Head of Sales in Crewe

The Head of Sales is a senior, hands-on sales leadership role. It brings internal and field sales under one leader, with one acquisition plan, one pipeline and one set of standards. It requires visible management of activity, pipeline, conversion, pricing discipline and team capability across both channels, working with Marketing and Solutions Design.

A significant proportion of current commercial activity is generated through inbound demand. NWF Fuels intends to build a more balanced model: converting inbound opportunities well, creating a purposeful outbound engine focused on genuinely new commercial customers, and using a national field team to win larger and more complex accounts face to face.

The successful leader decides which channel, phone or field, is best placed to win each opportunity. They establish the standards, routines and coaching needed to make performance more predictable, and create a reliable route from lead generation to qualified opportunity, first order, stabilisation and formal transfer into Customer Retention & Growth after three full calendar months.

Success is measured on new business delivered, pipeline strength, quality of revenue, commercial discipline and team capability. The role reports to the Commercial Director.

Why NWF Fuels?

• Monthly Pay: £55,250 to £74,750 per annum dependant on experience
• Car: Car allowance paid monthly
• Bonus: Up too 25% performance based
• Shifts: Monday to Friday
• Holidays: 33 days per year including bank holidays
• Progression Opportunities: Clear progression pathways within Fuels and across the wider group that operates 2 other business’
• Training Opportunities: Funded, accredited courses.
• Medicash: Cashback on routine medical expenses such as dental, optical, physiotherapy and more!
• Shopping Discounts: Save with discounts at major retailers like Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Currys, Debenhams and more!
• Travel Savings: Discounts on flights, hotels, and airport parking.
• Entertainment Offers: Reduced prices at over 400 cinemas across the UK, including savings on drinks and snacks.
• Dining and Lifestyle: Access to deals on restaurants, leisure activities, and other lifestyle services.
• Enhanced Policies: Enhanced maternity and paternity leave.
• The Usual: Company Pension Scheme, Life Assurance, Cycle to Work Scheme, Employee Assistance Programme including counselling, legal and financial support, Free Refreshments, Free Secure On-Site Parking!

Day to Day

Commercial leadership and planning

• Translate the Commercial Director's new-business strategy into a single acquisition plan covering target sectors, propositions, channels, activity, conversion, margin and volume.
• Own the national acquisition budget across internal sales, field sales and tank sales, and maintain an accurate view of delivery, risk and opportunity.
• Set regional business development plans and sales objectives that are ambitious, achievable and tied to business priorities.
• Bring inbound sales, outbound sales, field sales, tank sales, Marketing and Sales Support into one coordinated acquisition rhythm, with explicit ownership at each stage.
• Use market, customer, competitor and performance insight to refine targeting, improve conversion and identify new commercial opportunities.

Channel management and opportunity allocation

• Allocate each opportunity to the channel most likely to win it, phone or field, based on customer size, complexity, location and expected value.
• Set clear rules for when internal sales passes an opportunity to field sales, and when field sales passes transactional business back to internal sales.
• Ensure tank sale opportunities identified by internal sales and Regional Business Development Managers are routed to the BDM UK Tank Sales promptly.
• Remove duplication and conflict between channels so each prospect deals with one clear point of contact.

Inbound sales

• Lead the response to inbound commercial enquiries, ensuring speed, quality, accurate qualification and professional follow-through.
• Set and monitor service standards for lead response, quotation, follow-up and conversion so demand isn't lost through inconsistency or delay.
• Ensure inbound opportunities are qualified against customer need, expected volume, serviceability, credit, margin and long-term commercial value.
• Create disciplined follow-up routines and clear escalation routes for complex, high-value or strategically important opportunities, including referral to field sales.

Outbound sales

• Build a structured outbound programme aimed at acquiring genuinely new commercial customers, with clear segmentation, campaign objectives and measurable conversion expectations.

• Ensure outbound activity is targeted and insight-led, avoiding undisciplined volume calling that creates activity without commercial value.
• Develop scripts, propositions and objection-handling approaches that are credible across NWF Fuels' target markets while allowing individuals to communicate naturally.
• Use outbound activity to book qualified appointments for field sales where a face-to-face approach is more likely to win.

Field business development

• Deliver profitable new business growth across commercial bulk fuel and fuel card opportunities through the Regional Business Development Managers.
• Identify priority market sectors, customer profiles and regional opportunities.
• Ensure Regional Business Development Managers maintain strong prospect pipelines and structured territory plans.
• Develop strategic relationships with larger commercial organisations and their decision-makers, and support complex commercial negotiations where required.
• Support the Commercial Director on major bids and tenders, providing input on pricing, delivery and the customer relationship.

Tank sales oversight

• Set clear targets and standards for the BDM UK Tank Sales role, distinct from the regional territory targets set for the field team.
• Review the performance and pipeline health of the tank sales book alongside the regional territories.

