Internal Sales Account Manager in Manchester

Role : Internal Sales Account Manager Department : Sales & Marketing | Full-time Reports to : Business Development Manager Take ownership of customers, opportunities and sales growth Touchstar is looking for an experienced and commercially driven person to join our Sales & Marketing team as an Internal Sales Account Manager based on-site at our head office. The right candidate will have already developed strong B2B sales skills and is ready to take greater ownership of customers, opportunities, pipeline and commercial results. You will be responsible for developing new business while also building relationships with customers and progressing opportunities from initial qualification through to order. The role carries a clear expectation of developing towards ownership of an annual sales target, with commission available when the appropriate level of independent sales ownership is achieved. About Touchstar Touchstar provides technology that secures and manages the movement of people and products through complex operational environments. We work with customers across the UK and internationally, providing software, technology and associated services that support their day-to-day operations. Our Sales team works across a range of customers, technologies and markets. This gives our Internal Sales Account Managers the opportunity to develop strong commercial relationships while building knowledge across both software and technical solutions. What you'll be doing You will work as part of the wider commercial team but will increasingly be expected to independently create, own, and close sales opportunities. Your responsibilities will include: Proactively identifying and developing prospective customers within agreed target markets. Generating new sales opportunities through telephone, email, networking, campaigns, referrals and other appropriate channels. Qualifying opportunities to understand the customer's requirements, commercial potential, decision process, timescale and next steps. Building relationships with decision-makers and other relevant customer stakeholders. Attending customer meetings and, where appropriate, site visits. Understanding customer requirements and translating them into appropriate commercial solutions. Preparing and presenting accurate quotations and customer proposals. Taking responsibility for progressing quotations and opportunities rather than allowing them to stall. Negotiating commercial opportunities within agreed levels of authority. Coordinating technical, product and commercial input from colleagues where required. Maintaining clear communication with customers throughout the sales process. Identifying additional requirements and expansion opportunities within customer accounts. Creating and maintaining a credible sales pipeline capable of supporting your annual target. Maintaining accurate expected order dates, values, next actions and forecast information within company systems. Reviewing won and lost opportunities across all products to understand what influenced the outcome and improve future sales activity. Taking ownership of relevant sales collateral, ensuring the information required to support customer conversations, quotations and proposals remains current, accurate and effective. Working with Internal Sales colleagues where appropriate to increase customer-facing capacity and improve response times. We expect our Internal Sales Account Managers to actively create opportunities rather than rely solely on Marketing, inbound enquiries or an existing customer base. Owning your opportunities Every qualified opportunity at Touchstar has one accountable owner. As an Internal Sales Account Manager, you will increasingly be expected to be that owner: taking responsibility for the opportunity from qualification through customer engagement, proposal, follow-up and negotiation to close. You will have support from the wider Sales Team, Marketing, Engineering, Support and other colleagues where appropriate, but ownership means ensuring the opportunity continues to move forward. That combination of commercial ownership, pace and follow-through is central to the role. Developing new business This is not solely an account-management position. A significant part of the role is creating new opportunities and developing new customer relationships. You should therefore be comfortable identifying prospective customers, opening conversations, understanding their operational challenges and developing those conversations into credible commercial opportunities. Marketing will support the Sales team through positioning, campaigns, collateral and inbound demand, but responsibility for creating sufficient sales activity and pipeline sits within Sales. Working with Internal Sales This role will be based on site at our Head office in Manchester. Our Internal Sales Account Managers are supported by Internal Sales colleagues whose role is partly to increase the amount of time Account Managers can spend with customers. For example, following a customer meeting you may pass a straightforward requirement to an Internal Sales Officer who can obtain the necessary information, prepare the quotation and issue it while you travel to your next appointment. You remain accountable for the opportunity where you are the nominated owner, while using the wider commercial team effectively to increase selling capacity and customer responsiveness. As Internal Sales colleagues develop, you will also support their progression towards independent opportunity and customer ownership. Commercial ownership This role is intended to develop towards independent ownership of an annual sales target. Achieving that level of responsibility requires more than simply receiving enquiries or producing quotations. You will be expected to demonstrate that you can: Generate and maintain sufficient pipeline. Create new opportunities. Qualify opportunities effectively. Build credible customer relationships. Maintain accurate forecasts. Progress opportunities consistently. Convert opportunities into orders. Develop existing customer relationships and identify additional requirements. Take responsibility for commercial outcomes. Once the appropriate level of independent target ownership has been established, the role provides access to Touchstar's applicable sales commission structure. What we're looking for We're looking for someone who can demonstrate genuine commercial capability rather than simply time spent in a sales position. You should be someone who: Has demonstrable B2B sales experience. Can provide examples of personally generating and progressing sales opportunities. Is comfortable prospecting and creating new customer conversations. Has experience developing professional relationships with customers and decision-makers. Understands how to qualify an opportunity rather than treating every enquiry as a sale. Can manage a pipeline and explain how individual opportunities are likely to progress. Is comfortable preparing and presenting commercial proposals. Understands the importance of follow-up and maintaining momentum. Can work quickly without sacrificing accuracy. Takes responsibility rather than waiting to be managed through individual actions. Is comfortable working with CRM or other sales-management systems. Can work collaboratively with Internal Sales, Marketing, Support, Engineering and other colleagues. Is willing and able to develop sufficient technical knowledge to sell Touchstar's solutions credibly. Is motivated by personal accountability for customers, opportunities and commercial results. Experience selling software, technology, technical services or solutions into business customers would be advantageous, but sector-specific experience is not essential where strong B2B sales capability can be demonstrated. What success looks like Success in this role will be measured through both commercial results and the behaviours that produce sustainable sales performance. This will include: New opportunities generated providing Quality and value of pipeline. Pipeline coverage against target. Conversion of opportunities into orders. Achievement against sales target. Forecast accuracy. Quotation and opportunity progression. Development of new customer relationships. Growth within appropriate existing accounts. Accuracy of sales-system information. Customer responsiveness. Effective use of Internal Sales and wider company resources. Contribution to the performance and development of the wider Sales team. Ultimately, we're looking for someone who wants to own customers, own opportunities and be accountable for delivering sales growth. If you have already built a solid foundation in B2B sales and are looking for a role where increased commercial ownership leads directly to increased responsibility and earning potential, we'd like to hear from you.
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