Certified sales person

[Dmitriy K]

Hello everyone,

I want to go through sales training to improve my skills and get a certificate.

Has anyone ever heard of or maybe passed NASP training?

I would like to know specifically about their courses. I will appreciate the feedback.

Thank you in advance.

 

[ctrlbrk]

Hello everyone,

I want to go through sales training to improve my skills and get a certificate.

Has anyone ever heard of or maybe passed NASP training?

I would like to know specifically about their courses. I will appreciate the feedback.

Thank you in advance.

This is a UK site, mostly for UK businesses.

 

[Dmitriy K]

This is a UK site, mostly for UK businesses.

Thank you for the response. Yes, I see this is a UK site. I just want to see if anybody heard or passed NASP (National Association of Sales Professionals) training? Thank you

 

[Newchodge]

Thank you for the response. Yes, I see this is a UK site. I just want to see if anybody heard or passed NASP (National Association of Sales Professionals) training? Thank you

Never heard of it. The fact their website does not show their address immediately makes me suspicious. Their phone number is not in the UKI.

In what country do you want to work as a sales professional?

 

[Mark T Jones]

It's clearly a US organisation - approaches to selling and buying are very, very different between the US and UK, so I'd suggest you look for a UK source if you plan to sell here.

Simple rule - don't buy into hype and promises, get some training specific to you and your environment

Qualifications and accreditations count fir nothing, but good training will he useful

 

[Dmitriy K]

Never heard of it. The fact their website does not show their address immediately makes me suspicious. Their phone number is not in the UKI.

In what country do you want to work as a sales professional?

Well, I'm currently working remotely and am just in the middle of researching some courses to take, just want to see if anybody passed this one. I consider working in US/UK.

 

[fisicx]

I doubt you will find many people in the UK who have done the course and even fewer who care if you are qualified.

 

[Newchodge]

Well, I'm currently working remotely and am just in the middle of researching some courses to take, just want to see if anybody passed this one. I consider working in US/UK.

What do you expect a course to help you with?

 

[Dmitriy K]

What do you expect a course to help you with?

I expect do improve my sales skills. Having said this, I'm looking to get to know new approaches to communication in sales and see if the can be effective as well for gaining higher results.

 

[Dmitriy K]

I doubt you will find many people in the UK who have done the course and even fewer who care if you are qualified.

Got you. Much obliged for the update

 

[Dmitriy K]

I doubt you will find many people in the UK who have done the course and even fewer who care if you are qualified.

Would you know by chance any other forums where I can ask this question and discuss? Thank you

 

[Newchodge]

Would you know by chance any other forums where I can ask this question and discuss? Thank you

Can I suggest that spending any money on a sales training course would be a complete waste. Sales professionals do not appear to attenmd training courses as such. They start work in sales and develop their skills through experience.

 

[Dmitriy K]

Can I suggest that spending any money on a sales training course would be a complete waste. Sales professionals do not appear to attenmd training courses as such. They start work in sales and develop their skills through experience.

Well , I guess it depends on which courses you take. If I'm taking courses from someone who has achieved a lot and clearly shows how I can achieve the same with their help, why not?

 

[Newchodge]

Well , I guess it depends on which courses you take. If I'm taking courses from someone who has achieved a lot and clearly shows how I can achieve the same with their help, why not?

Probably because their primary skill is to sell people courses.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Can I suggest that spending any money on a sales training course would be a complete waste. Sales professionals do not appear to attenmd training courses as such. They start work in sales and develop their skills through experience.

There is a lot of potential benefit to learning selling skills (but no discernable benefit to qualifications or certificates)

The problem the OP has is that they don't seem to know what they are trying to achieve or what environment they favour

 

[Dmitriy K]

Probably because their primary skill is to sell people courses.

You never now what you do right and what wrong. When you take the courses, you can receive a set of only right things to do. Unless you are run by someone more experienced, you will never know what is worth spending time and what is not. You can only guess...

 

[fisicx]

If you want to learn how to sell there is loads of free advice online. All you then need to do is start practicing. Buy a load of cheap end of line goods and buy a pitch at a boot fair or sell on eBay.

