Showroom & Trade Counter Sales Advisor

First step on the ladder to a career in professional sales or branch management within the building sector. Work with trade and retail customers across a wide variety of product ranges. The chance to get involved in trade projects.

THE CLIENT: A business that helps tradespeople and homeowners across the west of Scotland turn a plan into a finished job, with the design done in-house so customers can see the result before they commit to a single product. Tradespeople keep coming back because the service is quick and knowledgeable. Homeowners walk in with an idea and walk out with something they can picture. It is a privately owned business growing to a plan: branches already trading across the west of Scotland, several more due to open next year, and the owners close enough to the business that decisions are made quickly and good ideas get heard. The Clydebank branch is one of the newer sites, so the reputation here is still being built, and the people who join now are the ones who build it.

You would be working in a busy trade and retail environment where no two days look the same. Professional trade customers who know exactly what they need sit alongside homeowners planning a project for the first time, and the best people in the team are comfortable with both. For anyone who wants to get properly into a professional corner of the construction sector, rather than serving the same transaction on repeat, this is a business that gives you the room to do it.

THE ROLE: Trade customers at the counter first thing, a homeowner with a project to plan by mid-morning, and both leaving with a quote they trust. That is the rhythm of this role, and it is a branch where you will be quoting for walk-in customers three or four times a day on top of your trade accounts. You own the customer relationship from the first conversation: pricing orders, solving problems on the spot, working through a wide variety of product ranges and getting involved in trade projects as they come through the door. You will be trained in the in-house design software, so you can show a customer their finished project on screen before they buy, and experienced colleagues from the wider team are on hand to back you up on measure-ups while you find your feet. Full training is given and no design experience is needed. This is a development role, built as a gateway. Learn the product, build your own trade and retail customer base, and you are positioned for account management or branch management within construction, with a route to something more senior inside the next five years as the business keeps opening new branches. A newer site means you are making your mark rather than inheriting somebody else's habits.

ABOUT YOU: You are probably already working a trade counter, in a builders' merchant, a Screwfix-style environment or a retail showroom, and you are good at it. You like the buzz of a busy counter, you are bubbly and likeable, and customers remember you. What you want now is a career with a direction, not just another job on the counter. You are hungry and hard-working, and you want to get onto a ladder that leads somewhere more senior within the next few years. Product knowledge is something the business will teach you; what matters is your attitude, your willingness to learn and the way you get on with people. If you live within easy reach of Clydebank, whether that is Dumbarton, Yoker, Paisley, Alexandria or the west of Glasgow, this is a branch you can get to without a long commute.

THE REWARDS: Up to £30,000 basic salary, with up to £8,000 bonus on top for strong performance. Full in-house training in the design software, with support from experienced colleagues while you build your confidence. A genuine route into account management or branch management in the construction sector as the business opens new branches, in a privately owned company where your ideas are heard.