According to Toby Perkins MP, the Business Studies A level makes 25 references to HR, 27 to Accounting and Finance, 24 to Marketing and 1 to sales!
I learnt this astonishing fact last week at an APS event at the IoD in London. I am an active member (Fellow actually) of APS (The Association of Professional Sales) and our mantra is that we are ‘serious about sales’. This revelation (thanks Ben Turner of APS for bring it to my attention) really hammered home to me that this situation must change.
Surely people buying things is what drives the economy, pays peoples wages, and makes the world go round? And for people to buy, someone has to sell? OK, in the B2C world that process is often marketing led, but purchases like a mobile phone, a computer, a car, a holidays or even a house usually involves someone doing the selling. At a very basic level, we have to sell ourselves to get a job, and then to progress up the ladder.
So, do we undervalue the role of sales in the UK, and more importantly, what are we going to do about? Personally, I’m getting actively involved in APS’s drive to change this, starting with local schools – my first one was last Wednesday night, and I have two more booked for January!