Every product or service needs a slightly different set of techniques, there is no one size fits all solution.

So no need to pay for a course. Just need to learn marketing of which sales is just a minor sub-set.

 

[Monkeily]

Hello everyone,

I want to go through sales training to improve my skills and get a certificate.

Has anyone ever heard of or maybe passed NASP training?

I would like to know specifically about their courses. I will appreciate the feedback.

Thank you in advance.

I heard about this association and about one of their main products:
CPSP (Certified Professional Sales Person)
Pretty good reviews

 

[HFE Signs]

Sales skills come from experience and it’s the one skill that is very easy to identify at interview stage.

To become a good salesperson, you will be confident with excellent verbal communication skills. Build your credentials by working your way up, start with anything, maybe shop work, you’ll soon get recognition and build on that. A qualification that nobody knows isn’t worth much without experience, good luck

 

[paulears]

Sales is success based. Remember that Education itself is now a business. Everybody is allowed to issue a certificate. 99% are worthless. Most countries have a system of qualification recognition, and National Standards exist. Usually in terms of Level, and duration. Unless they are validated by an organisation that is recognised, so many 'qualifications' are just a receipt for your money spent on them. They have no worth whatsoever. Without validation by some authority that really exists and has reputation they are simply pieces of worthless paper.

Sales, as a subject, cannot be turned easily into a qualification, because how would you measure success? Money is not a valid answer. You would need to see a specification, syllabus and assessment criteria to even start thinking about spending money.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Sales is success based. Remember that Education itself is now a business. Everybody is allowed to issue a certificate. 99% are worthless. Most countries have a system of qualification recognition, and National Standards exist. Usually in terms of Level, and duration. Unless they are validated by an organisation that is recognised, so many 'qualifications' are just a receipt for your money spent on them. They have no worth whatsoever. Without validation by some authority that really exists and has reputation they are simply pieces of worthless paper.

Sales, as a subject, cannot be turned easily into a qualification, because how would you measure success? Money is not a valid answer. You would need to see a specification, syllabus and assessment criteria to even start thinking about spending money.

Whilst I completely agree on ghe point of certificates and qualifications, there have historically been organisations which were recognised as being superior in their sales training, and therefore creating a far more employable breed of sales person.

Xerox, for example produced very well trained 'hard' sellers, whilst IBM were renowned for a more professional kind of sales person.

Interestingly they used fundamentally the same methodology but applied it differently

 

[paulears]

I think perhaps certified does work with certain equipment and processes - so somebody with a certificate of competence from a manufacturer or company would mean something in that industry. I've got a 'stifficate' from a firm that says I can set things on fire safely, and another to say I know how to operate a certain bit of kit. Not sure sales has this - although many years ago I did have a Dale Carnegie stificate!

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

@Dmitriy K & @Monkeily - how long have you known each other?

 

[Mark T Jones]

@Dmitriy K & @Monkeily - how long have you known each other?

To be fair to @Dmitriy K they have validated their own point - they definitely do need training in sales

 

[Paul FilmMaker]

Sales training is also about being appropriate to what we're selling.

I started by selling the International Securitisation Report (ISR), a super-specialised Asset-Backed financing publication. I worked for Datamonitor as well, selling models and reports (both companies were bought by Reuters). And then I went into headhunting selling services. And what I discovered was that sales for each product and service was totally different.

So the training I received really wasn't particularly useful for the other products I ended up selling. It was tailored (my sales director was from Xerox) and he understood the value of getting a really specific approach.

I think sales training is good but it's never a one-size-fits-all approach. For me, it's about applying common sense to whatever solution we're looking at selling. What do customers really want?

If it were me, I'd read a book on Solutions Selling and then learn some sales tactics like SPIN etc... I'd also learn about marketing structures and how sales and marketing fit together. Maybe also something strategic like 'Predictible Revenue' which is the book by the Salesforce guy. Also, take it with a pinch of salt because I worked for Salesforce and some of what he's saying is BS.

