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The Growing Demand for Sales Professionals
Sales-related functions are pertinent to most businesses and form the backbone of their survival. Out of the over 700,000 PMEs in Singapore in 2015, approximately one in six of them were in sales-related functions. This number will continue to grow as the demand for capable, experienced and future-ready sales professionals increases in the new economy.
The launch of the Sales Accelerator Programme
The Singapore Sales Professional Association (SSPA) and the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) launched the Sales Career Accelerator Programme today. Targeting to benefit over 2,000 sales professionals over the next five years, the programme aims to accelerate the development of a pipeline of future-ready sales professionals. This will meet the future demand for sales leaders and help businesses thrive. Covering 10 foundational modules and five advanced modules, the first run of the programme is targeted to commence in November 2016 (please refer to Annex A for more information).
The launch of the programme was witnessed by Mr Patrick Tay, Assistant Secretary-General of the NTUC, who also addressed the crowd on the Labour Movement’s plans to upskill PMEs, especially those in the sales community.
NTUC and SSPA partnership
The Sales Career Accelerator programme is the first collaboration between the NTUC and SSPA. SSPA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with NTUC to become its first sales sector U Associate on 12 August 2016. The partnership sees both parties coming together to create structured training programmes and build business networks to reach out to and train sales professionals. The collaboration aims to support the training, career development and networking opportunities of over 100,000 PMEs working in sales-related functions.
SSPA will also be able to leverage NTUC’s U Associate ecosystem of 37 U Associates across 21 sectors, thus adding a unique value to the manpower and training efforts of SSPA. Sales professionals will be able to gain exposure to other industry practitioners within the U Associate ecosystem, leading to possible cross-pollination of ideas and new business opportunities. Through this partnership with SSPA, NTUC can also extend its reach to further connect with the large population of sales professionals residing across all industries.
Mr Vivek Kumar, Director of U Associate, said: “Sales related jobs are among the top four job roles with the highest vacancies in Singapore. This accounts for one in eight PME job openings. More needs to be done to make the sales profession a viable career option for our PMEs. We are happy and excited to partner SSPA to reach out to the sales community, to equip them with the necessary skills, expand their networks through the NTUC U Associate ecosystem and offer them more opportunities to be future-ready.”
Launch of SSPA
The SSPA was officially launched today at the National Sales Congress 2016, an inaugural event by SSPA that aims to provide a platform for sales professionals to pick up innovative and up-to-date sales strategies to reach out to a new generation of consumers. SSPA is the first professional guild for the sales community in Singapore and aspires to further the interests of the sales community in professional development, networking, job placement and employment protection. Approximately 400 sales leaders and professionals attended the full-day event.
Mr Alex Chua, President of SSPA, shared: “Sales professionals have a critical role in the development of any business and ecosystem. They are often undervalued or understated but in reality, they are often the face of a company’s brand and experience to her clients. Sales is the lifeblood of business and drives growth for many companies. The establishment of the Singapore Sales Professional Association will put the interests of the sales professional community front and centre. The association will have four key focus areas – professional development to upgrade skills, business networking to help sales professional meet potential clients, job matching and placement, and lastly, representation and protection for sales professionals. The association is also pleased to launch our first professional development programme for sales professional – Sales Career Accelerator programme at the inaugural National Sales Congress 2016.”
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