Graduate Sales Trainee

Focus Group; Exeter; On-site; GBP 23,000 - 28,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Team socials

Go-karting

Top Golf

Job summary

Focus Group, Exeter, is hiring a Graduate Sales Trainee / BDE to start a fast-track B2B sales career. You’ll spend your days on the phone, generating appointments for Business Development Managers, with a base salary of £25k plus commission and an OTE around £35k in the first year.

The role offers a structured development path, onboarding, weekly training, mentorship from senior BDMs, and clear pathways to six-figure earnings as you progress to BDM.

Qualifications

• High-volume outbound calling experience preferred.
• Structured career pathway with onboarding and mentorship.
• Motivation to drive progression in tech sales.

Responsibilities

• Make 80-100+ outbound calls daily to prospective UK businesses.
• Pitch Focus Group's telecoms, IT, cyber security, and mobile solutions.
• Qualify prospects and book meetings for BDMs (face-to-face or virtual).
• Manage activity and sales pipeline in the CRM.
• Handle rejection and maintain motivation to hit targets.

Skills

Resilience

Coachability

Work ethic

Positive phone manner

Growth mindset

Tools

CRM system

Job description

Graduate Sales Trainee | Business Development Executive | Launch Your B2B Sales Career

(Internal Job Level Reference: Associate)

Salary: £25k + Commission | 1st Year OTE Circa £35,000

Location: Exeter

Hours: Monday - Friday 9am - 5.30pm

Are you ready to build a career, not just take a job? Bring the motivation and ambition — we'll give you a Business Development Executive role where your effort decides your success.

About us!

At Focus Group, we're powering the digital workplace for over 30,000 UK businesses – and we're just getting started. With a $1bn valuation and 1,300+ employees across 20 offices, we're one of the UK's fastest-growing tech companies.

Our Exeter sales floor is exactly what you'd want from a career in sales: high-energy, competitive, and genuinely supportive — the kind of place where people back each other to hit target, not just chase their own numbers. We believe our people are our biggest asset, and we're building a high-reward environment for ambitious individuals to thrive, with real investment in coaching and progression rather than being left to sink or swim.

What Success Looks Like Here...

Focus Group isn't just another sales job; it's a structured career pathway with proven progression. Our top performers have built incredible careers from zero sales experience. The success stories below show what's possible with exceptional drive, resilience, and commitment.

Real Success Stories:

Mohan – Started Jan 2023 with zero sales experience

• 2.5 years later: £1.3m in sales generated
• Promoted from BDE → BDM, now trains new executives and signed our largest partner ever
• Won 6+ sales awards and regional superstar awards for continued top performance

Emma – Joined July 2024 after travelling, no sales background

• 8 months in: Generated £70k revenue, £500k+ pipeline
• Finalist for National Sales Awards 2025
• Building a long-term sales career she "never thought possible"

Ronan – Started Aug 2022, first job after university

• 1 year → promoted to Team Leader
• Team generated £2m+ profit in first year, doubled it the next
• Now manages company-wide projects across divisions

The Reality: This is a New Business Role

As a BDE, you'll spend your days on the phone. This is high-volume outbound calling to UK businesses, generating appointments for our Business Development Managers

Your day-to-day:

• Making 80-100+ outbound calls to prospective businesses daily
• Pitching Focus Group's technology solutions (Telecoms, IT, Cyber Security, Mobile)
• Qualifying prospects and booking face‑to‑face or virtual meetings for BDMs
• Managing your activity and pipeline in our CRM system
• Handling rejection, staying motivated, and hitting daily/weekly targets

This isn't easy.

But if you're resilient, coachable, and hungry to prove yourself it's your fastest route into a lucrative B2B sales career.

We're Looking For:

• Resilience – You can handle 50+ "no's" a day and come back stronger
• Coachability – Willing to learn, take feedback, and constantly improve
• Work ethic – Comfortable with high call volumes and daily targets
• Positive phone manner – Professional, clear, confident communication
• Hunger to succeed – Motivated by progression and earning potential
• Growth mindset – See this as the start of something bigger, not just a job

Previous experience?

Helpful but not essential. We've built six-figure careers for people from retail, hospitality, customer service, and fresh out of university.

Why Choose Focus Group?

• Structured development: Not just "sink or swim" you get proper onboarding, weekly training, and mentorship from experienced BDM’s and BDE Manager
• Fast progression: Average promotion to BDM is 18-24 months (some do it in 12)
• Company culture: Regular team socials, sales incentives, go‑karting, Top Golf, and nights out. Many colleagues become genuine friends
• Proven success rate: We don't just hire and hope we invest in your development with clear pathways to six-figure earnings
• Company scale: £1bn valuation, 30,000+ customers, 1,000+ employees across 16 UK offices – you're joining a genuine tech scale-up
• Recognition: National sales awards, regional superstar awards, company-wide recognition for top performers

What You'll Earn

Year 1 (BDE):

• Base: £25k
• Realistic OTE: £30-35k
• Top performers: £40k+

Year 2-3 (BDM promotion):

• First-year BDM OTE: £60-65k
• Our BDMs regularly earn £80k-100k+
• Top BDM earners: £120k+

We have a cohort of BDE graduate to BDMs every year but progression is based on performance and time in role - you'll need to consistently hit targets and demonstrate readiness before moving up.

If you're looking to launch or grow your sales career in tech, join our Exeter team and be part of a supportive, driven group where you can progress fast and earn big.

At Focus Group, we believe in empowering our people to be their best. Whether it’s your first sales role or your next step up, we’ll invest in your development and give you the tools to succeed.

We celebrate diversity and encourage applicants from all backgrounds. Need support applying? Just get in touch—we’re happy to make reasonable adjustments to support you.

If you’re excited about starting or growing your career in tech sales, we’d love to hear from you.

Focus Group are committed to ensuring protection for all personal information that we hold, and to provide and protect all data. All staff share in this responsibility and must take appropriate steps in protecting all data. All incidents or risks that may impact this protection must be reported to their manager or to the Data Protection Officer.