Curriculum Development Project Knowledge in Sales and Marketing Education and Training

Curriculum Development Project Knowledge in Sales and Marketing Education and Training End of Project Report Project summary and key achievements against original aims The original project bid aims of the Knowledge in Sales and Marketing Education and Training project were to design, develop and deploy regulated (Ofqual accredited) qualifications in sales and marketing. The assessment methodologies allowed them to be accessible, primarily, to unemployed adult learners in the Black Country. Research indicated that while local Jobcentre Plus offices were recording significant levels of sales vacancies, including retail sales and contact centre sales, and whilst local further education colleges were highly supportive of active offers for unemployed people there were potential gaps in provision focussed on the applicability of existing qualifications to the relevant learner cohort. Further research suggested that a contributory factor to the apparent disparity between skills demand and supply was that the existing ranges of sales and marketing qualifications did not lend themselves well to unemployed learners. The assessment methodologies of the existing offers were an obstacle to programmes being undertaken by unemployed learners. The project aimed to develop new qualifications that would bridge this gap by being accessible, primarily but not exclusively, to unemployed adult learners and that would be supported by a partnership of Black Country colleges working together with an Ofqual-recognised UK awarding organisation, Accredited Skills for Industry (ASFI). The key achievements against these original aims are: The design, development and deployment of two new qualifications that became nationally available from 1 October 2014. The ASFI Level 1 Award in Business Principles for Sales Professionals and the ASFI Level 2 Certificate in Business Principles for Sales Professionals. The sector-wide availability of new qualifications designed specifically to support economic growth by equipping, in the first instance, local unemployed adults with new skills that will enable them to apply for a significant level of known job vacancies. An accessible qualification offer that is directly informed by employers and has a demandled selection of units that match employer and potential employee needs. Key partners and their roles Original partners for the Project were City of Wolverhampton College, Dudley College, Birmingham Metropolitan (Stourbridge) College and ASFI. These partners remained within the project throughout. 1

An additional partner college also felt it would be beneficial for their learners if they could join the project, and Walsall College as lead partner agreed to this since it would increase the reach of the project. However, due to workload issues, the college found it challenging to attend the project meetings and workshops and subsequently withdrew. All of the participating colleges agreed to deliver the new qualifications, input to the design and development of the qualifications and associated assessment material, and contribute as appropriate to dissemination and evaluation activities. As lead partner, Walsall College undertook the co-ordination, administration and reporting of the project. ASFI undertook the work with the partners to develop and deploy the qualifications, but also acted as the de facto project office, because of its proximity of operation to Walsall College. Each partner was asked to nominate a key representative who would be able to attend workshops and meetings, bring the views of their appropriate employer network to the table, represent the project in their own organisation, and instigate the work to ensure that the new qualifications became available for delivery in their organisation as soon as appropriate. The issue of consistent and effective representation is discussed further below, but some delays arose because of changes in personnel or in the roles of personnel. Overall impact and benefits achieved The overall impacts and benefits of the project to date are the collaborative design, development, and deployment of the two qualifications: ASFI Level 1 Award in Business Principles for Sales Professionals (QCF) 601/3566/9 ASFI Level 2 Certificate in Business Principles for Sales Professionals (QCF) 601/3755/1 These two qualifications are comprised of the same subject units, with each assessed at the appropriate level. A comprehensive assessor guide has also been produced for the centres delivering the qualification. The unit content (the learning aims and assessment criteria) is publicly available on the Ofqual Register of Regulated Qualifications under the qualification numbers indicated above. Unit detail The unit titles and their purposes are described below, including a summary of the skills impacts and benefits that individual learners should experience: Business communications: The aim of this unit is to provide an understanding of effective and ineffective communication methods within a team and within a business environment. Developing customer services skills: This unit is aimed at developing an understanding of how customer service is used in different areas including the consequences of poor customer service 2

and the benefits of good customer service. Areas that are covered include communication methods, showing respect and confidentiality and dealing with complaints. Customer service skills: The aim of this unit is to further develop an understanding of how customer service is used in different areas including the consequences of poor customer service and the benefits of good customer service. Areas that are covered include communication methods, showing respect and confidentiality and dealing with complaints. Communications skills for business: The aim of this unit is to provide an understanding and demonstrate communication skills in a business environment by using written, oral and practical communication methods. Principles of digital marketing: This unit has been designed to provide learners with an understanding of the role of digital marketing, the use of search engine optimisation, the use of digital marketing devices and messages, how to use digital technology for marketing purposes and requirements when using digital technology for market research. Using digital and social media in marketing campaigns: This unit offers an understanding of planning requirements for the use of digital and social media and marketing to target customers using digital and social media. Marketing your business: The aim of this unit is to explore and understand why market research is important for a business and how to use marketing in a business. It will also cover how a business can reach customers and how to assess the level of customer satisfaction. Understanding marketing: The aim of this unit is to equip learners with an understanding of how marketing activities, in an organisation, are planned, how customers can be segmented, along with an understanding of the marketing mix. Introduction to retail: This unit will identify and describe the features and purpose of different retail business, job roles, skills and activities within retail businesses. Understanding customer service in a retail sector: This unit aims to develop understanding of how customer service has an impact on the retail sector. Focusing on how positive initial impressions, types of service, effective communication and how to deal with a variety of complaints that contributes to the retail sector. Understanding the retail selling process: This unit identifies the selling process for the retail sector. Focusing on the key stages of the selling process, skills and qualities of the staff, identifying the customers needs, promoting sales and the difference between features and benefits. Understanding consumer buying behaviour: This unit will support knowledge and understanding about consumer buying behaviour and factors that influence the consumer. This is an essential part of the sales process that supports the concept of customer focus. Selling lawfully and ethically: This unit will highlight an awareness of the legal rights of customers 3

