Commercial Sales Apprentice

NEWS UK & IRELAND LIMITED

London, SE1 9GF

Closes in 6 days (Sunday 22 September)

Posted on 5 September 2024


Summary

Working within the fast paced commercial team, you will be supporting and learning from experts in multiple disciplines and categories to assist us in reaching our revenue targets. Over a period of 24 months, you will gain knowledge and expertise in multiple areas, giving you the foundations for a long and successful career in the media industry.

Annual wage
£25,000 a year

Minimum wage rates (opens in new tab)

Training course
Sales executive (level 4)
Hours
Monday to Friday - 9am - 5:30pm.

37 hours a week

Possible start date

Monday 6 January

Duration

2 Years

Positions available

1

Work

As an apprentice, you’ll work at a company and get hands-on experience. You’ll gain new skills and work alongside experienced staff.

What you’ll do at work

  • Working with internal creative, client and publishing teams to produce sales decks and plans for clients and agencies
  • Producing reports for management on performance in different business areas
  • Working on competitor analysis to identify areas in which we can improve as a business and gaps in our product offering
  • Support different teams with administrative tasks

Where you’ll work

1 London Bridge Street

London

SE1 9GF

Training

An apprenticeship includes regular training with a college or other training organisation. At least 20% of your working hours will be spent training or studying.

College or training organisation

PARETO LAW LIMITED

Your training course

Sales executive (level 4)

Equal to higher national certificate (HNC)

Course contents
  • Sales planning and preparation: Set effective targets using sales forecasts. Prioritise customers and activities to grow account value and maximise return-on-investment in line with your organisation’s strategy. Formulate or refine customer plans and objectives. Create efficient territory plans where appropriate.
  • Customer engagement: Effectively communicate and interpret customer information exchanged through written, verbal and non-verbal communication. Develop a customer engagement style that effectively opens sales conversations, builds rapport, enhances customer relationships, and adapts to different customer’s social preferences.
  • Customer needs analysis: Be highly skilled at effective questioning and active listening techniques to understand the customer’s needs, guide the sales conversation appropriately, create mutual understanding, and build trust and affinity with customers.
  • Propose and present solutions: Develop sales proposals and deliver them using a presentation style and technique appropriate for your customer. Present relevant products and/or services, explain features and their advantages, and clearly articulate the value and benefit of the solution for the specific customer. Use and adapt a range of techniques to draw-out and overcome common sales objections.
  • Negotiate: Research the customer’s likely desired outcomes and negotiating stance. Develop responses to likely objections. Identify your own organisation’s needs, such as minimum price and acceptable terms. Negotiate or trade variables effectively.
  • Closing Sales: Be attuned to verbal and non-verbal buying-signals andmove to close at an appropriate point in sales conversations. Develop ethical techniques to close sales and confirm customers’ purchase agreement.
  • Gathering Intelligence: Collect, analyse and interpret market intelligence and share it appropriately and effectively within your organisation.
  • Time Management: Use and adapt appropriate tools and techniques to prioritise and manage your time effectively.
  • Collaboration and team work: Contribute effectively within a team environment. Work collaboratively with both internal and external stakeholders. Manage communications with the cross-functional team in relation to the effective delivery of your sales, such as finance and service delivery. Support continual business improvement by sharing best practice with sales team colleagues and assist the marketing team to develop new marketing collateral.
  • Customer experience management: Deliver a positive customer experience. Manage customer enquiries and issues effectively. Take proactive action to prevent and minimise customer concerns and complaints. Handle all customer interactions professionally to the customer’s satisfaction.
  • Digital skills: Effectively use digital tools to conduct research and target customers in line with the overall sales strategy. Able to deliver presentations and meetings using digital communication. Complete accurate records and process sales in accordance with your organisation’s policies, procedures and digital CRM systems.
  • Your training plan

    This training plan has not been finalised. Check with this employer if you’ll need to travel to a college or training location for this apprenticeship.

    Requirements

    Essential qualifications

    GCSE in:

    • English (grade 4)
    • Maths (grade 4)

    Let the company know about other relevant qualifications and industry experience you have. They can adjust the apprenticeship to reflect what you already know.

    Skills

    • Communication skills
    • Proactive
    • Analytical

    About this company

    One of the leading media businesses in the UK and Ireland. Our newsbrands include The Times, The Sunday Times, The Sun, The Sun on Sunday and The TLS. Our national broadcast brands include talkSPORT, Times Radio, Talk and Virgin Radio UK, and we have market-leading local radio stations across Ireland. Our world-famous brands provide news, analysis, opinion and entertainment to almost 40 million people each month. Spanning print and pixel, audio and video, events and experiences, our multiplatform brands are home to a plurality of opinion, representing the diverse communities we serve. News UK is wholly owned by News Corp.

    Company benefits

    Full LinkedIn Learning access Discounted gym memberships, ClassPass at Home, weekly virtual HIIT, yoga and run club classes. 25 days holiday, plus bank holidays. Apprenticeship Society that provides community support throughout your apprenticeship.

    Disability Confident

    Disability Confident

    A fair proportion of interviews for this apprenticeship will be offered to applicants with a disability or long-term health condition. This includes non-visible disabilities and conditions.

    You can choose to be considered for an interview under the Disability Confident scheme. You’ll need to meet the essential requirements to be considered for an interview.

    After this apprenticeship

    The future perspective for this role is bright. As an apprentice, you'll gain diverse skills, setting the path for a potential permanent position.

    Ask a question

    The contact for this apprenticeship is:

    NEWS UK & IRELAND LIMITED

    Jess Lee

    jess.lee@news.co.uk

    The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC1000275293.

    Apply now

    Closes in 6 days (Sunday 22 September)

    When you apply, you’ll be asked to sign in with a GOV.UK One Login. You can create one at the same time as applying for this apprenticeship.

    After signing in, you’ll apply for this apprenticeship on the company's website.