thoughts of one of the young people who has recently started a Eureka course in Bedfordshire.  We think they show that given a chance, young people can really benefit from our courses, and improve their confidence, self esteem and boost their job chances.

"I first heard about the sales and marketing program through my personal advisor. I didn’t want to go there, but the look I got from my personal advisor and my social worker told me I had no choice.

So I went to the program, but not before I has enlisted the company of my friend/ mothers personal assistant, mostly to make sure I didn’t run out on the first day, but also because I never go to something new alone.

When we arrived my friend and I were the first people there other than Donna. We were met with a soft hand shake and were invited to drink coffee. I immediately felt a relaxed atmosphere within the room and settled myself.

After a briefing of what the program entailed, I decided to stay on for my own benefit.

As the program progressed I became a lot more confidant in speaking openly to people. I discovered that because Donna spoke to us like we were adults and not children that gave an easy opportunity to feel like I could share my views and thoughts.

Each session I went to, I learnt more than I thought possible and achieved a better understanding of how business and marketing works. I also learnt how to be a successful business woman, in ways such as how to conduct yourself when meeting a potential client, how to discover their needs and how to close the sale.

During the first few weeks we met a man named Steve, he showed us about how people use different defence mechanisms and how they act depending on the situation. He gave me an insight on what kind of person I was. I found at the beginning of his visit the rout he was going began to be quite intrusive and very personal, but this seemed to be helpful in a way that showed me what was standing In the way of me achieving my goals.

All in all, I believe that this program has not only given me the skills to be a successful business woman but has also given me an opportunity for self-discovery. I am very glad I gave this program a chance"