Education Area Manager - Midlands

Talk Straight Limited; West Midlands; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company car allowance and EV scheme

20 days’ annual leave plus bankhol

Birthday, wellbeing day and paid char­

Pension and employer contribution

Team events and social gatherings

Job summary

Talk Straight Limited is seeking a results‑driven field salesperson to win and grow education sector accounts across schools, colleges, MATs and local authorities. You’ll travel regularly across the Midlands, delivering face‑to‑face visits and virtual meetings while building a robust pipeline and hitting regional targets.

You’ll report to the Chief Sales Officer and collaborate with Marketing, Internal Account Management and Partner Programme teams.

Qualifications

• Proven track record of winning new business and growing accounts.
• Strong communication, presentation and influencing skills.
• Experience managing a 3–6 month pipeline and keeping forecasts accurate.
• Willingness to travel regularly across the region.

Responsibilities

• Find, qualify and close new business across schools, colleges, MATs, local authorities and approved channel partners.
• Deliver against annual gross profit and contract growth targets for your region.
• Protect and grow a defined set of key customer and partner accounts.
• Build and manage a healthy 3-6 month pipeline and forecast accurately.
• Sell our full portfolio: connectivity, firewall, filtering, WAN, hosting, VoIP, endpoint management and storage.
• Follow up quickly on inbound and campaign leads, so no regional opportunity is missed.
• Work with channel partners to drive new business and customer retention.
• Use sound commercial judgement on pricing, margin and where to focus your time, within company policy.
• Hand renewals over to our Internal Account Management team, while staying involved in growth or commercially sensitive deals.
• Keep CRM records, quotes and forecasts accurate.
• Represent us at education events such as BETT and others when required.
• A typical month includes around four face-to-face visits and 10+ virtual meetings, plus prospecting, partner meetings and pipeline reviews.
• Expect regular travel across the Midlands and occasional overnight stays.

Skills

Proven sales track record

CRM proficiency

Pipeline management (3–6 months)

Strong communication & presentation

Education

Experience in education sector (preferred)

Tools

CRM software

Job description

What you’ll do

Find, qualify and close new business across schools, colleges, MATs, local authorities and approved channel partners Deliver against annual gross profit and contract growth targets for your region Protect and grow a defined set of key customer and partner accounts Build and manage a healthy 3-6 month pipeline and forecast accurately Sell our full portfolio: connectivity, firewall, filtering, WAN, hosting, VoIP, endpoint management and storage Follow up quickly on inbound and campaign leads, so no regional opportunity is missed Work with our channel partners to drive new business and customer retention Use sound commercial judgement on pricing, margin and where to focus your time, within company policy Hand renewals over to our Internal Account Management team, while staying involved in growth or commercially sensitive deals Keep CRM records, quotes and forecasts accurate and up to date Represent us at education events such as BETT and others when required A typical month Around four face‑to‑face customer visits and 10+ virtual meetings, alongside prospecting, partner meetings and pipeline reviews. Expect regular travel across the Midlands and occasional overnight stays.

Who you'll work with

You’ll report to our Chief Sales Officer and work closely with Marketing, our Internal Account Management team, our Partner Programme Manager, and our technical, service and support teams.

Essential

A proven track record of winning new business and growing accounts, in education or a relevant B2B environment Strong communication, presentation and influencing skills Good commercial judgement and confident decision-making Experience managing a 3-6 month pipeline and keeping forecasts accurate Strong CRM, planning and organisational skills A self-starter with plenty of energy who’s happy to travel regularly across the region

Desirable

Working knowledge of connectivity or unified communications solutions Knowledge of the UK education sector, ideally including safeguarding or security solutions Competitive base salary with generous uncapped OTE commission scheme Commission accelerators Company car allowance and access to company car EV scheme after 1yr of continuous service 20 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays Day off for your birthday, wellbeing day and paid charity day Pension and employer contribution Team events and social gatherings