At a Glance
- Tasks: Build relationships with schools to drive learner progression and sales growth.
- Company: Join Pearson, a leader in educational solutions with a mission to support student success.
- Benefits: Enjoy flexible working, generous holidays, and a fantastic pension scheme.
- Other info: Dynamic role with travel across the North East and opportunities for personal growth.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in education while developing your sales skills.
- Qualifications: Experience in B2B sales and strong communication skills are essential.
The predicted salary is between 30000 - 40000 £ per year.
This is a home-based role with travel across the North East area, and is term-time only (205 days per year). Our mission is to partner with schools to deliver learner progression. All students have their own individual learner journeys. Alongside their teachers, Pearson can help them make the progression most appropriate to them, whether onto Further or Higher Education, onto Apprenticeships or directly into work. Through a consultative, collaborative sales approach we support our school customers with the right choice of products and services for their learners.
Reporting to the Manager, Sales, the role is to build and maintain relationships with a defined group of customer accounts to deliver year on year business growth. These accounts will be based on Multi Academy Trusts, Chains, Dioceses, Federations, Teaching Alliances and other large, organised consortia or schools across 11-19, targeting Senior Leaders in those organisations to influence curriculum decisions. This role aligns with industry level titles such as Partnership Manager.
Working with colleagues across the matrix sales teams, the Advanced Specialist, Sales will collaborate on sales plans, deliver customer value, learner progression and target areas for growth across the region.
MAIN ACCOUNTABILITIES:- Managing a retain and grow strategy with cross curricular SLT within Multi-Academy Trusts and priority school accounts.
- Lead/Opportunity generation across GQ & VQ for CDMs.
- Driving revenue growth in MAT customer base.
- Driving revenue growth in priority school customer base.
- Identifying and acting upon growth and risk opportunities in your region.
- Achieve coverage targets.
- Multi-functional collaboration to support customers in acquisition and retention.
- Delivering termly regional SLT Briefings.
- Annual revenue in customer base courseware and qualifications vs target.
- YoY revenue growth in customer base courseware and qualifications.
- Meetings virtual and in-person.
- Customer and prospect coverage.
- Lead generation.
- Pipeline health & Lead conversion.
- SLT Briefings attendance, NPS & Lead Generation.
- Generating profitable sales through new business growth and senior leadership relationship, driving sales effectiveness and efficiency.
- Exceed annual revenue goals by building and maintaining a pipeline of opportunities across qualifications and learning services that follow clearly defined strategies for accounts.
- Working closely with accounts and stakeholders to deliver a retain and grow strategy leading to overall growth year on year.
- Taking accountability for driving qualifications and learning services revenue within a broad product portfolio across your region.
- The ability to drive results and outcomes as a result of professional, well planned and executed strategies.
- Develop strategy to ensure the highest chance of success in your region.
- Working productively across your regional matrix team, including developing and implementing regional strategies to increase revenue.
- Demonstrating foresight and flexibility to adapt your strategy to maximise opportunity and minimise risk.
- Ability to use and interpret market information which capitalise on strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for promoting revenue growth.
- Use One CRM (Salesforce) effectively to capture interactions and pipeline, but also drive the most effective outputs.
- Creating, maintaining and managing relationships with future customers at key stakeholder level.
- Managing the complex nature of secondary schools and their stakeholders.
- Regularly responsible for uncovering and developing new customer relationships.
- Use sales experience and technique to develop customer relationships into growth opportunities.
- Delivering breadth of product expertise in the 11-19 education market; providing expertise to various stakeholders.
- Apply appropriate sales tools and skills to drive productive outcomes at each stage.
- Demonstrate an in depth understanding of the customers learning and growth strategies, values, challenges, internal policies and apply that to growth plans.
- Articulating the value of what you are selling in ways that are relevant to the customer, overcome competition and engage key stakeholders.
- Deliver powerful sales presentations, communicate effectively and with gravitas to relevant stakeholders and decision makers.
- Think and work independently – forming and implementing your strategy for the region.
- Take responsibility for solving complex customer and market challenges.
- Makes understanding changes in the market a key focus and uses that information effectively with customer and the business.
- Uses strong communication skills to not only influence customers, but also to develop a successful internal network.
- Take ownership for personal development of skills, knowledge and experience.
- Growth mindset.
- A proactive decision-maker who considers commercial implications alongside customer need.
- Essential Experience and competencies:
- The ability to leverage communication in order to change attitudes or behaviour by using written or spoken words to convey information to gain specific advantage, impact or outcome.
- Demonstrate collaborative attitude and behaviour consistent with team and organisational values as the matrix account structure will deliver the complete customer experience.
- Strong selling skills with a particular focus on managing senior level relationships in secondary schools/trusts and driving revenue growth.
- Strong product knowledge across resources and qualifications in the secondary market.
- Objection handling, negotiation and presentation skills.
- Demonstrate, share and inform best practice.
