Sales Executive Apprenticeship

Summary

A Sales Executive role to learn our products, engage with our customers and suppliers, build relationships, understand needs, produce quotations, manage interactions, overcome objections, negotiate, win orders, achieve results, be part of our team, and grow with us.

Wage

£14,231.75 to £23,015.85, depending on your age

National Minimum Wage

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Training course

Sales executive (level 4)

Hours

Mon-Thurs 09.00-17.15, Fri 09.00-16.00; 45min daily lunchbreak 12.45-13.30.

36 hours 15 minutes a week

Start date

Monday 1 September 2025

Duration

1 year 6 months

Positions available

2

Work

Most of your apprenticeship is spent working. You’ll learn on the job by getting hands-on experience.

What you'll do at work

Your key responsibilities would be:

Management of customer interactions, both written and verbal
Customer relationship building by understanding and meeting their requirements; establishing existing and additional needs; effectively responding to enquiries, questions, and requests for information in a timely and professional manner
Produce and provide quotations and, where necessary, presentations, with customer site attendance when required
Understand product, benefits, pricing, competition, negotiation, and how to win business and bring this to fruition
Establish sales and grow revenue by product/market sector/application
Network success with new customers
Supplier relationship strengthening, including ongoing training/learning of product portfolio, features, and benefits, how and where to sell

Work independently, overseen by and reporting to the Sales Manager/Head of Sales

Where you'll work

CUTBUSH PARK
DANEHILL
LOWER EARLEY
READING BERKSHIRE
RG6 4UT

Training

Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.

College or training organisation

BASINGSTOKE COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

Your training course

Sales executive (level 4)

Understanding apprenticeship levels (opens in new tab)

What you'll learn

Course contents

Sales planning and preparation: Set effective targets using sales forecasts. Prioritise customers and activities to grow account value and maximise return-on-investment in line with your organisation’s strategy. Formulate or refine customer plans and objectives. Create efficient territory plans where appropriate.
Customer engagement: Effectively communicate and interpret customer information exchanged through written, verbal and non-verbal communication. Develop a customer engagement style that effectively opens sales conversations, builds rapport, enhances customer relationships, and adapts to different customer’s social preferences.
Customer needs analysis: Be highly skilled at effective questioning and active listening techniques to understand the customer’s needs, guide the sales conversation appropriately, create mutual understanding, and build trust and affinity with customers.
Propose and present solutions: Develop sales proposals and deliver them using a presentation style and technique appropriate for your customer. Present relevant products and/or services, explain features and their advantages, and clearly articulate the value and benefit of the solution for the specific customer. Use and adapt a range of techniques to draw-out and overcome common sales objections.
Negotiate: Research the customer’s likely desired outcomes and negotiating stance. Develop responses to likely objections. Identify your own organisation’s needs, such as minimum price and acceptable terms. Negotiate or trade variables effectively.
Closing Sales: Be attuned to verbal and non-verbal buying-signals andmove to close at an appropriate point in sales conversations. Develop ethical techniques to close sales and confirm customers’ purchase agreement.
Gathering Intelligence: Collect, analyse and interpret market intelligence and share it appropriately and effectively within your organisation.
Time Management: Use and adapt appropriate tools and techniques to prioritise and manage your time effectively.
Collaboration and team work: Contribute effectively within a team environment. Work collaboratively with both internal and external stakeholders. Manage communications with the cross-functional team in relation to the effective delivery of your sales, such as finance and service delivery. Support continual business improvement by sharing best practice with sales team colleagues and assist the marketing team to develop new marketing collateral.
Customer experience management: Deliver a positive customer experience. Manage customer enquiries and issues effectively. Take proactive action to prevent and minimise customer concerns and complaints. Handle all customer interactions professionally to the customer’s satisfaction.
Digital skills: Effectively use digital tools to conduct research and target customers in line with the overall sales strategy. Able to deliver presentations and meetings using digital communication. Complete accurate records and process sales in accordance with your organisation’s policies, procedures and digital CRM systems.

Your training plan

Workplace learning, no Basingstoke College attendance required.

The Business Trainer will meet with the apprentice regularly either online or face to face to complete and review assessments, provide further coaching where required and agree the next steps of learning.

Requirements

Essential qualifications

GCSE in:

English (grade 4 (C) or above)
maths (grade 4 (C) or above)

Let the company know about other relevant qualifications and industry experience you have. They can adjust the apprenticeship to reflect what you already know.

Skills

Communication skills
IT skills
Attention to detail
Organisation skills
Customer care skills
Presentation skills
Administrative skills
Logical
Team working
Creative
Initiative
Interest in numerical
Interest 'how things work’
Sociable
Willingness to engage
Determined to achieve

Other requirements

A driving licence and personal transport would be preferable; however, the office can be reached by public transport as is on a bus route connected to Reading train station. Depending on development after apprenticeship completion a company vehicle may be provided.

About this company

We are an Employee Owned Company with circa 30 employees, established for 40 years, in the industrial manufacturing sector predominantly selling process and analytical instrumentation used to measure flow, level, and other parameters of liquids, gasses and solids manufactured by our suppliers in the UK, Europe and USA. Based in Reading we serve customers throughout the UK and occasionally outside of this territory. Having recently purchased our Company from its original Founder we are now looking to invest in and grow our business.

https://able.co.uk/ (opens in new tab)

After this apprenticeship

Achievement of the standard meets the eligibility requirements for Sales Certification at Level 4 with the Institute of Sales Professionals (ISP).

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