24 business focus
Chartered accountants Haines Watts presents a series of articles based on their blogs. They offer analysis, reviews and comments and welcome your feedback at
www.hwca.com/blog
of the month How dusty is your business plan? writes Barry Potter, partner at Haines Watts
Did you draft a business plan at the start of the year? If so, have you looked at it since you wrote it?
So often I see clients put a plan together but then, as the events of the year unfold, they neglect to benchmark themselves against it.
True, it’s not always easy to extract yourself from the day- to-day management of your business in order to take time to analyse where the business is. But the idea of the plan is to remind you and your team of what you need to be doing to drive the business forward – and that is why it’s key.
Analyse what has happened so far this year, what is going on right now and what is likely to happen next. This will help you to pinpoint any burning issues which you need to address and also potential opportunities that you should be taking advantage of. Above all though, don’t forget the competition. Take a proper look at what they are doing and how they are faring.
If your general approach and your plan is to assume that there will be no change to the way that you do business, can you be sure that your
Professionalising sales – the UK national sales agenda
The string of mis-selling scandals and high-pressure tactics employed by utilities and mobile phone companies has contributed to further damaging the already shaky reputation of the UK’s salespeople. It’s perhaps not surprising that the ethics of the sales profession is at a pretty low ebb today, writes David Podger, managing director of Thames Valley Training and Development
The Institute of Sales and Marketing Management (ISMM) has now started a campaign to put selling on an equal footing with other professions to address these shortcomings, building on some already solid foundations.
The UK now has a set of National Occupational Standards for sales, developed in 2006 by the National Sales Board. There are currently no fewer than 67 ISMM sales qualifications from level one to six that conform to the Qualification and Credit Framework (QCF), based on the National Occupational Standards and available to training organisations approved by the ISMM to deliver.
www.businessmag.co.uk
Given that there are hundreds of thousands of sales and sales-related personnel in the UK, there is huge scope to enlarge the reach of sales professionalism, building on the standards and qualifications, as well as a major opportunity for the UK to become a leader in the development of sales professionalism.
At Thames Valley Training & Development we are working in close association with ISMM to deliver an innovative approach to delivering accredited sales training. We will calibrate your sales practice against the nationally established occupational standards for
sales professionals, design a customised programme for the development of your sales force and match this against accredited awards from the UK’s leading sales institute.
If you already have your own internal sales training programme, as an awarding centre for ISMM, we offer a unique service that complements and then validates progress through training, leading to a nationally recognised qualification.
For a free consultation on improving the performance of your sales team, contact us today.
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – JULY/AUGUST 2013
Details: David Podger 01494-605012
david.podger@tvtd.co.uk www.thamesvalleytraining.com
business is able to adapt swiftly to market changes and new opportunities?
Should you need additional finance and investment the banks, finance houses and equity investors will certainly require forward plans, against which you can regularly monitor yourself. They want and need to understand the forward strategy and plans of the business, including up-to-date projected
profitability, cashflow and balance sheets.
So engage in the process to ensure the result is meaningful and has the buy- in not just of the business’ owners, but also any relevant senior management team.
Details:
www.hwca.com
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