CONSULTATIVE SALES TRAINING

Consultative sales for apprenticeships in FE

In the post Richard Review era, FE providers are facing cuts in funding and the transfer of apprenticeship funds to employers.  This dramatic shift means there will be significant opportunities for providers with the right skill sets to build new and long lasting relationships with employers. Providers without those skills, and the additional skills to match employer needs to defined candidates, are set for failure and significant losses in income.

XEER sets the national standard

This workshop has been specifically designed to teach sales teams how to sell apprenticeships to employers. Each delegate will learn how to present himself or herself as a trusted advisor and a trusted consultant.  The delegate becomes a long term and valued partner in helping the employer grow profitable business through engaging the right apprentices. We have designed and delivered this training to over 1000 delegates from all areas of Further Education provision, including staff from the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) as well as Job Centre Plus staff. Content has been checked and approved by the National Apprenticeship Service, The Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS), the Association of Colleges (AoC), and the Association of Learning and Employment Providers (AELP). All delegates will receive a certificate showing attendance hours (covering 14 hours over the 2 day workshop) which most providers accept as eligible for CPD

Although the use of consultative skills may not have been necessary in the past, building professional, long term, and strategic relationships with employers is now crucial. Because FE providers must now be able to go out and get business, keep business and grow business, the need for professional sales skills at a higher level is a key factor affecting your success as a provider.

 Valuable consultative selling skills can be learned effectively. They involve a mixture of process definition (following the rules of engagement, making a certain number of calls, profiling customers before you go to see them, recording the details so that you can build an effective sales ‘funnel’) and technique (asking discovery questions, building a relationship, ascertaining customer need, creating value, working together towards a solution). 

We recommend that the full sales and marketing teams attend training to build better teamwork and provide a common language for collaboration.

Delegates first work through our online training course on apprenticeships. This ensures they are familiar with the types and benefits of the solutions they will be selling.