As for a certificate, if you've never sold anything and never worked in sales, it's worth doing something to show you're keen so you can get a first step up. But the value is minimal and any future employer will simply want to know if you've ever sold anything.

 

[HFE Signs]

Sell me this pen ?️

 

[IanSuth]

Sell me this pen ?️

Why you already own it's nft obviously. I could sell you a physical representation of your NFT, it has the advantage of of being able to transcribe digital copy into physical ink on a page ??

 

[HFE Signs]

Why you already own it's nft obviously. I could sell you a physical representation of your NFT, it has the advantage of of being able to transcribe digital copy into physical ink on a page ??

You've not seen the Wolf of Wall street then

 

[DoolallyTap]

No need to go on a course, go to a bookshop. You can read and learn all about basic selling techniques, never asking yes/no questions. overcoming objections, asking for the order, all that is written in many, many books. But drive, ambition, personality, charisma, charm, these attributes are also needed in your personality.

 

[MBE2017]

No need to go on a course, go to a bookshop. You can read and learn all about basic selling techniques, never asking yes/no questions. overcoming objections, asking for the order, all that is written in many, many books. But drive, ambition, personality, charisma, charm, these attributes are also needed in your personality.

The first thing anyone in sales should know, no single rule or method works on everyone, AND there are many times you should be asking yes/no questions. For instance, if you want a yes or no as an answer.

Salespeople probably get more useless training than any other profession I can think of, usually given by failed salespeople. I had a good successful career in sales, but there was hardly a day where I was not hyper critical of my own performance in my work.

I have trained hundreds of guys over the years, the ones who eventually go on to succeed tend to display several core attributes.

Confidence, a relaxed personality, attitude, social type people. The ones that try to follow the “rules” they are taught rarely succeed. The old style of sales can work in many situations, but end of the day, offer a product or service at what your client feels is good value, and you have a sale. The trouble for most salespeople is they never stop to listen long enough about what people are after. They were taught to talk too much.

 

[DoolallyTap]

It was 1967 and I was sent to the TACK Sales Training School.
'YOU, WE, i' was their buzzword phrase. Anyone else go there??
40 years later, I retired and gave my son the business. I never ever went to work, everyday was a playday, such fun, so many stories.

 

[Paul FilmMaker]

The first thing anyone in sales should know, no single rule or method works on everyone, AND there are many times you should be asking yes/no questions. For instance, if you want a yes or no as an answer.

Salespeople probably get more useless training than any other profession I can think of, usually given by failed salespeople. I had a good successful career in sales, but there was hardly a day where I was not hyper critical of my own performance in my work.

I have trained hundreds of guys over the years, the ones who eventually go on to succeed tend to display several core attributes.

Confidence, a relaxed personality, attitude, social type people. The ones that try to follow the “rules” they are taught rarely succeed. The old style of sales can work in many situations, but end of the day, offer a product or service at what your client feels is good value, and you have a sale. The trouble for most salespeople is they never stop to listen long enough about what people are after. They were taught to talk too much.

Do you feel there's been a significant sales evolution over the last 30 years?

 

[DoolallyTap]

Do you feel there's been a significant sales evolution over the last 30 years?

Huge, massive, 1974-987 I sold office furniture, machines and stationery, I would go out B2B cold calling with an armful of catalogues, you could walk into any reception and ask for names and even possibly see people immediately.
Phone the named person later, make an appointment, take along almost any product to show and try to sell and if no interest in that try to discover what they really wanted or needed.
Very low basic salary, commission on a sliding scale, the more discount given the lower the commission, but overall a very good income with bonuses, gifts, holidays all included. It was wonderful.
I remember, Smith Corona Typewriters, win a prize just for doing a dem. Win prizes for every machine sold, top prize, Mini car for just 20 sold!! Philips dictation machines, sold like sweets in a sweetshop.
It was all so much simpler then.
Now, I believe a huge amount of selling is about reactive, not proactive, but you may know different.

 

[MBE2017]

Do you feel there's been a significant sales evolution over the last 30 years?

Not in the sales industry to any great extent, more in the clients attitude.

