Business Development Manager

propelahed; West of England; Hybride; GBP 33 000 - 167 000; Plein temps

Avantages offerts par ce poste

Central Bristol office three days a wk

Discounted membership at Bristol club

Regular team socials and events

Direct access to founder

Sales tools and internal support

Résumé du poste

Propelahed, a growing independent performance marketing agency, seeks a Business Development Manager to own the entire new client acquisition funnel from outbound to close. The role focuses on selling recurring agency services to founders and senior marketers, leveraging AI visibility tools, events and partnerships.

You’ll work with the founder and delivery team to build a scalable sales operation and hit ambitious revenue targets.

Qualifications

• Proven track record of personally generating and closing new business.
• Experience selling to founders, business owners and senior decision-makers in marketing/agencies.
• Experience selling consultative B2B services or solutions (marketing/ads/analytics preferred).
• Strong CRM and pipeline discipline with measurable outcomes.
• Ability to build relationships and networks across the Bristol/South West region.
• Self-motivated, proactive and able to operate with minimal supervision.

Responsabilités

• Own outbound new business development end to end from prospecting to closing.
• Collaborate with founder to develop sales approach, propositions and pricing.
• Turn AI visibility tech and events into qualified sales conversations.
• Develop referral and strategic partner relationships and expand reseller channels.
• Maintain accurate CRM records, pipeline stages and forecasts.
• Manage negotiations to secure signed agreements and smooth handover to delivery.

Connaissances

Proven track record

Agency sales experience

Consultative selling

CRM & pipeline discipline

Networking & relationship building

Self-directed / proactive

B2B sales

Description du poste

About Propelahed

Propelahed is a growing independent performance marketing agency working with ambitious businesses that want to grow faster and more intelligently.

We combine Search, Paid Media, Content, Analytics and AI to build connected growth systems that deliver measurable commercial results. Our clients range from fintech and B2B software businesses to consumer brands, and we work closely with founders and marketing leaders who want more than a traditional agency relationship.

We're a tight, fast-moving team where everyone is close to the work. We care about commercial outcomes rather than vanity metrics, and we combine strategic thinking with hands‑on delivery.

We've also developed our own AI visibility technology, which creates opportunities for us to engage businesses around one of the fastest‑evolving areas of digital marketing. Alongside this, we run events, develop partnerships and build relationships across the business community.

We're at the point where there's a significant opportunity to turn these activities, and the demand they generate, into a more deliberate and scalable new business operation.

That's where you come in.

The Role

We're looking for a Business Development Manager to take ownership of new client acquisition at Propelahed.

This is a dedicated new business role. You'll be responsible for generating opportunities, developing relationships, managing commercial conversations and closing new clients. You won't be expected to manage accounts day‑to‑day once they're won.

Until now, much of our growth has come through referrals, our network, partnerships and events associated with our AI visibility technology. These channels are already generating opportunities, but we haven't had someone dedicated to developing them and converting them consistently.

We also have the internal expertise, tools and delivery capabilities to run sophisticated outbound and lead generation programmes. We use these for our clients, and there's an opportunity to apply them much more systematically to our own growth.

You're not being asked to create demand for an unproven business from scratch. You're being asked to turn an existing set of commercial advantages into a predictable new business engine.

You'll own the full new business funnel, from first contact through to signature: outbound, events, partnerships, referrals, inbound follow‑up, discovery, proposals, negotiation and closing.

You'll work directly with our founder, particularly on developing the sales approach, refining our proposition and pursuing significant opportunities.

This is a hands‑on sales role with a lot of latitude. We want someone who can win business personally, but who also has the judgement and ambition to help build a more effective sales operation around them.

The Commercial Opportunity

Our typical new client engagements range from £3,000 to £15,000 per month, depending on the scope of services and the client's requirements.

You'll be selling recurring agency relationships rather than one‑off, low‑value products. The conversations are consultative, often involving founders, business owners and senior marketing decision‑makers who need a partner capable of understanding their business and helping them grow.

We're targeting approximately £300,000–£400,000 in new annualised client revenue generated by this role over a full year.

