IT Technical Sales Review

Over the course of my apprenticeship, I've had two different roles. The first role was as a Business Development Representative, some of my main duties were: Prospecting and qualifying new leads, contacts and opportunities to drive pipeline. Running prospecting campaigns and attending events to generate leads. Recording prospect, client and business data in Salesforce and other tools. Secure meetings for client advisors with prospects and assist in identifying business needs and the compelling reason to act. My current role is as a Sales and Delivery Executive, the main duties for this role are: Working with the IBM@BP stream leads to drive the Salesforce practice within BP. Generating new business by engaging with clients. Seeking new opportunities to develop upon an existing business. Engaging with BP and Salesforce Stakeholders. Recording and reporting on all sales opportunities. Reporting on existing deliveries. Acting as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) across Salesforce projects.

Over the course of my Apprenticeship, I have learnt many different skills as well as developed upon my existing soft skills. some of the more main courses I have participated in all teach about consulting as well the soft skills around it including how to communicate effectively, how to present individually and in a group environment, how to engage with stakeholders and much more. Some other things I have had the opportunity of learning is in project management and the fundamentals of Agile as well as IBMs Sales Accelerators to aid in all point across the sales process

The programme was very straightforward and had lots of useful learning and training opportunities throughout. It wasn't too difficult and most things could be completed from my work on the job. however, BCS did have some vague requirements for some activities and it was difficult to determine what they actually wanted at some points, overall a good experience.

The programme had a good structure to it and was easy to follow. Training courses were spread out throughout the programme with regular touchpoints with our Foundation Manager. My programme was broke down into 6 quarters with the aim of completing each quarter every 2-3 months. This held us accountable and kept all of us on track for the apprenticeship

My employer gave me all the support needed for my apprenticeship. This included the necessary time to complete my apprenticeship work, ensuring I got to see a wide variation on business processes and the sales cycle to give me a better understanding of the business and giving me opportunities to expand my knowledge and hold responsibility.

IBM was my Training provider as well as employer. They made sure I received all the necessary training to complete my apprenticeship, as well as that they set an organised curriculum to help me pass the apprenticeship. They provided support and guidance which in the end lead me to pass.

My qualification gives me a basic foothold into the world of Technology and Sales. It has given me the fundamental knowledge for how to approach different stages of the sales process which is heavily needed in my role. It has also given me the basic understanding of today's technology including cloud, AI, Cognitive and much more

There are too many extracurricular activities to list them all, however, IBM has something for everyone. There are many different communities to get involved with as well as a yearly sports event and monthly social networking events for GBS. There are special activities depending on certain workspaces your at and specifically for different groups including apprentices

Yes

I would recommend my apprenticeship to anyone looking to get a fundamental understanding of how to sell technology. My apprenticeship has taught me the basics of how a business runs as well as skill such as project management, consulting by selling, enabling sales opportunities as well as giving me the confidence alongside it

The main advice I would give to those applying for a Technical Sales apprenticeship is to understand it doesn't revolve just around enabling sales so they have to understand everything around it as well such as project management and consulting. This in hand will increase there ability and make them a better salesperson.