Inside Sales Executive

Role Purpose

The Internal Sales Executive is responsible for protecting and growing revenue across an allocated portfolio of internally managed UK customers through proactive, regular and commercially focused contact.

The role acts as a remote account manager, owning the day-to-day customer relationship, supporting customers to order easily through the company website, reactivating dormant accounts and identifying relevant opportunities to grow product distribution, order frequency and account value.

This is not an order-taking or purely administrative role. Success depends on understanding each customer, using account data and customer insight to make relevant recommendations, and taking timely action when spend or ordering behavior changes. Where an account develops field-level potential or requires face-to-face intervention, the Sales Executive will work with the BDM team to manage an effective handover.

Key Accountabilities

Portfolio Performance and Revenue Protection

• Own the commercial performance of an allocated portfolio of internally managed customers.
• Deliver agreed revenue, retention, reactivation, account-growth and web-ordering objectives.
• Monitor spend, order frequency, average order value and last-order date to identify risk or opportunity early.
• Take proactive action to retain transferred revenue, recover declining accounts and prevent customers from becoming dormant.
• Prioritise activity according to customer value, risk, opportunity and agreed sales campaigns.

Customer Relationship Management

• Act as the named day-to-day sales contact for allocated customers, providing regular, relevant and professional support.
• Develop an understanding of each customer’s business, shopper, product mix, seasonal trading pattern and ordering preferences.
• Plan purposeful customer contact, follow up when promised and take ownership of sales-related actions through to completion.
• Ensure customers experience Internal Sales as an improvement in contact and support, rather than a reduction in service.

Account Growth and Reactivation

• Use sales history and customer insight to identify relevant top-up orders, range gaps, seasonal opportunities and lapsed categories.
• Make commercially appropriate recommendations based on the customer’s store type, shopper needs and previous buying behaviour.
• Re-engage dormant and lapsed customers, identify the reasons for inactivity and agree an appropriate route back to trade.
• Develop promising accounts over time and identify when increased value or complexity justifies field-sales involvement.

Web Ordering Adoption and Customer Support

• Position the website as the customer’s convenient ordering tool while remaining the relationship owner.
• Support customers through registration, first-order placement and repeat ordering where required.
• Help customers locate appropriate products, build effective top-up orders and understand how to reorder easily.
• Promote web ordering in a supportive way that improves convenience without replacing personal sales contact.

Account Insight, Planning and Reporting

• Prepare for customer contact by reviewing sales trend, order history, account status, product mix and relevant customer information.
• Maintain accurate customer records, contact details, actions, ordering preferences, risk status and future opportunities in agreed systems.
• Keep pipeline, reactivation and forecast information current, highlighting material risks and opportunities promptly.
• Provide useful customer, competitor and market feedback to the Head of Sales and wider business.

Field Sales and Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with BDMs to manage account transfers, at-risk customers and opportunities that may require face-to-face support.
• Provide a clear commercial handover when an internally managed account becomes suitable for field ownership.
• Accept and embed transferred field accounts, ensuring contact, service continuity and a clear future ordering plan.
• Collaborate with Customer Service, Finance, Marketing, Operations and Product teams to resolve issues and deliver a consistent customer experience.

Measures of Success

• Revenue and margin performance across the allocated customer portfolio.
• Retention of transferred and existing internally managed revenue.
• Growth in active customers, order frequency and average order value.
• Dormant and lapsed accounts successfully reactivated.
• First and repeat web orders generated and sustained.
• Quality and consistency of proactive customer contact and follow-up.
• Early identification and recovery of at-risk customers.
• Accuracy of customer, forecast, pipeline and account-status information.
• Growth opportunities appropriately qualified and transferred to Field Sales.
• Strong collaboration and delivery of a consistent customer experience.

Skills and Experience

Essential

• Proven experience in internal sales, telesales, account management, customer development or a comparable commercial customer-facing role.
• A demonstrable ability to build customer relationships and generate sales through telephone, email and digital channels.
• Commercial confidence to discuss products, ranges, orders and customer opportunities rather than simply process requests.
• Ability to interpret customer sales information and turn it into relevant, practical recommendations.
• Strong verbal and written communication, questioning, listening and influencing skills.
• Proactive, organised and able to manage a portfolio of customers with disciplined follow-up.
• Comfortable using CRM, order-management, e-commerce and standard business systems.
• Accurate record keeping and attention to detail.
• Able to work collaboratively with Field Sales and cross-functional teams while retaining clear ownership of customer actions.

Desirable

• Experience within consumer-product sector.
• Experience supporting independent retailers or other business-to-business customers.
• Experience of customer reactivation, portfolio retention or web-ordering adoption.
• Understanding of seasonal retail trading, product ranges and replenishment.

Personal Attributes

• Commercially curious and motivated by measurable account growth.
• Proactive and confident initiating customer conversations.
• Customer focused, approachable and service minded without losing commercial focus.
• Data aware and able to spot changes in customer behaviour.
• Persistent, resilient and comfortable following up opportunities.
• Accountable for commitments and consistent in completing actions.
• Adaptable in approach across different customer types and needs.
• Collaborative, professional and committed to working as one sales team.