Customer Relations and Business Support Assistant

Hampshire County Council; Winchester; Hybrid; GBP 25,000 - 27,000; Full time

Job summary

A local government authority in Winchester is seeking a Customer Relations and Business Support Assistant to deliver excellent customer service. Responsibilities include outbound sales calls, handling inquiries, and administrative support. The ideal candidate has a confident telephone manner, experience in sales, and proficiency in Microsoft O365 apps. This role offers a supportive team environment and hybrid working options.

Benefits

Full training and ongoing support

24 days annual leave (rising to 27 after 5 years)

Supportive team environment

Qualifications

• Experience in sales or telesales is highly desirable.
• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines.
• Experience with web shop admin functions is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Proactively make outbound calls to promote product range.
• Handle inbound inquiries and complaints professionally.
• Assist with administrative tasks including data entry.
• Resolve customer issues efficiently and collaboratively.
• Contribute to new policies and improvements.

Skills

Confident telephone manner

Sales or telesales experience

Strong data entry skills

Proficiency in Microsoft O365 apps

Excellent literacy and numeracy

Team-oriented mindset

Problem-solving skills

Knowledge of distribution or warehousing

Tools

SAP

Microsoft O365

Job description

Customer Relations and Business Support Assistant

Job Reference: HCC622750

Salary Range: £25,186 - £26,244 per annum

Work Location: Bar End, Winchester (Hybrid Working)

Contract Type: Permanent

Closing Date: 7 December 2025

Interview Date: 16 and 17 December 2025

The Role:

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join our dynamic Customer Relations and Business Support Team at County Supplies. If you're driven by delivering excellent customer service and enjoy engaging directly with customers to promote products and drive sales, we’d love to hear from you.

County Supplies is the County Council’s category lead for common use goods, acting as a procurement specialist and buying agent for corporate departments, Hampshire schools, and other local authorities. We take pride in our strong customer relationships and our commitment to exceeding expectations.

Whilst Winchester will be your formal workplace, you will work from a mix of office and home. We expect a higher proportion of your working week to be in the office, with one or two days per week from home.

What you’ll do:

As part of the Customer Relations and Business Support Team, you’ll play a key role in maintaining and growing our customer base. Your responsibilities will include:

• Sales Outreach: Proactively make outbound calls to existing and potential customers to promote our product range, highlight current offers, and identify opportunities to upsell and cross-sell.
• Customer Relations: Handle inbound inquiries and complaints professionally via phone and email, ensuring customer satisfaction and retention.
• Business Support: Assist with administrative tasks, including data entry, processing customer orders, report generation, creating and managing customer accounts and invoices, including debt recovery. Support general admin functions for our web shop, County Supplies Online, including stock data, customer and content management.
• Problem Solving: Resolve customer issues efficiently, including stock checks and arranging returns and credits.
• Communication: Maintain clear and professional communication with customers and our Logistics and Buying teams. Work collaboratively with other Hampshire County Council departments.
• Continuous Improvement: Contribute to the development and implementation of new policies and procedures. Suggest improvements to enhance the customer experience.

What we’re looking for:

• Confident telephone manner and a passion for customer interaction.
• Experience in sales or telesales is highly desirable.
• Strong data entry skills and proficiency in Microsoft O365 apps (Word, Excel, Outlook, SharePoint, Access).
• Excellent literacy and numeracy.
• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines.
• Team-oriented mindset and a proactive approach to problem-solving.
• Experience with SAP and web shop admin functions is a plus.
• Knowledge of distribution or warehousing environments is beneficial.

We can offer you:

• Full training and ongoing support.
• 24 days annual leave (rising to 27 after 5 years).
• Supportive team environment

These are just some of the benefits of working for Hampshire County Council.

Contact Details for an Informal Discussion:

Hampshire County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults. We expect all employees, workers and volunteers to share this commitment. We will ensure that all our recruitment and selection practices reflect this commitment.

In order to combat discrimination, no unnecessary conditions or requirements will be applied which could have a disproportionately adverse effect on any one group. All sections of the population will have equal access to jobs. No applicant or employee will receive less favourable treatment because of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage or civil partnership and pregnancy or maternity, unless a Genuine Occupational Requirement (GOR) applies.

We are a Disability Confident Employer - committed to ensuring that our recruitment and selection process is inclusive and accessible.