Retail giant Marks & Spencer has appointed an external candidate with a strong sales and marketing track-record to be its new chief executive. Morrisons boss Marc Bolland takes on the role in the New Year at a time and on terms to be confirmed.

The 50-year-old Dutchman, who was previously chief operating officer at brewing giant Heineken, succeeds executive chairman Sir Stuart Rose, who will continue at the firm as part-time chairman.

Revival

Bolland joined Morrisons in September 2006 as chief executive and has been credited with reviving the fortunes of the Bradford-based supermarket chain following its takeover of Safeway.

The relationship between M&S and its shareholders has reportedly been under intense strain since Sir Stuart was appointed executive chairman – combining two roles in breach of corporate best practice – more than a year ago.

Beauty parade

Sir Stuart had already said he will leave the company by July 2011, fuelling speculation over the company’s succession plans. Senior managers including clothing head Kate Bostock, financial director Ian Dyson, and food division chief John Dixon were all seen as leading candidates for the job of chief executive. The company last month held its first investor day in a decade: the event was billed in the City as a ‘beauty parade’ for the internal candidates.

Track-record

Bolland was previously chief operating officer at Heineken, based in the Netherlands. He held a number of senior roles at Heineken over the last 20 years, including spells a export group director, commercial director, off- premises sales manager and brand manager.

Sir Stuart commented: ‘I am delighted that Marc is to be M&S’s next chief executive. He brings a wealth of consumer marketing experience and has made a great success of his time at Morrisons.’

Bolland was well-thought-of at Heineken. At the time of his departure from the brewers, chairman of the executive board and CEO, Jean-François van Boxmeer said: ‘In his 20 years with Heineken, Marc has made a significant contribution to the growth of the company. Over the last year in particular, Marc has established the direction and management priorities for the regional structure, which will support our future growth. He has been a great colleague, and he leaves with our thanks and genuine best wishes for his new role.’

Source : Modern Selling

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Of all the challenges faced by UK sales professionals, a survey has found that changing technology is considered the least difficult aspect of sales.

The sales industry is increasingly adopting ever advancing technology. The use of social networking and viral marketing in sales is becoming common place. Yet, fewer than 3% of respondents to ‘The State of Sales 2009’ are intimidated by changing technology and changing sales methods. 

The survey which was conducted by Aaron Wallis, a Sales recruitment company asked 644 sales professionals what they considered to be the most difficult aspect of the job. Of the eight possible answers, changing technology and sales methods was the least popular response by a large margin.

Women were found to be the least intimated by changing technology, with less than 1% of female respondents selecting this as the most difficult aspect of sales. This compares to 3% of men. None of the respondents who earned over 100K a year found changing technology and sales methods the most difficult aspect of the role.

Overall, getting clients to make decisions, followed by cold calling and sales admin/paperwork were cited as the 3 most difficult aspects of selling in 2009. Finding new prospects, chasing money, and meeting clients expectations were among some of the other possible answers to the question.

The survey was conducted in July this year and was live for six weeks. Respondents to the survey were from a broad age, salary and geographic range.  The full survey results are available for free download from www.survey2009.info

Rob Scott – Aaron Wallis Sales Recruitment

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Traditional sales methods are still considered the most effective, a survey has revealed.
The sales industry has been revolutionised in recent years by business potential in the digital market. Social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook are increasingly being used for viral marketing and business generation.
It may come as a shock therefore, that a survey conducted by Aaron Wallis, a sales recruitment agency has revealed that sales professionals almost unanimously favour conventional methods of selling. When asked to rate in order of one to five which methods of sales were the most effective, 94% of sales professionals placed non-digital methods the highest, at number one.
Of the 644 respondents only 3% would consider social networking the most effective form of selling. A further 3% favour online meetings/webinars and teleconferences.
By contrast, an overwhelming 82% still believe that that the best way to make a sale is through a face to face meeting. This research may raise questions in the sales industry about whether the internet is as integral to the modern sales industry as many would have us believe.
Rob Scott, the Managing Director of Aaron Wallis has done considerable research into the use of online methods of business generation. He said: “The Internet is without doubt one of the most powerful tools available to any sales professional for research and managing contacts. However the adage ‘people buy from people’ still remains. With the advent of Twitter, Facebook and the like for business development we are on the cusp of change in the way that we develop business but this survey confirms that face-to-face selling is still the most powerful method”
Exhibitions, Telesales Networking Events, and Marketing campaigns all received a higher proportion of respondents who rated them above social networking as a method of business development.
The number of sales professionals who consider exhibitions as the most effective form of selling has in fact risen since a similar survey was conducted in 2007. Surprisingly, exhibitions have replaced telesales as the second most effective method of business development.

Rob Scott – Aaron Wallis Sales Recruitment

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