Table Of Content

DOCUMENT RESUME CE 074 886 ED 412 366 Kodz, J.; Atkinson, J.; Perryman, S. AUTHOR Exchanging Skills in Sales and Marketing. TITLE Sussex Univ., Brighton (England). Inst. for Employment INSTITUTION Studies. IES-R-341 REPORT NO ISBN-1-85184-269-1 ISBN 1997-00-00 PUB DATE NOTE 108p. Grantham Book Services, Isaac Newton Way, Alma Park AVAILABLE FROM Industrial Estate, Grantham NG31 9SD, England, United Kingdom. Research (143) Reports PUB TYPE MF01/PC05 Plus Postage. EDRS PRICE Career Development; Educational Needs; *Employment DESCRIPTORS Opportunities; Foreign Countries; Futures (of Society); *Job Skills; *Marketing; *Occupational Information; Postsecondary Education; *Sales Occupations; *Salesmanship; Secondary Education *Great Britain IDENTIFIERS ABSTRACT A study of the changing nature of skill requirements in sales and marketing occupations in Great Britain included a review of literature and 17 interviews with key sales and marketing contacts and managers and human resource professionals in large companies during Autumn 1996 and Spring 1997. Results were reported in the following areas of study: (2) drivers of (1) the characteristics of the sales and marketing wor force; (3) skills required for sales and marketing occupations; change; (4) (5) skill gaps and recruitment resourcing sales and marketing positions; (6) training and development; and (7) career progression. The difficulties; study concluded that roles within sales and marketing are changing and increasingly demanding higher level skills. Therefore, it is important that education providers understand the needs of business to ensure that the training they provide is compatible with those needs. In addition, more thought should be directed to developing clear career paths for sales and marketing occupations so that more candidates with higher qualifications can be attracted into the field. (Contains 56 references.) (KC) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** - 1 . PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY 4 TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) BEST COPY AVAILABLE - S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION trice of Educational Research and Improvement UCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as roceived from the person or organization originating it Minor changes have been made to Improve reproduction quality Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy 2 EXCHANGING SKILLS IN SALES AND MARKETING 3 Other titles from IES: Productive Skills for Process Operatives Giles L, Kodz J, Evans C IES Report 336, 1997. ISBN 1-85184-264-0 Changing Roles for Senior Managers Kett ley P, Strebler M IES Report 327, 1997. ISBN 1-85184-255-1 Trading Skills for Sales Assistants Dench S, Perryman S, Kodz J IES Report 323, 1997. ISBN 1-85184-251-9 A New Deal for Secretaries? La Valle I, Giles L, Perryman S IES Report 313, 1996. ISBN 1-85184-239-X The Return on Investors Hillage J, Mora lee J IES Report 314, 1996. ISBN 1-85184-240-3 Measuring the Effectiveness of Training Spilsbury M IES Report 282, 1995. ISBN 1-85184-208-X A catalogue of these and over 100 other titles is available from IES. 4 Institute the for Employment Studies Exchanging Skills in Sales and Marketing J Kodz J Atkinson S Perryman Report 341 Published by: THE INSTITUTE FOR EMPLOYMENT STUDIES Mantell Building University of Sussex Brighton BN1 9RF UK Tel. + 44 686751 (0) 1273 + 44 690430 Fax (0) 1273 Crown Copyright © 1997 No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form by any means graphic, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording, taping or information without prior permission in writing from the Institute for storage or retrieval systems Employment Studies. The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Department for Education and Employment. British Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library ISBN 1-85184-269-1 Printed in Great Britain by Microgen UK Ltd The Institute for Employment Studies IES is an independent, international and apolitical centre of research and consultancy in human resource issues. It works closely with employers in the manufacturing, service and public sectors, government departments, agencies, professional and employee bodies, and foundations. Since it was established over 25 years ago the Institute has been a focus of knowledge and practical experience in employment and training policy, the operation of labour markets and human resource planning and development. IES is a not-for-profit organisation which has a multidisciplinary staff of over 60. IES expertise is available to all organisations through research, consultancy and publications. IES aims to help bring about sustainable improvements in employment policy and human resource management. IES achieves this by increasing the understanding and improving the practice of key decision makers in policy bodies and employing organisations. Acknowledgements The authors would like to acknowledge the help of all the employers and other organisations who gave up their time to share with us their valuable insights and experience. S vi Contents ix Executive Summary The Sales and Marketing Study 1 1. 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Aims and objectives 1 2 1.3 Research methodology 1.4 Structure of the report 6 Sales and Marketing Occupations 7 2. 7 2.1 Introduction 2.2 The role of sales and marketing 7 2.3 Trends in employment 15 2.4 Characteristics of the sales and marketing workforce 17 2.5 Pay and conditions of employment 20 2.6 Nature and impact of change 21 29 2.7 Summary The Skills Required for Sales and Marketing 3. 31 Occupations 3.1 Introduction 31 32 3.2 Key Skills 38 3.3 Occupation-specific skills 43 3.4 Areas of knowledge (understanding the context) 45 3.5 Personal qualities 46 3.6 Changing skill requirements 3.7 Skills gaps within the existing workforce 51 54 3.8 Summary vii Resourcing 4. 56 4.1 Introduction 56 4.2 Recruitment source 56 4.3 The recruitment process 60 4.4 Recruitment difficulties 65 4.5 Summary 66 Training and Development 5. 68 5.1 Introduction 68 5.2 Training of new recruits 69 5.3 On-going training 71 5.4 The accreditation of training 76 5.5 Career progression 77 5.6 Summary 80 Issues and Implications of the Research 6. 82 6.1 Introduction 82 6.2 Selling a key skill 82 6.3 Obtaining the right people 83 6.4 Training 84 6.5 Career paths 84 6.6 Further research 85 References 87 viii