Rod Wilkes: former salesman.

Following months of speculation, the sales sector’s worst-kept secret is out of the bag: the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) formally announced its latest venture into the world of selling today (14 September).

Described as an ‘exclusive fellowship of leading sales professionals’, the Sales Leadership Alliance was launched at the Sales Performance Association (formerly the Sales Training Association) conference.

Professional selling important

CIM chief executive Rod Wilkes says: ‘Having been a salesman for many of my formative years, I am aware of how important good professional selling is to the wealth creation of the UK. At the Chartered Institute of Marketing, we believe that the sales community has never enjoyed the standing that its importance to both the national economy and to individual organisations should warrant.’

CIM says the alliance has been created with a ‘mission to improve the practice of selling, enhance the professionalism of salespeople and build the body of knowledge around the sales function’. Its aim is to work closely with key industry thinkers and leading sales practitioners within the selling community to develop knowledge that can be applied by all organisations and practitioners across the sector.

Learning and development

The CIM, which has a large training division, explains that the Sales Leadership Alliance will have a commitment to learning and development. The fellowship will become a forum for sales practitioners and academics to exchange ideas and drive development of the sales profession as a whole, working towards ‘evolving cross-sectoral best practice’.

It says ‘insights from the alliance will influence the continued professional development of the sales community, leading towards the creation of new sales development programmes in the longer term’. 

Professional bodies

And, although the CIM started life as the Sales Managers’ Association, the organisation claims it is not aiming to compete with other professional bodies in the sector.

Wilkes tells ModernSelling.com: ‘The Sales Leadership Alliance has no designs to replicate existing membership or training bodies. The role of the organisation is to support the large proportion of activity in which The Chartered Institute of Marketing already has a strong sales involvement through employer engagement, and we are delighted to announce our formal commitment to best practice in the sector.’

For sales professionals seeking additional information about the Sales Leadership Alliance or training and qualifications, please visit www.salesleadershipalliance.co.uk.

My Question / Comment Is...