Clients and people in general are a lot more clued up and able to get prices, quotes for jobs in hundreds of easier and faster ways today than ever before, after all, everyone has a computer built into their phone today.

When I first started you had to learn the product, the clients by experience, things were much more local, clients often preferred to deal with someone in their own town, now they can import with zero knowledge, it’s become much more competitive.

From a sales perspective, it hasn’t really changed in the important areas. End of the day it is still mainly about the basic principles, building relationships, trust, quality, speed, price etc. Like most industries it has just become so much more competitive.

I think many like to think, like most generations before them, that something incredible has happened, in reality the routes to market have changed, as have the products, but the basic reasons why you buy from company A in preference to B,C or D remains the same.

 

[estwig]

If we're giving it about our sales credentials...........

I started out selling Kirby vacuum cleaners back in the late 80's, when I was 19 years old. £850.00 for a hover, sold via door knocking on the tick, yours for only a fiver a week!

By the time I was 21 I had the franchise for Maidstone, far too much money for a noisy, busy, 21 year old lad who was obsessed with cars!

 

[MBE2017]

If we're giving it about our sales credentials...........

I started out selling Kirby vacuum cleaners back in the late 80's, when I was 19 years old. £850.00 for a hover, sold via door knocking on the tick, yours for only a fiver a week!

By the time I was 21 I had the franchise for Maidstone, far too much money for a noisy, busy, 21 year old lad who was obsessed with cars!

Tough gig in later years, I know some lads who cleaned up with Kirby, if you will pardon the pun.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Do you feel there's been a significant sales evolution over the last 30 years?

Fundamentally, no. There have been numerous waves and trends

Ultimately its the same - find A need, fill the needs.

 

[estwig]

Tough gig in later years, I know some lads who cleaned up with Kirby, if you will pardon the pun.

We ran out of finance companies in the end, one by one, they realised they weren't getting paid.

 

[incrementum]

Hello everyone,

I want to go through sales training to improve my skills and get a certificate.

Has anyone ever heard of or maybe passed NASP training?

I would like to know specifically about their courses. I will appreciate the feedback.

Thank you in advance.

Hi Dmitry,

It looks like no one here had experience with NASP, so let me add my 2 cents as I went through one of their training and certification programs a few years ago - the certified professional sales person (CPSP) Let me start by saying I increased my sales 2x in the year following the certification. Yes, of course, there were other factors in play too, but I do think a good chunk of it was thanks to this program. And similar to you, I sell to US and UK buyers. Someone here recommended buying books instead.. well I did listen to a bunch of audiobooks, but for me gaining skills doesn't come through reading - practice is essential. The training allowed me to practice - thanks to exercises in the course and weekly live advisor-led calls with practicums. The best part is that I did it not via manipulation techniques but by being more caring for the client, which made me happier too For what it costs - it's a bargain already and if we take the results into account - I couldn't be happier. Different people - different experiences; everyone chooses what is closer to their heart.
Best of luck in your sales journey!

 

[Mark T Jones]

Hi Dmitry,

It looks like no one here had experience with NASP, so let me add my 2 cents as I went through one of their training and certification programs a few years ago - the certified professional sales person (CPSP) Let me start by saying I increased my sales 2x in the year following the certification. Yes, of course, there were other factors in play too, but I do think a good chunk of it was thanks to this program. And similar to you, I sell to US and UK buyers. Someone here recommended buying books instead.. well I did listen to a bunch of audiobooks, but for me gaining skills doesn't come through reading - practice is essential. The training allowed me to practice - thanks to exercises in the course and weekly live advisor-led calls with practicums. The best part is that I did it not via manipulation techniques but by being more caring for the client, which made me happier too For what it costs - it's a bargain already and if we take the results into account - I couldn't be happier. Different people - different experiences; everyone chooses what is closer to their heart.
Best of luck in your sales journey!

As I've mentioned on this thread, there are definitely sales skills that can be formally learned and refreshed

It is important to select trainers who reflect your own personality, ethics and industry - as you say, one size definitely doesn't fit all.

From the topic title though, there is zero value in the UK in sales qualifications