During Your Programme

These web pages aim to provide a handy access point for information that you will need during your apprenticeship programme.

On this page:

View Learner Handbook

Your Tutors & Coaches

Robin Burr
Tutor

Email

Melanie Clarke
Progress Adviser

Email
Image of Cristina Spencer

Cristina Spencer
Skills Coach

Email

Explaining the Roles

There are two key roles in the team which will support your apprenticeship. Some members of staff cover more than one of these.

Your tutor will lead you through your workshops or seminars and deliver the knowledge elements of your apprenticeship programme. Between workshops, your tutor will also coach and support you as you begin to turn your knowledge into skills and behaviours within the workplace, and will help you gather evidence to demonstrate your overall competency.

Your learner progress adviser will help provide additional support where needed and monitor your progress. 

Your E-Portfolio

We use the Greater Sales Academy as our e-portfolio system. This is where you will find all of the resources for the programme, where your tasks and assignments will be set, and where you will submit your work.Within the academy, you’ll receive ongoing support and feedback from your tutor, and will be able to monitor your progress towards the Knowledge, Skills and Behaviour competencies, prior to your end-point assessment.We’ll provide you with training on how to use the Greater Sales Academy as part of your programme enrolment and introduction.

You will also be issued with an account on OneFile. This will be used for quarterly progress review meeting forms and some other activities. Your progress advisor will explain what is needed when you have your first review. Your line manager will also be given access to OneFile, as you both need to sign the progress review forms.

Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours

During your Sales Executive apprenticeship you will learn to demonstrate the following knowledge, skills and behaviours.

Knowledge

Understand your organisation’s vision, values and capabilities, the principle goals of its overall strategy, and the specific objectives of its marketing and sales strategies. Know how to analyse your organisation’s sales and marketing strategies and objectives and translate them into plans and actions for your role.

Identify the features and advantages of the product(s) and/or services(s) you sell, understand how these meet customer needs, and examine how they compare to competitor’s solutions. Understand the nature of your sector and the likely forthcoming changes to it. Understand the legal, regulatory and ethical frameworks relating to your sector and role.

Understand how your market is segmented and how to target specific segments through effective product or service positioning.

Know how to analyse the macro and microenvironment of individual customers. Understand the challenges and purchasing motivations of your customers and the internal and external factors that impact their purchasing decisions. Understand expectations of what constitutes a high-quality customer experience.

Understand the principles of finance for sales, such as profit and loss, return on investment and budgeting. Appreciate the impacts of different types of costs on the business and the drivers of profitable performance. Understand the impact of any discount or variation in terms that you may offer.

Understands how to exploit digital technologies to aid the sales cycle

Skills

Set effective targets using sales forecasts. Prioritise customers and activities to grow account value and maximise return-on-investment in line with your organisation’s strategy. Formulate or refine customer plans and objectives. Create efficient territory plans where appropriate.

Effectively communicate and interpret customer information exchanged through written, verbal and non-verbal communication. Develop a customer engagement style that effectively opens sales conversations, builds rapport, enhances customer relationships, and adapts to different customer’s social preferences.

Be highly skilled at effective questioning and active listening techniques to understand the customer’s needs, guide the sales conversation appropriately, create mutual understanding, and build trust and affinity with customers.

Develop sales proposals and deliver them using a presentation style and technique appropriate for your customer. Present relevant products and/or services, explain features and their advantages, and clearly articulate the value and benefit of the solution for the specific customer. Use and adapt a range of techniques to draw out and overcome common sales objections.

Research the customer’s likely desired outcomes and negotiating stance.  Develop responses to likely objections. Identify your own organisation’s needs, such as minimum price and acceptable terms. Negotiate or trade variables effectively.

Be attuned to verbal and non-verbal buying-signals andmove to close at an appropriate point in sales conversations. Develop ethical techniques to close sales and confirm customers’ purchase agreement.

Collect, analyse and interpret market intelligence and share it appropriately and effectively within your organisation.

