Sales Executive - 4 Month Fixed Term Kingston

At A Glance

We are StudentCity Travel Ltd, which is a division of TUI Travel Plc, the worlds leading travel company. Under Student City Travel Ltd we operate the brands ILOVETOUR.co.uk, Off The Piste and Off The Piste Holidays. We handle the travel, holidays and events for over 30,000 students & young people travelling to a range of European resorts every year from our offices in London. Our brands have been trading for over 15 years and have established huge credibility within the student space.

Our market leading products and events range from snowsports holidays across the French alps. We exclusively operate the Saloufest, Festival Italia, Festival Croatia and Damfest events- along with being the UK Student market's leading operator of group, party and adventure experience travel.

At the core of the business are the values of exceptional customer service, coupled with student-friendly pricing of high-value, unique group travel packages. We are a very social and friendly bunch who enjoy celebrating success (or just it being Friday..) together!

Role Overview

This role is ideal for a competitive, success-orientated individual with a desire to take on a challenging and exciting temporary sales position with potential of onward career prospects for the right candidate in a FTSE 100 environment.

Sales experience is an advantage but not essential for the right candidate. If you've previously worked and thrived in any target-based environment with a focus on delighting customers, you will be in your element.

Reporting to a Sales Manager on a daily basis, you will have a detailed understanding of the University student snow and/or sports market and how to influence and grow relationships with customers and decision makers in this sector. If you are someone who has travelled with us in the past/or worked as a rep you would be able to add to your existing product knowledge quickly.

You will have a great affinity with Facebook and other social media as promotional tools. The role requires spending plenty of time meeting with/talking to and understanding student committees and decision makers on campus/by phone and email. There will be a number of opportunities for foreign travel, supporting the work of our industry leading Operations team and ensuring our customers expectations are exceeded every time!

Excellent creativity, communication and presentation skills are paramount, as is a high level of personal integrity and being computer literate, organised and able to prioritise and deliver in a competitive environment.

What You'll Be Doing

- Having a focus on Off The Piste Holidays sales
- Being the first line of communication to enquiring customers
- Supporting our awesome clients through their journey
- Following up leads and preparing proposals and costings to meet customer requirements.
- Liaising with groups both in the UK and abroad
- Manage your own portfolio of customers and deliver and exceed your own sales targets.
- Build and maintain relationships with key customers.
- Maintain and develop your knowledge of the ski and leisure market
- Work closely with the Operations Team to ensure tours are delivered to your customers expectations.
- Seek out all opportunities to grow our customer base through actively networking and utilising all avenues provided to you by the business.

What We're Looking For

Creative and Tenacious

Not a role for the shy and retiring type. Big personalities with flare and persistence are a must in this cutting edge, highly competitive market. A creative eye is essential. Our clients demand engaging, fresh and interesting ideas. Whether its help with their promotions, or new interesting novel ideas for their holidays. The above must be balanced with the discipline to use our in-house reservation and customer management systems to precisely track opportunities and process bookings and transactions.

Each of the criteria below is rated as Essential (E), Highly Desirable (HD) or Desirable (D). We place considerable emphasis on your Personal Qualities as the training and support we provide can often strengthen any weaknesses that exist in other areas.

Personal Qualities

- Excellent communication skills across all media. (HD)
- Ability to work to targets and thrive under pressure. (E)
- Detailed awareness of our product offering. (E)
- Persuasive and persistent (E)
- Excellent time management skills (E)
- Good team work ethic. (E)
- PC literate and fully conversant with Windows and MS Office applications with an ability to adapt to new databases and systems with ease (E)
- An understanding of the travel industry (HD)
- Passion for customer service and delivering a first class product (E)
- Flexibility to adapt to a variety of responsibilities (E)

Skills & Ability

- Problem Solving & rapid reasoning
- Outstanding attention to detail and organisational skills (E)
- Customer Service (HD)
- Past experiences and knowledge of tours/trips (HD)
- Work autonomously & unsupervised (E)
- IT, Admin, Social Media (D)
- Communication Skills (E)

Qualifications

- Driving License (E)
- Driving License with D1 (D)
- 1st Aid Certificate (D)
- A 2nd language (D)

Experience

- Working within a team (E)
- Relevant Work Experience (HD)

What We Can Offer

- Holiday concession purchase
- Reward scheme - online discounts on products & services plus late seat & accommodation offers
- Foreign exchange discount at TUI retail outlets plus In-flight discount of 20%
- Childcare vouchers & cycle to work scheme
- Contributory Pension scheme
- Career progression opportunities

Job Division: Specialist & Activity
Location: Kingston