New Fellow Richard Brooks to push forward sales agenda for SMEs
The Institute of Sales Professionals extends a warm welcome to Richard Brooks who joins as a Fellow, and who will be helping to shape the ISP’s policy towards small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Richard is the chief executive officer of K International, an SME that provides language and translation services internationally, with clients including The UK Government, UK exporters and several large European Retailers. He is also an executive board member of the European Language Industry Association and recently sat on the trailblazer group working to compile the standard for a Level 7 qualification in professional sales practice in the UK.
A graduate of the highly-regarded MBA programme at Cranfield School of Management, part of Cranfield University, and a member of the Key Account Management Forum, Richard believes strongly that SMEs need support to follow where large corporates have led in recent years, in making the switch to professional selling.
“What big business has been doing successfully for years now needs to filter through to SMEs,” said Richard. “In a world where products and services are increasing homogenous it’s about understanding the customer. For SMEs to thrive and become the big businesses of tomorrow, they need to know these concepts.”
Richard has recently undertaken a survey of 100 SMEs on behalf of the ISP, to gauge what their needs are for sales development and support. The results of the survey will be published in the coming weeks.
Richard will be helping to take forward the work of the ISP in bringing the sales needs of SMEs to the attention of MPs, government ministers and other business organisations.
Through its sponsorship of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Professional Sales, the ISP has published two groundbreaking reports looking at how the government and other bodies could intervene to improve selling at SMEs - thus reaping benefits for the UK economy.
The reports, The Missing Link and Supercharging Sales, are available to read online. Hard copies of Supercharging Sales
can be ordered from the ISP website.
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