Apprentice Sales Executive

Alongside your role at Guardian Display, you'll complete a Level 4 Sales Executive apprenticeship with our approved training provider.

The programme will help you develop professional skills in areas including prospecting, customer relationships, sales planning, communication, negotiation, commercial awareness, and closing business.

Wage: £21,000 a year. Minimum wage rates (opens in new tab).

Training course: Sales executive (level 4)

Hours: Monday - Friday, 8:30am - 5:30pm. 40 hours a week

Start date: Monday 21 September 2026

Duration: 1 year 6 months

Positions available: 1

Most of your apprenticeship is spent working. You’ll learn on the job by getting hands-on experience.

What you'll do at work

Your responsibilities will develop as you progress and will include:

• Researching companies exhibiting at major UK and European exhibitions
• Identifying potential new customers and decision-makers
• Contacting prospective customers by telephone, email, and LinkedIn
• Speaking confidently with businesses about upcoming exhibition requirements
• Qualifying new sales opportunities
• Booking meetings and appointments
• Responding to incoming sales enquiries
• Learning how to take and understand exhibition stand briefs
• Working with our design and estimating teams to develop proposals
• Following up quotations and proposals
• Learning how to negotiate and close sales
• Building and maintaining your own sales pipeline
• Keeping customer and opportunity information up to date within our CRM
• Developing relationships with new and existing customers
• Attending exhibitions and events where appropriate

As you progress, you'll be given increasing responsibility for managing your own customers and closing your own sales.

Where you'll work

UNIT 2
50 PROGRESS ROAD
LEIGH ON SEA
SS9 5PR

Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.

Training provider: BMS PROGRESS LLP

Training course: Sales executive (level 4)

Understanding apprenticeship levels (opens in new tab)

What you'll learn

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 and move 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 teamwork: 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.