Sales professionals are the “heartbeat of every company,” according to Salesforce, driving revenue that ensures sustainability of a business.
If you can sell stuff, you generate revenue for a company. And trust us: they like that!
However, research shows many in the field consider their profession more challenging than ever.
And, according to the Canadian Professional Sales Association, 75% of companies have reported finding difficulty finding qualified sales professionals.
Across Canada, though, lie tech-forward opportunities through which to build sales and related skills in order to upgrade jobs and accelerate careers.
Uvaro
Straddling a line between education, skill-building, and career support, “we’ve built something different,” the founders of Uvaro believe. “We are now a unique program that will support you in getting hired, then help you climb the ranks, then help you reach your goals at every stage of your career.”
Uvaro, whose team is now more than 80 strong, has seen over 500 members graduate across three dozen cohorts.
Programs range from four to 12 weeks in length, targeting areas like Sales Leadership, Customer Success Management, and Tech Sales Foundations. According to Uvaro, a typical course will have 10 to 30 members per course to maximize attention and collaboration. Weekly hour commitments range from 10 to 20 and aim to flex alongside existing obligations.
Uvaro’s tiered approach is based on taking members from any level to any level, whatever that may mean for someone’s particular career trajectory. The company’s “Learn, Improve, Launch” system encourages a lifetime of personal and professional growth.
“Our unique acceleration model is highly tuned to the needs of today’s job-seekers, employers, and the future of work,” Fung, who serves as CEO, stated last year.
Uvaro was founded in Waterloo in 2019 and launched online in early 2020.
Salesblazer
“Sales is where many people begin their career and acquire the knowledge and skills to become leaders in their industries,” explains Kris Lande, senior Vice President of marketing, community, and content at Salesforce.
Salesforce recently announced plans to build the largest and most successful community of sales professionals.
Building on free learning platforms Trailhead and Trailblazer Community, his company has launched Salesblazer.
“It’s a place where anyone in the field—from those aspiring to break into the field to top sales leaders—can come to learn, connect, and grow their careers, and help their companies thrive with the skills they gain,” Lande says.
The skilling platform offers more than 50 badges across different specialties.
For example, Salesblazer offers the chance to earn “resume-worthy credentials and showcase expertise with a Sales Representative Certification, which sharpens skills in sales strategy, deal management, forecasting, and closing deals,” according to Lande.
“We get deals done, make customers successful, and help our companies grow,” one early Salesblazer stated.
Jelly Academy
Jelly Academy this year partnered with Shane Gibson, founder of the Professional Sales Academy, in an effort to address a sales skills void in Canada.
The Vancouver-born Jelly Academy, which won a Technology Impact Award, partnered with author and trainer Gibson to develop the B2B Sales Specialist Program.
Accredited by the Canadian Professional Sales Association, Jelly’s B2B curriculum is aligned with the core competency framework for sales developed in partnership with industry leaders across Canada, according to a statement from the company.
This is reflected in the online course’s 13 modules, including: “Future-Proof Your B2B Sales Career,” “Targeting the Right Clients,” and “LinkedIn for Sales Fundamentals.”
The B2B Sales Specialist Certification Program “equips you with a complete process and selling methodology that includes prospecting, business development, negotiations, one-on-one communications to social selling and strategic sales planning,” a description of the program reads. “You will learn proven sales best practices, sales processes and methodologies developed.”
“Verified” B2B Sales Specialist students will then join the industry as sales professionals. Optionally they can qualify for a Certified Sales Professional or Certified Sales Associate designation.
