A ray of sunshine…

The sunny weather we’ve enjoyed over the last week or so is doing more than lifting our spirits – it’s lifting business as well. The feel good factor has got people feeling more confident about the current economic environment, and what the future holds.

And there is a lot to look forward to. Businesses have been refining their approaches and developing new ways to do business in the credit crunch, and that puts them in a much stronger position for the future.

We’ve seen increasing interest in our training programmes, particularly courses such as cold calling and negotiation skills. Companies have looked at the skills of their staff and want to help them develop to compete in the current climate – after all, at the moment everyone needs to get involved in sales.

But we’re also now seeing growing demand for our graduates. Companies are planning for their future and Pareto graduates provide a highly trained, motivated approach to generating business. Do you agree that this more positive mood is spreading?

The Apprentice Returns

With Comic Relief doing The Apprentice, the glamour and excitement of sales is once again in the spotlight – this time with the addition of humour, just in case Lee McQueen’s pterodactyl impression didn’t make you smile last year!

The Apprentice has undoubtedly helped build awareness for sales, but the celebrity twist is bringing a new element of showbiz style to the industry. We’ve had celebrity chefs, celebrity dancers, so why not celebrity sales people?

Those of us who work in sales know just how exciting and dynamic the industry can be. In the past sales was often looked down upon as the poor relation to marketing glamour, but with programmes such as The Apprentice it is now the turn of sales to take the credit and show Britain what it’s really made of.

If you’ve not seen this year’s Comic Relief Apprentice it’s worth a watch, and why not tell us your thoughts on the changing face of sales?

Need a new sales solution?

With redundancies hitting the news headlines and many companies coping with a headcount freeze, what can you do if you need to boost your sales team?

It’s a question we’ve been asked a lot over the last few months, so we recently launched our new Insourcing service.

It’s simple – a company needs new sales staff and we select and place them with you. But instead of you employing them, these sales staff are employed and trained by Pareto. It means you can keep to your headcount freeze and benefit from highly trained sales talent to help win new business and drive the business forward. If you then want to take them on your headcount the choice is yours!

Sound like a good idea? It’s proving popular with many companies across the UK. Why not find out more?

Have you tried training?

It may sound like a strange question, but you’d be amazed how many companies dismiss training, believing their teams have all the skills they need.

The truth is that everyone can improve their performance through training – just look at some of our top athletes who train every day to keep themselves at the top of their game.

Business is no different. Techniques, trends, technology, people – they all change, and it is only by investing in regular training that you can keep yourself and your team ahead of the competition.

Now, perhaps more than ever, companies need to be maximising the potential of the talent they have and developing it to deliver results more effectively. You may not be able to afford to employ new people, but the costs of training existing employees are affordable, and the benefits will stay within your company.

Why not tell us your experiences of training and the results it has given you?