There are several routes to achieving this:

• Building and converting your own outbound pipeline
• Developing opportunities through our AI visibility technology and associated events
• Following up and converting existing inbound demand
• Expanding our referral and strategic partnership channels
• Developing relationships with our existing reseller partners
• Using your own network and building new connections across Bristol, the South West and beyond

You'll have access to our existing tools, expertise, case studies and delivery specialists. You'll also work closely with the founder on opportunities where their involvement adds value.

We want you to own the number, but we recognise that successful agency sales depend on having the right expertise, proposition and support behind you.

Key Responsibilities

• Own outbound new business development end to end: identifying target businesses, building prospect lists, developing messaging and sequences, executing outreach and following up consistently.
• Work with our existing lead generation tools and internal specialists to build effective, repeatable outbound campaigns. We already deliver this kind of work for clients, so you have access to people who understand it in detail.
• Turn the leads and relationships generated through our AI visibility technology and events into a reliable source of qualified sales conversations.
• Develop referral and strategic partner relationships, including expanding the reseller arrangements we already have in place.
• Build and maintain your own network of relevant business contacts across Bristol, the South West and further afield.
• Follow up inbound opportunities promptly and systematically, ensuring promising conversations don't fall through the cracks.
• Identify the sectors, types of business and decision‑makers where Propelahed is most likely to win and deliver value.
• Lead discovery calls with prospective clients, understanding their business, commercial objectives, challenges, budgets and decision‑making processes.
• Qualify opportunities properly, distinguishing between businesses that are a good fit for Propelahed and those that aren't.
• Translate business challenges into relevant service propositions, drawing on our Search, Paid Media, Content, Analytics and AI capabilities.
• Develop proposals, scopes and pricing, working with the founder and delivery specialists where necessary.
• Present proposals confidently to founders, business owners, marketing directors and other senior decision‑makers.
• Manage commercial negotiations, handle objections and progress opportunities through to a signed agreement.
• Protect the commercial quality of the business we win, ensuring that expectations, pricing and scope are realistic for both the client and the agency.
• Hand new clients over clearly to the delivery team, ensuring that what we've sold is understood and achievable.
• Maintain accurate CRM records, pipeline stages, opportunity values, next steps and forecasts.

Making It Repeatable

• Help build and refine our sales process, including qualification criteria, pipeline stages, probabilities, templates, follow‑up cadences and reporting.
• Develop a consistent approach to managing opportunities, so that pipeline health and likely revenue are visible and predictable.
• Test different outbound propositions, target audiences and acquisition channels, learning from what converts and what doesn't.
• Feed back what the market is asking for, including recurring objections, emerging needs, competitor positioning and opportunities to evolve our services.
• Contribute to how we position and package our services, ensuring they're commercially compelling and straightforward for clients to understand.
• Help develop the case studies, proof points and sales materials needed to support stronger commercial conversations. You won't be responsible for producing marketing content day‑to‑day, but you'll have a say in what we need to sell effectively.
• Work closely with the founder to develop a scalable approach to new business that can support the agency's next stage of growth.

Must Have

We're interested in people who can demonstrate that they've actually generated and closed business, rather than simply participating in a sales process.

You’ll need to bring:

• A proven track record of personally generating and closing new business. You've created your own opportunities through outbound, networking, referrals or partnerships, rather than relying exclusively on inbound enquiries or leads passed to you by others.
• Experience selling to the people who buy agency services. You're comfortable selling to founders, business owners, marketing directors, heads of growth and other senior commercial decision‑makers. You understand how these people evaluate suppliers, make purchasing decisions and justify investments.
• Experience selling consultative B2B services or solutions. Marketing agency experience is strongly preferred, but we're equally interested in relevant experience selling technology, MarTech, data, analytics, digital transformation or other professional services to similar buyers.
• A track record you can explain in specifics. You can talk us through the business you've personally won: what you sold, its value, how you sourced the opportunity, the sales cycle, the challenges involved and how you closed it.
• Confidence prospecting from a standing start. You know how to identify worthwhile prospects, find a way into an organisation, start conversations and follow up without needing someone to create every opportunity for you.
• Strong commercial judgement. You can hold a credible conversation with a founder or marketing director about their business challenges, priorities and growth ambitions without needing a technical specialist in every meeting.
• The ability to manage the full sales cycle. You're comfortable qualifying, presenting, negotiating and closing, not just opening doors or booking meetings.
• Strong CRM and pipeline discipline. You understand the importance of accurate data, realistic forecasting, consistent follow‑up and knowing exactly where every opportunity stands.
• A proactive, self‑directed approach. You're comfortable organising your own time, prioritising opportunities and taking responsibility for results in a business where not every process has already been defined.
• A Bristol‑area base, with the ability to work from our central Bristol office three days a week.