and how they are protected. Learners will gain knowledge of ethical selling, legal requirements when selling, and behaviours of the ethical sales person and the consequences of not complying with legal and ethical requirements. Understanding the sales cycle: This unit will enable the learner to prospect to find customers, make appointments, prepare for the sale, build rapport, and identify the customers needs. Learners will be able to identify the features and benefits, handle objections and close sales. In order to complete a successful sale the learner will understand how to secure and process orders and follow up with the customer. Negotiation skills: This unit will provide the knowledge to negotiate using a range of techniques and identify potential barriers that can affect this process, it will also be able to influence a positive outcome and identify strengths and areas for improvement. Communication skills in sales: The aim of this unit is to provide an understanding of verbal and non-verbal communication methods, the use of different questioning techniques and when to use them and how to use active listening within sales. Understand how to make successful deals in business: This unit will offer an introductory understanding of why it is important to make deals when in business and what is involved in the negotiation process. Understanding laws and ethics: This unit identifies the laws affecting selling in an organisation, consequence for oneself, organisation and customer if legal requirements are not complied with or if a sales person behaves unethically. Focusing on the qualities of an ethical sales person, benefits of selling ethically and the importance of industry codes of conduct. Understanding buyer behaviour: This unit will highlight the customer and business-to-business decision making processes, explaining the differences of buyer needs and wants and an understanding of the influences that motivate a customers need to buy. Sales targets: This unit will enable the learner to explain the purpose of sales targets and set and monitor targets within an organisation. Focusing on variances to sales targets, and learn how to identify actions when there is a negative variance and describe consequences of not meeting sales targets. Using the telephone: This unit enables the learner to make positive contact with people inside and outside an organisation via a telephone system. Focusing on the importance of confidentiality and security when dealing with callers, following workplace procedures, give examples of information to be gathered prior to a call to ensure that the call meets its objective in order to find out specific answers to questions. Contribute to sales activity in a contact centre: This unit will identify how to gather specified sales information in order to make direct sales to customers in a contact centre environment, ensure accuracy of orders and maintain records following organisation procedures. It will identify how to meet customer needs, process payments in-line with company procedures and how having an 4

awareness of regulations and legislation have an impact on their own responsibilities within the sales process. Telesales: This unit will enable the learner to prepare to make telesales enquiries and sales. The unit will focus on recognising stages of the sales cycle, own limits of authorisation in negotiation, how to build rapport and follow organisation procedures. Upon completion of the unit the learner shall have gained knowledge of how to carry out a sale from concept to close by the use of specialist techniques via the telephone. Understanding selling to customers: The aim of this unit is to provide an understanding of selling to customers. Providing an insight on how to prepare for the sale, establish a rapport with the customer, identify customer requirements, present own products and/or services to the customer, deal with sales objections from the customer and how to close the sale. These new qualifications were developed and evolved by the partners, with employer input. They differ from the offer originally envisaged as a result of the influence of deliverers and employers during the process. The Level 1 Award is specifically designed to meet the original project aim by being a professional standard and up-to-date qualification that is available for learners in the unemployed adult group. The Level 2 Certificate was developed following input from employers who suggested that the same standard and approach would be useful for new or existing sales staff, as well as offering some progression to the newly employed and qualified. Both of the new qualifications are eligible for consideration for public funding from the Skills Funding Agency and mainstream funding has been applied for. First delivery of the qualifications commenced on 1 st December 2014 with a pilot cohort of twelve unemployed learners. This programme is being delivered by Walsall College and is funded through an ESF programme. Five of the unemployed learners completed the programme and work is being undertaken to gain feedback from these learners in order to evaluate the impact of the programme on the learners progress into work. Further cohorts of twelve are being planned to start at fortnightly intervals over the coming months and further delivery is being planned by the partner colleges. In summary, the project has successfully developed and made available new regulated qualifications that are specifically designed to bridge an externally identified skills gap. As nationally recognised qualifications, they are available to the entirety of the FE sector, and can be deployed by ASFI as required on a cost-recovery/non-profit basis. Summary of key issues and risks Barriers and problems faced From the start of the project, the key risks were changes amongst the personnel involved in the project and their individual organisations. As well as further significant changes of the dynamics under which FE operates, such as government policy, funding and regulation/inspection. These risks were accurately perceived and the project story shows that it was these two factors that constituted the project s significant barriers and problems. 5

