Mark Pawsey MP, who leads the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Professional Sales, has met international trade minister Mike Freer MP to promote the vital role of skilled selling in winning new business around the world.
At the meeting, Mark presented the minister with a copy of the APPG report, Supercharging Sales. The report was researched and compiled by the Institute of Sales Professionals following an MP-led inquiry. The research document highlights the need to invest in business-to-business (B2B) selling for jobs and growth.
The report calls for more to be done in recruiting skilled salespeople to boost the UK economy and find new international business opportunities. It makes three key recommendations:
1) Recognise the importance to the economy of B2B selling
2) Encourage more entrants into the B2B sales profession at SMEs
3) Promote higher sales skills and uptake of digital sales technology
Guy Lloyd, a founding fellow of the Institute of Sales Professionals who leads the secretariat of the APPG commented: “It’s great news that the Department for International Trade has taken the time to meet Mark Pawsey MP who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Professional Sales.
“The work the ISP is doing alongside Mark and his colleagues at Westminster is really important in winning recognition for professional selling. The ISP is working hard to help businesses develop skilled, ethical sales professionals. Government support will make a big difference to our campaign and potentially to the prosperity of the UK. The sales industry is crucial to Britain’s recovery from the pandemic and is central to developing new business with companies around the world.
“We look forward to welcoming trade minister, Mike Freer MP to an APPG meeting in the new year, so he can speak to sales leaders in person.”
Mike Freer, the exports minister at the Department for International Trade is responsible for export promotion across all sectors and supports international trade secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan in helping small and medium sized businesses to export their goods and services.
Business-to-business commerce is hugely valuable to the UK economy, worth an estimated £1.7 trillion annually. B2B companies also pay nearly £22 billion in corporation tax, and employ more than 10 million people.*
In 2021, B2B selling was recategorised by the Office for National Statistics as a professional occupation for the first time, putting it on a par with doctors and teachers, in recognition of the high level of skills and training required. The B2B sector is often listed, in statistics, with retail sales, although their needs are very different. As a result opportunities are missed to put in place policies that could meet the growing demand of businesses for professional salespeople, and facilitate the UK’s B2B trade at home and abroad.
*Statistics from B2B Nation: the B2B industry’s contribution to the UK economy revealed.