CCS Media, one of the UK’s largest technology and IT resellers, wanted their sales team to become more diverse and add value to their customers, whilst leveraging the apprenticeship levy. Discover the role of our Level 4 Sales Executive Apprenticeship in their development.
CCS Media is an IT solutions organisation selling anything hardware or software related. They’ve always had a very strong focus on apprenticeships. Historically, typical IT workers were degree-educated white males. But CCS media’s director, Rob Omar, felt apprenticeships could create diversity and provide more equal opportunities.‘talent is equally distributed, opportunity isn’t.’ This is a phrase Rob agrees with, and he realised that apprenticeships were a way of hiring those who had concerns over university fees and debt.
The company had previously executed Level 4 Sales Apprenticeships, but found their provider’s training wasn’t bespoke enough. Here, Rob shares why he chose BMS Progress, and the positive outcomes of our partnership so far.
Up to 20% of an apprentice’s working hours are allocated to learning, so we needed to be certain that the knowledge, skills and experience gained throughout the programme would add value to their roles and improve the team’s sales performance.
As well as flexibility, we needed a training provider with the capability to listen to our needs and what we had to say. This was crucial in creating a bespoke programme.
We pay our apprentices more than average because we don’t see them as cheap labour, and we want them to stay in the business. Their education plays a part in this retention.
By utilising five-day training blocks, we’ve been able to unplug the apprentices from their day jobs so they can fully engage in the learning delivered at each bootcamp. When they aren’t in a bootcamp, all their time is spent doing their job. This approach has created a great balance for learning, applying and measuring the programme’s impact.
The team at BMS Progress effectively understood the CCS media sales process. They incorporated it into the learning using our language, real-life examples and scenarios, all of which helped our apprentices to relate to the training and apply it in their day jobs.
Each apprentice would be assigned a development coach to support their learning. It gave us peace of mind, especially as the coaches understood who we were as a business, and worked closely with our own management team to ensure individual feedback and development areas were aligned.
We’re 100% getting value for money from the apprenticeship levy. The team is performing better, and it’s all thanks to the training programme. In fact, I see some members using knowledge that they’ve learnt only a week before!
The cohort for the first BMS Progress apprenticeship programme is only recent, but they’re further forward than the previous cohort, who used our former training provider. This is because the education is more relevant and useful.
Our apprentices have regular reviews with their development coach and line manager, allowing for 360-degree evaluation. This ensures everyone is aligned, and the apprentice’s education isn’t separate from their job.
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