You don't need to be a technical expert in every service we offer. We have specialists for that.

But you do need enough commercial understanding and curiosity to learn our proposition, ask intelligent questions and explain the value of what we do to prospective clients.

Nice to Have (But Not Essential)

• Direct experience selling SEO, paid media, content, analytics, outbound lead generation or broader performance marketing services.
• Previous experience in a digital or performance marketing agency, particularly one selling recurring client retainers.
• An existing network of founders, marketing leaders or senior business contacts in Bristol and the South West.
• Experience developing referral relationships, channel partnerships or reseller arrangements.
• Experience using events, roundtables, networking or speaking opportunities to generate new business.
• Experience selling recurring contracts in the £3,000–£15,000 per month range, or deals of comparable value and complexity.
• Experience working in a smaller, founder‑led or entrepreneurial business where you've helped develop the sales process rather than simply followed one.
• Familiarity with modern outbound tools, prospecting platforms, automation and AI‑assisted sales workflows.
• An understanding of how marketing, technology and AI are changing the way businesses acquire customers.

About You

You're probably someone who:

• Would rather own a number than a job description. You like having a clear commercial goal and the freedom to work out how to achieve it.
• Enjoys creating opportunities rather than waiting for the phone to ring.
• Is comfortable with rejection, deals going quiet and periods where a lot of effort doesn't immediately produce results.
• Has the discipline to keep prospecting and following up even when you're busy with proposals and active deals.
• Sells by understanding the business in front of you, not by delivering the same pitch to everyone.
• Can build credibility with experienced founders and marketing leaders, ask difficult questions and challenge their thinking when appropriate.
• Understands that good sales means winning the right clients, on the right terms, rather than closing anything that moves.
• Is commercially ambitious, wants the upside and is prepared to be measured on performance.
• Likes the idea of building something, rather than stepping into a large, established sales department.
• Is comfortable operating independently but knows when to bring in technical specialists or the founder to help win an opportunity.
• Has an opinion about how marketing services should be sold, and isn't afraid to argue it.
• Wants to have a genuine impact on the growth of the business, not simply hit a target and disappear.

What Success Looks Like

You’ll be joining a business with existing opportunities, relationships, tools and commercial momentum. Your job is to make new client acquisition more consistent, measurable and scalable.

In your first few months, we'd expect you to get close to the proposition, understand the clients we work best with, take ownership of existing opportunities and begin building your own pipeline.

As you settle in, you'll develop a consistent rhythm of prospecting, discovery calls, proposals and closing, while helping us improve the systems and processes around those activities.

Over your first full year, the commercial ambition is to generate approximately £300,000–£400,000 in new annualised client revenue, with a pipeline that supports continued growth beyond that.

We'll agree clear targets, measures of success and a commission structure before you start.

We care about the quality of the business we win, not just the headline number. Bringing in clients who are a strong fit, can be served profitably and have the potential to become long‑term partners is an important part of success.

What You’ll Get

Commission: Uncapped commission on new business won, with the structure and targets agreed before you start

Location: Central Bristol, three days a week in the office

Reporting to: The founder, directly

The commission scheme is deliberately uncapped. If you take us well past target, that's the outcome we want, and your earnings should reflect it.

You’ll have the opportunity to make a meaningful difference to the growth of the agency. You’ll be working directly with the founder, with genuine input into who we target, how we sell, the propositions we take to market and how we price and package our services.

In a business of our size, that influence is real rather than a line in a job advert.

Alongside the salary and commission, you'll receive:

• A central Bristol office, with three days a week in person and flexibility over the remaining two days
• Discounted membership at a Bristol members' club
• Regular team socials, plus the events we run and attend across the city
• Direct access to the founder and the opportunity to shape the commercial direction of the agency
• The tools, expertise and internal support needed to build an effective new business operation