Direct Sales - Senior Sales Manager

Whitbread; Cambridgeshire and Peterborough; Hybrid; GBP 75,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Whitbread, the UK's largest hospitality business, seeks a Senior Sales Manager to lead a growing Account Management team. This role requires a results-driven leader focused on maximizing revenue opportunities through strong customer relationships and strategic sales initiatives. Join a well-recognized employer committed to inclusivity and excellence in the hospitality sector.

Benefits

Private healthcare

Up to 10% matched pension

Up to 60% discount on Premier Inn stays

Company Car or Car Allowance

Annual Incentive of up to 30%

Qualifications

• Proven track record in a commercial environment and managing corporate accounts.
• Significant experience in leading sales teams.
• Highly numerate and analytical with strong judgment.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a high-performance sales team.
• Negotiate and manage complex commercial partnerships.
• Develop sales strategies for corporate customers.

Skills

Commercial acumen

Leadership

Analytical skills

Negotiation

Customer understanding

Tools

CRM Systems

Job description

Senior Sales Manager – Whitbread – Dunstable

Salary: £75,000 - £80,000

Location:Hybrid 3 days a week in the office, with 1-2 days a week visiting customers - office based at Whitbread Court, Dunstable (LU5 5XE)

Why You'll Love It Here:

• Private healthcare
• Up to 10% matched pension
• Up to 60% discount on Premier Inn stays and 25% discount on our Restaurant brand
• Company Car or Car Allowance
• Annual Incentive of up to 30%

We’re Whitbread the UK’s largest hospitality business with over 1,200 hotels and restaurants across the UK but we’re more than that. We’re the 38,000 people who make everyday experiences special that delight over 5 million guests every month.

We are proud to have been recognised as a Top Employer for 14 consecutive years, voted a top apprenticeship employer by Department of Education and Rate my Apprenticeship, this year we placed #10 in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index for our commitment to LGBTQIA+ inclusion at Whitbread and have been awarded as a Top 25 Exemplary Employer in the Investing in Ethnicity Parliamentary Matrix as the only hospitality company leading the way in terms of Inclusion.

We are now recruiting a Senior Sales Manager who will report to our Sales & Distribution Director. We are on a journey to grow our business (and are investing in growing our Account Management team) whether that be through new acquisitions or by leveraging the relationships that we already have with other business and clients. We have an ambitious plan and need a professional, well trained and well skilled Senior Sales Manager to drive this ambition through the team. With this in mind, we need a strong people leader.

What you’ll do:

• Lead and develop a team of c17 heads to maximise revenue opportunities through setting up a high-performance sales culture
• Negotiate and manage complex commercial partnerships to increase Premier Inn’s market share (B2B)
• Work with our Sales Operations team to enhance our sales lead pipeline and ensure rigorous reporting and monitoring of both team performance and the sales funnel.
• Form strong relationships with the Director of Sales & Distribution, Senior Sales Managers, Trading Director, Head of Decision Science, Head of Commercial – Germany and Demand Generation team.
• Share customer insights with B2B Marketing teams to help tailor B2B messages
• Spot trends in customer spend and adapt accordingly

• Develop sales strategy for Premier Inn’s direct relationships with corporate customers
• In partnership with Finance, review and refine our reward models for our corporate customers
• Grow revenue from large corporations through market leading account management

What you’ll need:

• Proven track record of delivering within a commercial environment (including growing and developing corporate accounts)
• Significant experience in leading and coaching sales/account managers
• Sound judgement based on business and customer understanding
• Highly numerate and analytical, being able to quickly draw conclusions from data and adjust commercial strategies
• Trained for negotiations
• Extensive knowledge of CRM systems (we use Dynamics)
• Ideally experience in business travel (e.g. Hotels, Airlines etc) – but not essential