Aaron
Wallis has recently undertaken the largest sales survey of its type which
explores changing trends within the industry as well as a powerful insight into
the minds of sales professionals.
With
62 questions answered by 726 completely anonymous sales professionals we have
captured some impressive results helping us promote professional sales, raise
awareness and gain a firmer understanding on how to succeed in sales teams.
Here
we look at results regarding Education & Training. To receive a full free
copy of the 2014 UK Sales Survey please follow this link – 2014
UK Sales Survey Report
Gaining
a qualification to show your expertise is important and significant as it
increases your chances of becoming more marketable and is a prerequisite in
many industry sectors, such as engineering, to gain credibility with target
clients.
Unsurprisingly
there was a correlation between education and higher earnings which we will
cover in the remuneration section.
This
survey demonstrated that the majority of sales workers had some form of qualifications
to state their expertise in their chosen field with 71% staying in education
beyond secondary school.
The
participants who took this survey were various ages; in today’s society, the
minimum age for leaving school is 16 whereas in the 1950s, the minimum age was
15.
In
1950, merely 30% of 15 year olds, 14% of 16 year olds and only 7% of 17 year
olds were still in full-time education whereas;
In
2010, 88% of 16 year olds and 17% of 17 year olds were still studying full-time.
This
survey indicated:
- 29% of workers had some form of
qualifications from their Secondary school.
- 27% of workers had received a HND or HNC qualification
- 25% had earned a Bachelor's Degree.
- 10% has a Master's Degree.
- 1% had a Doctorate.
- 8% had professional qualifications.
Few people went to universities in the 1950s, in
fact, a measly 2% attended, while others left their full-time education to work
in offices, factories and other laborious jobs. In modern day’s society,
education is more crucial as employers as looking for outstanding degrees that
will turn their heads and let’s face it; job positions are becoming more
competitive so the better the qualification, the better chance of employment.
Unlike
elephants, people forget things. Even if you have an outstanding degree, it
doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll remember everything about the subject; it is
very much like a job, if you don’t practice your skills, you’re more likely to
neglect your potential performance.
Training
days are mental aerobic sessions for your mind; the courses are designed to
keep your brain healthy, focused and active, inevitably enhancing your work’s
performance. They say ignorance is bliss, which is why in sales, you rarely see
a happy worker!
- However, a quite staggering 36% of workers
do not get any training days in their current role.
- 18% had a maximum of 2 days training.
- 9% received 3 days of training.
- 11% were given 4-5 days for training.
- 6% received between 6-7 training days per
annum, and;
- 20% received more than eight training days in
the last year.
From
this, only 341 people (47%) felt they received enough training for their job
while a staggering 385 people (53%) disagreed and felt more training was
needed.
This
and previous surveys showed that the greater the worker’s training, the higher
the performance and the longer length of service within their employer. So, it could be argued from this data that training retains
staff and they then perform to a greater level than those that do not receive
the training.
Interestingly
though, the UK has more opportunity training compared to workers in Ireland.
Only 10% in Ireland compared to a larger 14% of the professionals in UK received
more than eight days of training per annum. The more training that is taken,
the higher the probability of reaching those frustrating targets. Additionally,
those who do not get the training privilege, it is the DIY approach as it’s the
only way forward. Although it is putting those employees in the deep end, they
either keep referring to what they know without learning anything new and either
‘sink’ or take the initiative to better themselves and ‘swim’. The best self-help
method is always the one that’s been going for donkey’s years, which is
reading. Good old-fashioned reading about how to improve your sales ability will,
in fact, benefit some people; it’s the whole rigmarole of being bothered in the
first place!
Written
by Liam Oakes
Liam is the Office Manager at Aaron Wallis and has
been with the company for 3 years after having a career with the RAF; Liam has
helped hundreds of Sales Professionals secure a new Sales role and ensures that
Aaron Wallis runs smoothly.
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