Product Sales Executive (Education) in Colchester

Company Background

Since its conception in 1997, Sportsafe now employs over 65 staff at three offices in Essex (head office), Manchester and Scotland. Sportsafe offers international installation, service and sales of sports and fitness equipment to more than 10,000 customers from the Shetland Isles to the South Coast in the UK and as far afield as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Bangkok, including private schools, sports centres, care homes and more than 100 county councils and fire, police, and NHS authorities. The company is ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, Safecontractor, RPII and CHAS accredited, and a member of ROSPA and AFPE. Sportsafe has six core values: Trust, Integrity, Pride, Passion, Enjoyment and Respect, which are the backbone of the company’s vision for the future.

Key Role Challenges

• Fast moving environment with responsibility for multiple accounts simultaneously
• Ability to manage high volume without compromising service standards and customer experience
• Promote the wider product and service offer of Sportsafe

The Role

To support the continued growth of our product offering within the education sector, we are recruiting a Product Sales Executive (Education) to proactively generate new business, develop existing education customers and increase product revenue through structured outbound activity and relationship-led sales.

Reporting To The Sales & Marketing Director, The Product Sales Executive (Education) Will Be Responsible For:

• Selling Sportsafe’s Product Range Into The Education Sector, With a Strong Emphasis On:
• New business acquisition
• Outbound calling and lead generation
• Pipeline creation and opportunity conversion

This is a hands-on sales role requiring confidence with cold calling, structured follow-up, and managing opportunities through to order, while also building long-term relationships with schools, MATs, and education stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Proactively generate new product sales opportunities within the education sector through outbound calling, email campaigns, and CRM-led activity
• Manage a pipeline of product-only opportunities from initial contact through to order completion
• Convert inbound enquiries and outbound leads into confirmed product sales
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date records within the CRM system
• Achieve and exceed agreed product sales revenue targets
• Promote Sportsafe’s wider product range and identify cross-sell opportunities
• Build strong relationships with key decision-makers, including Headteachers, School Business Managers, MAT procurement teams, and Facilities Management companies
• Work closely with internal teams to ensure smooth order processing and high levels of customer satisfaction
• Collaborate with the Marketing team by providing insight and feedback on:

• Customer objections
• Sector trends
• Campaign effectiveness
• Emerging product opportunities

Key Role Challenges

• Operating effectively in a fast-moving environment while managing multiple accounts simultaneously
• Managing a high volume of outbound activity without compromising service standards or customer experience
• Balancing new business generation with follow-up and opportunity conversion
• Selling into budget-conscious education environments with long buying cycles
• Promoting the full breadth of Sportsafe’s product and service offering

Minimum Experience Required

• 3–5 years’ experience in B2B sales, ideally within the education sector
• Proven experience in cold calling and outbound lead generation
• Demonstrable track record of meeting or exceeding sales targets
• Experience using CRM systems to manage pipeline, activity, and reporting
• Understanding of the product lifecycle and relationship-led sales
• Confident communicator with strong organisational and time management skills
• Willingness to travel within the UK and internationally as required

Key Skills, Characteristics And Experience

• Confident and professional telephone manner
• Commercially astute with strong negotiation skills
• Resilient, motivated and comfortable with rejection
• Organised with excellent time management
• Ethical, trustworthy and customer-focused
• Strong written and verbal communication skills

Qualifications

• Proven experience in B2B sales roles, ideally involving product sales into education or public sector environments.

Competencies

• Organised, operationally strong with a fundamental understanding and experience of running robust business processes
• Bright, charismatic, inspirational character with the ability to gain credibility, internally and externally, quickly
• Excellent communicator, able to articulate and deliver messages effectively with excellent presentation skills, with an open and direct style
• Have the intellectual capacity to articulate the company’s strategy internally and to customers
• Able to lead and adapt to change
• Team player with strong determination to succeed
• Excellent negotiation skills
• Hands-on, can-do attitude
• Enthusiastic