Use and adapt appropriate tools and techniques to prioritise and manage your time effectively.

Contribute effectively within a team environment. Work collaboratively with both internal and external stakeholders. Manage communications with the cross-functional team in relation to the effective delivery of your sales, such as finance and service delivery. Support continual business improvement by sharing best practice with sales team colleagues and assist the marketing team to develop new marketing collateral.

Deliver a positive customer experience. Manage customer enquiries and issues effectively. Take proactive action to prevent and minimise customer concerns and complaints. Handle all customer interactions professionally to the customer’s satisfaction.

Effectively use digital tools to conduct research and target customers in line with the overall sales strategy. Able to deliver presentations and meetings using digital communication. Complete accurate records and process sales in accordance with your organisation’s policies, procedures and digital CRM systems.

Behaviours

Present yourself as an ambassador for your employer’s brand, and act in accordance with your organisation’s values and code of conduct at all times. Maintain integrity in all business relationships. Challenge unethical behaviour.

Proactively develop new and existing customer relationships. Plan and lead sales conversations and make recommendations to support the customers’ requirements.  Proactively monitor the customer experience.

Demonstrate the ability to control your actions, reactions and emotions.

Remain calm under pressure and be aware of your personal impact on others.

Demonstrate the ability to maintain optimism and professionalism in the face of rejection, quickly recover from setbacks, adapt well to change, and keep going in the face of adversity.  Remain highly motivated to achieve both personal and professional goals.

Respond positively to coaching, guidance or instruction; demonstrate awareness and ownership of your continual professional development, and actively seek out development opportunities outside of formal learning situations.

Off-the-Job Training

You will need to dedicate around 20% of your working hours to your learning and development, which equates to around one day a week.

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How Can I Evidence My Learning?

Your coach and tutor will work with you to best gather evidence of your training. This can take various forms.

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Functional Skills

Each Apprenticeship standard requires you to hold a certificate to at least a Level 2 in Math and English. If you do not have copies of your certificates, or if they are not held on the learner record service, then you will need to undertake the Functional Skills course.

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Helpful Tips, Tricks & Techniques

We’ve compiled resources to supercharge your apprenticeship journey. Delve into our “Helpful Tips, Tricks & Techniques” guide, covering everything from polished business documents to expert minute-taking. Level up your skills for ensure your success.

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End Point Assessment (EPA)

EPA is the process at the end of your program for you to demonstrate to a third party assessor that you have acquired the KSB throughout your training set out in the Apprenticeship standard. This will only happen once yourself, your line manager and Skills Coach have agreed that you are ready to do so.

Safeguarding, Prevent, Welfare & British Values

Paula Wakelin
Paula WakelinSafeguarding & Prevent Officer
There is nothing more important than keeping you safe. If you or someone you know is at risk, click on the button to raise your concerns.

We are strongly committed to practices that protect you from the risk of abuse, neglect or significant harm. Our staff recognise and accept their responsibility to develop an awareness of the risks and issues involved in safeguarding. All staff and learners should have zero tolerance for abuse, bullying, neglect and violence.

Prevent is about safeguarding people and communities from the threat of terrorism. At the heart of Prevent is safeguarding children and adults and providing early intervention to protect and divert people away from being drawn into terrorist activity.

We provide expert support to help you on your apprenticeship journey. This includes mental health and neurodiversity, careers guidance and academic and financial challenges.

We want to help you achieve your full potential. We offer careers consultancy to ensure you have impartial and constructive information and guidance to help you decide and then to action your career decisions.

We aim to create an equal, diverse, inclusive and respectful culture. All of us contribute towards this culture through our actions and words. JGA aims to address any barriers to equality in our systems, policies and decision making as well as in our behaviour and ways of working.

The Fundamental British Values underpin what it is to be a citizen in a modern and diverse United Kingdom, valuing our community and celebrating diversity.

There is a code of conduct which applies to you and all learners on our programmes. This lays out the expectations for your behaviour whilst on the apprenticeship.