The Association of Sales

Professionals

The ASP is run by sales professionals for sales professionals. It was formed by
Gary May, Nigel Griffiths and Tim Wheeldon having identified the lack of a
governing body that supported the sales profession.

Interview with Gary May

What is the Association of Sales Professionals?

The ASP has been formed because as we see it the Sales Professional is not only
the largest profession in the UK but is the least represented when it comes to
nationally recognised associations. Our goal is to rid the profession of the
stereotypes unique to what we do. By accrediting companies and individuals for
excellence and ethics we see the ASP as being the trusted mark by which
consumers, both business and private, recognise as being the mark for quality,
moral and ethical sales professionals.

What’s your background and have you always been in sales?

After completing an electrical and electronic apprenticeship I decided to go back

to University and studied Engineering Design or Maths & Physics as it should
have been called! I then went into Telecoms engineering for 7 years until being
coaxed into sales. The past 10 years have seen me be a Sales Director of a Fast
Track 100 and National Business Award [Customer Service] telecoms company,
MD of a sales training business, bestselling author, Sales & Persuasion
International speaker and now the Founder of the Association of Sales
Professionals.

Where did the idea of the Association of Sales Professionals come from?
Interestingly it was whilst sat on a Virgin flight to Las Vegas when I first had the
inspiration for an Association for Sales Professionals. I was sat next to gentlemen
who turned towards me after spilling his beer on me who asked what I did for a
living. What I told him was everything except the fact that I was a salesperson.

Why didn’t you want to tell him what you did for a living?

The reason was simple. I had experienced the frown and comments before when
you tell someone you are in sales. They typically had screwed their faces up,
sucked their teeth or made comments suggesting that all sales people were con
men, scammers and I even had one nice gentleman express his views as, “ah so
you’re a legalised fraudster.”

Why do you think these stereotypes exist?

As sales professionals whether on the telephone or face to face we experience a

unique paradox. That paradox is that the more we perfect our trade, i.e. the
more money we make, the more it is assumed we do it unethically!

That together with the small minority that really have ripped people off has
caused a population to be sceptical of an entire profession. It’s sad because true
sales professionals are decent, hard working and conscientious people who in
some respects are the custodians of their company’s’ prosperity.

Tell us a little bit about what the ASP stands for?

The ASP has a strap line which encompasses everything we are and stand for.
The Association of Sales Professionals – Where Excellence & Ethics combine.
Unlike some organisations and memberships the ASP is much more than a
certificate and monthly magazine. Our number one objective was to ensure that
ASP membership in whatever form resulted in a greater number of sales, orders,
retention and profits by promoting the good and by virtue differencing
themselves from the bad.

What types of membership do you offer?

There are four ways in which you can be accredited and recognised by the ASP;
Individual, Corporate, Student & Partner. Other than Partner the rest I hope are
self explanatory. Partner membership is for those businesses that have products
and services that aid or are of benefit to the sales profession. So think
Recruitment, Training, Car Fleets, and Hotel Services to Web design and CRM
software etc.

What does a new member receive on becoming an ASP member?

Naturally we want to give as much benefit and show massive ROI’s on any
membership fees which is why we took the decision to include not only as much
as possible but everything is of a standard not available anywhere!
I will concentrate on ‘Corporate’ membership for the purpose of this interview.

Sales Experience Feedback – If you could view a company’s exceptional sales

history before placing an order then surely that would make your decision a
better one? We always felt that in order for a prospect to feel comfortable about
accepting a sales professional or sales company into their premises then it was
imperative they were given to view what others had experienced. It also ensures
that those who do work unethically either don’t become members or are quickly
identified as morally unsound.

Taking this a stage further we have developed this feedback so that should a
member company want ‘specific’ questions asked of their prospects about
individuals or industry specific then we can bespoke the feedback questionnaire.

ASPect Profile – Every individual named as part of a corporate membership will

complete the ASPect profile. Based on the science of Axiology, it measures a
person’s core inner values both in terms of themselves and in the workplace. It
with immense accuracy indicates areas of development and strength, predicts
sales ability and how they will/are selling. You will never go back to psychometric
testing again! It’s phenomenally insightful for the individual and management
team.

The Differentiation Model – Developed and perfected over the past two years
this is our jewel in the crown. I have tested this in a multitude of industries both
here and in the states our ‘differentiation model’ has gotten successful results of
separating companies using it and therefore ensuring they are the ‘Must Have’
supplier to deal with.

You mentioned earlier that “membership creates additional sales”. How

do you ensure this?

Naturally with prospect being able to view previous sales history then this in
itself provide a level of comfort and knowledge that currently doesn’t exist. Put
this together with being able to claim membership of a national association, the
marketing material we provide each member explaining why you should do
business with an ASP member and having a access to the very best training
resources ensures that on all levels we are progressing the Sales Profession.

www.theasp.org