Sales and Account Management
ST Expeditions
Contract type:
Full time
Salary
£30,000 - £36,000
Location:
STC Expeditions 6b, King St, Exeter,, EXETER, United Kingdom
Salary:
£30,000 - £36,000
Closes:
6 April 2024 at 23:00:00
Sales and Business Development
The position: Sales & Account Management
Usual Working Hours: Usual office hours are Monday to Friday 0900 – 1730 (includes 1 hour lunch) but see below for 4 day week.
Other Hours: Unsociable hours, UK wide travel, occasional evening/weekend work and other job related tasks. Occasional international travel.
Contract: Permanent – Full Time (from 1st June 2023, or as soon after as possible). Monday to Friday initial 38 hours/week, moving to 4 day week (80% hours, 100% pay) after 6 month probationary period.
Reporting to: Director(s)
Specific requirements A full clean driving licence is required.
Benefits:
Salary: £30,000 - £36,000 per annum, depending on experience.
Pension: We contribute to staff pensions in line with our obligations under the workplace pension scheme.
We are a certified 4 day week After an initial 5 day week probationary period, you will move to a 4 day week (80% hours) on full (100%) pay. For more information on our 4 day week, see https://www.thestc.co.uk/blog/4-is-the-magic-number
Holiday: 5 weeks holiday (plus bank holidays) (this equates to 20 days holiday once on 4 day week).
Worldwide Travel opportunities
Worldwide Travel Insurance (annual policy)
Company performance bonus scheme
Annual CPD Budget
Outdoor Kit discounts
Working in the wonderful city of Exeter
Devon on your doorstep: Dartmoor, beaches, surfing, rivers and more…
Home working is possible, but you should be able to work in our Exeter Office when required.
About the role / companyThis is an exciting opportunity to join a small, dynamic and highly specialist adventure travel company. STC Expeditions specialised in school expeditions and educational adventures. We are a leader in the field of responsible tourism and ethical travel and take great pride in designing and delivering inspiring, challenging and carefully crafted travel experiences that push boundaries and open our clients’ eyes to the amazing world around us.
We are looking for a sales and business development specialist to drive the company’s future growth through the proactive acquisition of new clients. For the right candidate, this represents an opportunity to become part of the company’s long term success with potential for a future senior role within the company. The opportunity is primarily a proactive sales and account management position, selling overseas school expeditions and educational adventures to teachers/schools across the UK and managing clients through the build up to their expeditions. Good presenting skills are vital. Persistence, resilience and a genuine passion for ethical tourism and our product are essential for success and job satisfaction. Key to our business is a very personal level of customer care and we would expect the successful applicant to show evidence of nurturing and developing long term relationships with clients.
The ability to relate to head teachers, teachers, parents and young people; inspiring them through your passion for travel and adventure, is critical. This is a commercially sensitive role - you will be expected to manage trip budgets, pricing and find cost effective solutions to our clients travel requirements.
In addition to your main role, there will be significant opportunity to get involved in other aspects of the business, including:
Product development
Marketing (brochure & website development, PR, news articles and blog posts).
Health & Safety, risk assessments and crisis management
Pre-travel training and preparation session delivery
Biscuit/cake demolition (tea/coffee optional)
Ideal Skills Set:
A strong knowledge of world geography
Independent travel and trekking experience in Asia, Africa and/or South America.
Experience of the travel and/or youth expedition industry
Proven sales experience in highly competitive / hard to access markets.
Passionate about responsible tourism and ethical travel
An excellent understanding of the ethical, cultural and environmental issues surrounding travel and tourism
Confident telephone manner
An excellent and empathetic communicator
Strong accuracy & attention to detail
A creative, free thinker, looking to bring ideas and innovation to our company.
Competent working knowledge of MS Office (primarily Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, Publisher & Excel) and excellent presentation skills.
Above all, a ‘can do’ attitude, high standards and the desire to go the extra mile for our clients is everything.
