Institute of Sales Professionals
Promoting Professional Selling, Driving Business Growth.
Beyond the false choice: Safety and standards as complementary forces The sales development landscape has long operated under a false dichotomy: either maintain high performance standards or create psychological safety for learning, but not both. This misconception has led to countless training initiatives that either coddle underperformers or create anxiety-inducing environments that stifle the very … Read more
The professional response to sales training’s greatest challenge While the sales industry grapples with the sobering reality that 85-90% of training investment disappears within 120 days due to the combined impacts of the Hawthorne effect and Ebbinghaus’s forgetting curve, forward-thinking organisations are turning to professional development solutions that fundamentally restructure how salespeople learn, retain, and … Read more
Professional sales skills development According to research, within just an hour, people forget about 50% of what they’ve learned. Within 24 hours, they forget 70% and by the end of 30 days, up to 90% of the knowledge is lost. These statistics apply to nearly all learning situations, sales training included. So why do businesses … Read more
The government’s decision to limit L7 apprenticeship funding to those under 21 has sparked significant debate across professional sectors. As sales professionals, we’re uniquely positioned to examine what this policy shift means for our industry. The Policy Change: L7 apprenticeships, which are equivalent to master’s degree level, now have age-restricted funding. Two sides of … Read more
What is digital’s impact on sales? Not too long ago selling and business development was a human activity, primarily undertaken face-to-face. Today, the primary channel is digital. This physical remoteness from the buyer, added to a long-standing inherent mistrust of sellers, is creating a chasm which few understand. The mechanics of buying have shifted enormously. … Read more
Sales is a powerful and rewarding career, but too many new professionals are set up to fail before they even get started. While 80% of buyers say trust is the key deciding factor (Harvard Business Review), only 3% see salespeople as trustworthy (HubSpot). With no formal pathway into the profession, many early-career salespeople are thrown … Read more
Bringing research and practice together to advance the sales profession The Institute of Sales Professionals (ISP) is proud to announce that it is now the new owner of the International Journal of Sales Transformation (IJoST), the leading global publication dedicated to advancing the sales profession through informed analysis, rigorous research and practical insight. A trusted … Read more
We are thrilled to announce the official launch of the Institute of Sales Professionals (ISP) in Canada, marking a significant milestone in the development of the Canadian sales sector. This expansion comes in response to the increasing demand for professional standards, certification and support for sales professionals across the country. Matthew Nicolle, the Canadian President … Read more
ISP’s recent Sales Leader Network event brought together sales leaders and industry practitioners to explore the evolving challenges and opportunities in Major Account Management (MAM). The sessions explored how we can build sustainable frameworks for finding and developing talent, maintaining trust in key relationships and ensuring resilience as incumbents in increasingly competitive landscapes. With increasing … Read more
It may not be a surprise that government and the wider public sector are some of the largest purchasers of goods and services – over £390 billion per annum in the United Kingdom – most of that spend is governed by written contracts. Which is why this quote from their purchasing experts in Crown Commercial … Read more
Avanade, the world’s leading Microsoft expert has joined the Institute of Sales Professionals as a Corporate Partner to promote and advance excellence in its sales professionals. Working together, Avanade will be better equipped to develop and retain its sales talent, leading to better business results. Guy Lloyd, MD of the Institute said, “We see this … Read more
I imagine most of us of have heard the term “value proposition”. But what do we mean by value? I like to think of value as an organisational and/or personal benefit that can be measured or expressed in financial, operational or emotional terms. So, what do people typically mean by the term “value proposition”? McKinsey … Read more