- Provide key market insight to other areas of the business and to inform regional activity.
- Highly motivated and results driven – shows initiative to achieve and generate opportunity.
- Customer growth focused.
- Strong organisational and planning skills.
- Commercially minded and able to effectively define and deliver sales strategy.
- Committed and flexible.
- Aptitude for learning new technologies and skills.
- Competent with digital media.
- Excellent knowledge of the UK education market.
- Demonstrative experience in a business to business sales environment, selling complex solutions at a senior level (growth and acquisition).
- Field based and willingness to travel (80%).
- Full UK driving licence.
We know you’ll do great work, so we give a lot back with some of the best benefits in the business. We also recognise that one size doesn’t fit all, so our workplace programmes are designed to support the diverse needs of our colleagues and their families too. There’s a wide range of benefits available, but when you join Pearson, you can look forward to:
- Flexibility in the way we work.
- A holiday entitlement (pro-rated in line with the term-time working pattern – 205 days per year).
- A generous pension scheme, where we match and double your contributions, up to 16% depending on your age.
- Maternity, paternity, and family care leave, alongside flexible working policies.
- Share purchase options.
- Healthcare and dental plans, as well as an employee wellbeing assistance programme to support you and your family.
- A cycle to work scheme, gym membership concessions (at selected locations), and a range of retail and leisure discounts.
For full details of our UK benefits, please visit: Pearson Jobs – Benefits.
Advanced Specialist, Sales in Bradford employer: Pearson
Pearson is an excellent employer that values flexibility and a supportive work culture, making it an ideal place for those seeking part-time opportunities in Birmingham. With a commitment to employee growth, Pearson offers training and development resources, ensuring that staff can enhance their skills while contributing to a meaningful mission of education and assessment. The friendly atmosphere and focus on compliance create a rewarding environment for Test Centre Administrators who enjoy helping candidates succeed.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Advanced Specialist, Sales in Bradford
✨Leverage Your Network
In sales and business development, who you know can often be as important as what you know. Get involved with local networking events or industry meetups to connect with key players. Don't be shy—share your passion for the field and let folks know you're on the lookout for opportunities!
✨Show Your Skills Through Real-World Results
When targeting a full-time role like Advanced Specialist, Sales at Pearson, presenting tangible results from your previous sales experience can set you apart. Bring along case studies or examples of how you've closed deals or expanded accounts, and don't forget to showcase your problem-solving prowess. It’s all about quantifying your success!
✨Engage with Sales Communities
Dive deep into online sales communities, like Sales Hacker or LinkedIn groups dedicated to sales professionals. Engaging in discussions and sharing insights can boost your visibility and might just put you on the radar of hiring managers looking for fresh talent in business development.
✨Direct Applications Matter
While we all know the online application route, consider sending direct applications to companies you admire, including Pearson. Tailor your message to explain why you’re drawn to them and how you can contribute as a Advanced Specialist, Sales. Sometimes, a personal touch can grab attention faster than a generic application!
We think you need these skills to ace Advanced Specialist, Sales in Bradford
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Off Those Sales Skills:In your CV and cover letter, highlight any previous sales or business development experience you have. Use numbers and examples to showcase your achievements – did you exceed sales targets or bring in new clients? Make those accomplishments shine!
Tailor Your Message for Pearson:When writing your cover letter, make sure to tailor your message specifically for Pearson. Show that you know the company’s mission and how your skills align with their goals in the sales landscape. This personalised touch will grab their attention!
Keep It Professional Yet Engaging:Sales is all about relationships, so while you want to maintain professionalism in your application, don’t be afraid to let your personality shine through. Engage the reader and demonstrate your enthusiastic approach to sales and business development!
Proof of Performance:Include any relevant certifications or training you’ve undertaken in sales or negotiation tactics. If you’ve attended workshops or courses, list these to showcase your commitment to professional development. This extra touch can set you apart from the competition!
How to prepare for a job interview at Pearson
✨Know Your Sales Methodologies
Brush up on popular sales methodologies like SPIN Selling or Challenger Sales. Being able to discuss these techniques and how you've applied them will show Pearson that you understand the role and can hit the ground running in the sales game.
✨Demonstrate Your Deal-Making Skills
Prepare to share stories from your past experiences where you closed deals, overcame objections, or started new client relationships. We want to show Pearson that you’re not just about numbers but also about building lasting connections in business development.
✨Prepare for Role-Play Scenarios
In a full-time sales interview, don’t be surprised if they throw in a role-play exercise to test your pitching skills. Practising how you would pitch a product or handle an objection will help us shine in this simulation—think of it like a dress rehearsal for your future sales calls!
✨Align Your Goals with the Company’s Vision
Take a moment to reflect on how your career ambitions align with Pearson’s objectives. When we articulate how our personal growth ties in with the company’s goals, it shows commitment and a genuine interest in contributing to their success.