Business Development Manager Territory: Sussex, Surrey & Kent Basic Annual Salary up to £50,000 (dependent on experience) plus bonus/commission (scope to earn 100% of salary), company car (or allowance) & flexible benefits package including hybrid working, up to 27 days holiday (Plus additional annual leave purchasing scheme) Sector: Packaging distribution Our Company We, the UK’s market leading packaging distributor are currently hiring for an experienced sales professional to join us and help spearhead new business growth within the Southeast region. This is a marvelous opportunity for someone to build a career within the packaging sector, use their business development expertise and be rewarded for securing and onboarding new customers to our site in Horsham. You will be keen to embrace a challenging, yet rewarding sales role that will see you focus on developing new business and securing new customers. We are a committed equal opportunities employer that champions ‘dignity in the workplace.’ Our focus is to provide customers with fully integrated and innovative packaging solutions, augmented by outstanding customer service. Appointing and nurturing sales talent across our business is key to our continued growth. The Business Development Manager Role Reporting to the Regional Sales Manager, the Business Development Manager is very much a sales development/new client acquisition role. With a stretching annual new business sales target, you’ll be spending much of your time on the road/in the field attending meetings to identify, on-board and develop new customer accounts. You will plan your own approach to identify and target potential end users, undertaking a range of cold-calling and marketing led approaches, following up, fixing your own appointments and critically, attending key meetings to discuss customer needs and tailor packaging solutions. You will be comfortable in preparing proposals/quotations and closing deals, ensuring that new customers are on-boarded effectively. There will be some stretching but realistic targets set for sales growth, designed to motivate, and reward a genuine sales ‘hunter’ who enjoys fostering & developing new customer relationships. Business Development Manager Key Responsibilities Create and implement a business plan for allocated territory to maximize sales, whilst always delivering excellent standards of customer service & support Adopt a consultative approach with clients in tailoring appropriate solutions to meet needs whilst developing/maintaining a strong knowledge of all packaging solutions and full product range Prospect for potential new customers and turn this into increased business Cold call as appropriate within your market or geographic area to ensure a robust pipeline of opportunities Meet potential clients growing, maintaining, and leveraging your network Identify potential clients, and the decision makers within client companies Research and build relationships with new clients Plan approaches, sales presentations, and pitches Meet yearly and monthly sales targets assigned to you Maintain strong sales administration including use of CRM (MS Dynamics) to follow up all leads, enquiries/quotes Do you have the correct profile? We would love to hear from you if you are an experienced (B2B) sales professional who genuinely feels they have what it takes to join us and spearhead new business development and customer acquisition. Please note, unlike many of our sales roles, this position does not carry Account-Management responsibility, so it really is all about having the self-drive, energy, determination, and tenacity to get out in the field, build a sales pipeline and win businesses over. You may already have strong pedigree within a similar sales development role and be able to demonstrate previous successes. Or you may be an experienced salesperson who has ‘cut their teeth’ in business development and enjoys it, wanting to take on a more puerile new business sales role. Either way, we’re open minded (salary level will ultimately reflect level of experience). For us it’s about finding the right character and personality with the core traits required to achieve success. We have an outstanding history of training and developing salespeople, so you don’t have to be the ‘fully finished article’ or have packaging experience. What is important however is that you have recent B2B field sales/customer facing experience, can demonstrate a record of impressive performance, are open to learning our business and sector and will be comfortable with a more technical solution-based sales approach. A fully valid UK driving license is essential and you must reside on patch within the Sussex, Surrey or Kent area. You will also be using a CRM (dynamics) alongside the usual MS Office products, so computer literacy is important. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds irrespective of your age, gender, disability, race, nationality, ethnicity, gender identity, religion or sexual orientation. Should you require any specific support or adjustments during the recruitment process, please email our recruitment team directly. Our Benefits We provide a competitive basic starting salary and operate a range of rewarding bonus/incentive schemes. Our flexible employee benefits can include: – 25 days annual leave (rising to 27 days with service) plus all public/bank holidays Contributory pension scheme Range of company cars or cash allowance (including electric) for qualifying roles Employee assistance program to support & advise with well-being & any issues Extensive range of training/development & potential progression opportunities Employee discount scheme (discounts on several major retail/leisure brands) Annual paid Volunteering Day Simply Health/Dental Cover option or BUPA cover for qualifying roles Enhanced HR policies relating to various employee rights & entitlements Long service awards (5-40 years) Charitable giving options Financial support with eye-tests/purchasing glasses (DSE users only) O2 Mobile discount scheme (up to 25% off) Your future with us Here at Macfarlane Group, you truly have the potential to shape your own future and set your own ambitions. We are a large group company where internal promotion and mobility is a key feature of our success. Through tailored career plans, we provide a wide range of structure training & development pathways, utilizing both in-house expertise to share knowledge and the best-in-class external training partners. There is potential access to management & leadership development, and we work closely with recognized, accredited bodies including the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM) & the Institute of Sales Professionals ISP). So there really are no limits to where your journey within Macfarlane Group may take you. How to apply/next steps The successful applicant will join us in January 2024, but we are keen to meet with people now and in the coming weeks to ensure we have identified the best available individuals at interview. Please note that Macfarlane Group supports ‘hybrid working’ where possible and we often conduct our first stage interviews via video. To make an application please simply click ‘apply’ ensuring that your CV is up to date and relevant. All applications will be acknowledged, shortlisted applicants normally hearing from us within a week or two. Unsuccessful applicants will also be notified at the end of our process, although if you haven’t heard from us within 2-3 weeks of applying, please assume your application has been unsuccessful. NO RECRUITMENT AGENCIES PLEASE