Pipeline, pricing and commercial discipline

• Own the quality and integrity of one commercial pipeline across all channels, including stage definitions, next actions, values, expected volumes, probability and close dates.
• Ensure CRM and reporting data are complete, current and reliable enough to support decisions, forecasting and accountability.
• Produce monthly forecasts and performance reporting for the Commercial Director, by channel, by region and for the tank sales territory.
• Operate within agreed pricing, margin and authority frameworks, escalating exceptions with a clear commercial rationale.
• Review wins, losses and stalled opportunities to identify recurring causes and translate learning into better sales practice.
• Maintain visibility of competitor activity, market intelligence and regional trends.

Customer acquisition and handover

• Retain clear commercial ownership of newly acquired accounts through the first three full calendar months, ensuring the promised proposition is delivered and early issues are resolved.
• Lead a formal, documented handover to Customer Retention & Growth covering pricing, margins, expected volumes, decision-makers, service commitments, onboarding status, early trading and any outstanding risks.
• Work with Operations, Finance and Credit Control so each new account is serviceable, financially sound and ready to move into business as usual.
• Ensure accounts are not transferred simply because time has elapsed; the handover should confirm that ownership, information and customer expectations are clear.

People leadership

• Lead, coach and develop a team of ten: three Inbound Sales Executives, three Outbound Sales Executives, three Regional Business Development Managers and the BDM UK Tank Sales.
• Create a high-performance environment built on preparation, honest feedback, personal accountability and consistent management attention.
• Run effective sales routines across both channels, including daily huddles, weekly pipeline reviews, call coaching, field accompaniment, one-to-ones and performance conversations.
• Build capability in qualification, questioning, commercial judgement, negotiation, closing, strategic account planning, CRM discipline and professional customer communication.
• Recognise strong performance, address underperformance promptly, build succession and create credible development and progression opportunities within the wider commercial function.

Cross-functional leadership

• Work closely with the Commercial Director on strategy, budget and resourcing across the commercial function.
• Partner with the Director of Customer Retention & Growth to maintain a clean boundary between acquisition and account ownership while protecting the customer experience through transition.
• Coordinate with Marketing on campaigns, lead quality, market messages, emerging opportunities and measurement of return.
• Engage Operations early where an opportunity involves unusual delivery, infrastructure, volume or service requirements.
• Provide Finance and Credit Control with the information needed to assess commercial viability and establish new accounts efficiently.

What will you bring?

• A strong record of leading B2B sales teams against demanding acquisition and margin targets, ideally across both internal and field-based channels.
• Evidence of improving inbound conversion and structured outbound prospecting, including the routines and coaching that sustained the improvement.

• Demonstrable experience leading field-based business development teams and delivering significant new business growth.
• Experience managing strategic commercial opportunities, bids or tenders.
• Experience managing a visible sales pipeline and producing forecasts that leaders can rely on.
• Experience working within pricing and margin frameworks where the quality of revenue matters as much as the volume won.
• Experience coordinating customer onboarding and transferring newly acquired accounts into an account-management or retention function.
• Experience in fuels, energy, distribution, logistics or another operationally complex B2B environment is an advantage. Strong transferable commercial leadership matters more than narrow sector tenure.
• Commercially numerate, with a sound understanding of price, margin, volume, cost to serve and customer value.
• A strong negotiator, credible with senior decision-makers in larger commercial organisations.
• Able to distinguish meaningful sales productivity from raw activity and to set measures that encourage the right behaviour.
• A strategic thinker who can translate business objectives into channel and regional sales plans.
• A credible coach who can listen to customer calls, observe field meetings, diagnose what is happening and turn that insight into practical improvement.
• Confident using CRM, pipeline and performance data to lead the team and challenge assumptions.
• Clear and persuasive in communication, able to influence colleagues across Commercial, Marketing, Operations, Finance and Customer Retention & Growth.
• Organised and decisive, with the discipline to maintain pace without compromising commercial controls or the quality of handover.
• Visible, energetic and close enough to the work to understand what customers and the team are experiencing, on the phones and in the field.
• Ambitious for growth while remaining disciplined about profitability and deliverability.
• Direct and fair in setting expectations, giving feedback and dealing with performance.
• Comfortable making commercially significant decisions.
• Collaborative, recognising that sustainable acquisition depends on an effective end-to-end customer journey.
• Maintains a strong presence in the market, understanding customer and competitor activity first-hand.

• Resilient and composed in a fast-moving, commercially demanding environment.

Who are NWF Fuels?

NWF Group comprises of 3 key businesses: NWF Fuels, NWF Agriculture & Boughey Distribution. Employing over 1,400 colleagues across the group, we encourage and empower our people to progress and move fluidly through the group, meaning the sky really is the limit when you join us!

What makes NWF Fuels different? Our commitment to the customer and our focus on service is what sets us apart in the market, and our people are the driving force! We supply a range of fuel related products throughout the UK to domestic, agricultural, commercial and retail customers through our modern fleet of over 155 tankers and a strategically located depot network allowing us to service more than 113k customers. The business has grown organically and through acquisition currently standing as the third largest fuel distributor in the UK – we plan to climb higher and want you to be a part of it!

We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of their race, sex, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation or age.