Training:
Training on in-house procedures, systems, software packages, and job specific tasks will be given. Occasional external training courses may also be required, for which the company would pay. All staff receive an annual CPD budget which can be used on a wide range of work related and personal development skills.
The job will involve contact with:
Schools, Teachers & Head teachers, Parents, Students and overseas tour operators.
Main Tasks and skill requirements
Sales & Business development
To act as brand ambassador for STC Expeditions, positively promoting our core USPs and company ethos.
To arrange and co-ordinate meetings and appointments with teachers and head teachers as required to facilitate lead development and sales generation. This will include travel across the UK for face to face meetings with prospective clients. Good time keeping and a professional attitude / appearance are essential.
To compile detailed quotes and tailor-made proposals for clients based on their travel requirements.
To deliver parents’ information evenings and pre-travel preparation evenings for expeditions and educational adventures throughout the year, as necessary. These presentations will be at client premises and could take place during mornings, evenings and very occasionally weekends. Access to a car is essential. Mileage allowance (or hire car) and accommodation (if necessary) will be provided.
To target, organise, instigate and monitor expedition sales and associated marketing campaigns. This will include the effective management of sales through our CRM system. Correspondence via telephone, e-mail and letter need to be logged efficiently.
To maintain and update our client databases, history of contact information and internal file management systems, ensuring the security and confidentiality of all data at all times.
To provide an efficient monthly briefing to the Director(s) on progress to targets and completion of projects.
Deliver correspondence, emails, letters, reports and presentation to a high standard of accuracy and speed. Good knowledge of MS Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Publisher) is required.
Customer Support
To provide on-going support and assistance to clients throughout the lead up to their trip. This involves providing high levels of customer service, always going the extra mile.
To follow up on returning clients, seeking feedback and ways to improve our service.
Other roles:
To act as crisis contact on a rota basis when clients are abroad. We employee the services of Pharos Response to manage the front line of our crisis handling, but a duty rota of senior staff is still required if needed. Whilst unlikely to be called upon, this will involve being on call 24 hours a day, so will involve unsociable hours, evenings and weekends. Appropriate training in crisis response will be given.
Undertake all other tasks as may reasonably be required in order to meet the varying demands of the Company.
Desired Skill Requirements:
Ambition, persistence and drive to reach targets and objectives, as well as resilience and the ability to work autonomously are key skills for this job.
Excellent written and spoken English is essential.
Well organised with outstanding attention to detail and good time management
Effective time management and ability to work accurately under pressure.
A patient and empathetic attitude, with the ability to build long term relationships with clients and external organisations.
Comfortable in dealing people at all levels.
Problem solving skills and the ability to think ‘out of the box’.
The confidence to question, consistently look for ways to improve systems and products and to make the most of opportunities.
Commitment to the job and to the ethos and goals of the company.
Creative thinker.
Off-Site Safety Management
Outdoor qualifications such as MLTB, British Canoe, Raft guiding etc as well as experience of leading youth expeditions are useful but NOT essential.
Equal opportunities for all
The Specialist Travel Consultancy (trading as STC Expeditions) is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all employees and to providing employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions at STC Expeditions are based on business needs, job requirements and individual merit, without regard to disability, age, ethnic or national origin, gender, race, religion, sexual
orientation, family or parental status. We will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics and encourage applicants of all ages.
Closing date for applications is: 30th April 2024
How to apply
Please submit a CV to the following address: info@thestc.co.uk with a covering letter explaining why we should employ you for the role and, in no more than 100 words, why sustainable tourism and educational travel are one of the most powerful ways to change the world for the better.
We will endeavour to respond to ALL applicants, however, we expect a high volume of responses and a response may not be in a timescale that we would normally hope for. If you would like to call for an initial chat to discuss the role and find out more, then please contact us on the number below.
STC Expeditions
6b King Street
Exeter
EX1 1BH
Tel: 01392 660056