When the project began, efforts were made to mitigate the personnel risk by requiring the partners to sign simple memoranda of understanding. These were not legal contracts but were sufficient to gain a commitment of adequate and active partner representation. With regard to the second area of concern, horizon scanning was undertaken to try to anticipate policy, funding and regulatory changes. The qualifications were also designed to be as applicable as possible to the likely continuing requirements and parameters. Although some slippage of the original schedule was a result of the decision to develop two qualifications that were more responsive than originally planned, most slippage was a result of the workload or personnel changes at the partner colleges. This resulted in slower collaborative processes; or changes in policy/funding requirements which meant, at an individual institution level, that delivery could not commence as soon as originally planned. Overall slippage was approximately eighteen weeks. We think that the project, although behind schedule, is an interesting illustration of what can be achieved at a time of significant uncertainty in the FE landscape. Building on previous partnerships/work The partner colleges are in close geographic proximity in a heavily populated area and have a history of working in partnership on strategic initiatives. The project was able to take this to a new level through the direct collaboration of all partners on new curriculum design. Innovative or extension of present practice The close involvement of a group of potential deliverers, each bringing with them their own employer contacts, with an Ofqual recognised awarding organisation to directly develop an economically responsive new curriculum, is a locally innovative departure that will have a wider national impact. In addition, the project has lent itself well to the validity strategy approach that all awarding organisation will be required by Ofqual to adapt and demonstrate. Key learning outcomes We feel that the key learning outcomes identified to date are: the tendency of FE personnel to change roles with a detrimental effect on project work remains a feature that needs to be considered in future projects the willingness of individuals to commit when driven by an interest in developing a quality offer for learners and employers (rather than merely being driven by financial consideration) was strongly evident in some cases the willingness and genuine interest of some employers to contribute was also noted bureaucratic obstacles persisted and the time required to overcome these should not be underestimated in future planning changes in policy, funding and regulatory conditions can have a serious adverse impact of projects and consideration for contingencies should also be incorporated at an early stage. 6

Dissemination activities and tools Outputs originally specified in project proposal Actual outputs of the project The development of widely available qualifications supported by assessment The two qualifications available across the FE sector geographically materials that can be delivered across the sector geographically in order to bridge an identified skills gap Assessment materials can be purchased by potential centres as part of their qualification approval An advertising template has been delivered and sent to the partner colleges so that they can promote to their catchments A sales booklet for the qualifications is available Rollout to the sector The partner colleges are incorporating the new qualifications into their curriculum plans Any other UK college or UK provider can see the availability of the qualifications through the Ofqual register and may apply to ASFI to be approved to run the courses Any organisation obtaining ASFI approval to run the courses also receives the assessment materials ASFI s centre numbers have grown as a result of its other business activities and it is expected that some of these centres will run the courses. Lessons learnt It is usually the Data Management policy of colleges to have full sight of confirmed public funding before programmes can be considered for inclusion in curriculum planning Curriculum planning often adheres to a schedule which means that consideration of the offer after a certain calendar date works against its inclusion Consideration of the offer by a provider should be linked to the providers Labour Market Intelligence and curriculum strategy. Timescales There was an 18 week slippage to the original timescales. The drivers were: longer time was required for the development of the twenty-four available units into two qualifications at the request of the employers and partner colleges variability of partner representation at meetings, necessitating more paper-based verification heavy workloads of partner representatives resulting in other work taking precedence a heightening of the evidence of support requirement from Ofqual during the submission for recognition a significant change in the SFA funding processes, introduced at no notice, during the life of the project and the time taken for the qualifications to be fully confirmed as funded. Savings Savings were derived from: The supported development of two new employer-responsive qualifications on a 7

collaborative basis which should avoid duplicated expenditure at individual partner level The supported approval of ASFI centres, which represents a direct cost saving to them Reduced administration ongoing cost because of the close collaboration between awarding organisation and delivers Supported registration of the first learner cohorts The progress of previously unemployed learners into employment, with all the derived cost savings associated with that process Future plans The continuing availability of the qualifications, potentially on a large scale, is the most visible aspect of the legacy of the project. However, the collaboration between the partners has provided additional learning and paves the way for other such activities. In addition the ways of working evolved in the development of the project are of significant use in the design of qualification validity strategies. From the employer perspective, an increased understanding of how vocational qualifications are produced should prove useful as more design policy moves into employer hands. For further information please contact: Carl Jordan Accredited Skills for Industry E: cjordan@walsallcollege.ac.uk T: 01922 651174 8