We're hiring: Sales Assistant

Job title: Sales Assistant
Reporting to: The Managing Director & Operations Manager
Salary: £21k depending on skills
Hours: Full time
Location: The Warehouse, Commercial Road, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 8AE
Deadline: 5pm Wednesday 15th December, with interviews held sooner if suitable applicants are found.
How to apply: Please register and apply through the Unlocking Potential website here.

Overview
As we restructure and continue our planned period of expansion an exciting new position has become available within our growing team.

As Sales Assistant at skinflint you will be the first point of contact for all our clients, both private and commercial. You will be focused on providing exceptional customer service and experience at every stage of their journey: from enquiries and administrating paperwork, through to dispatching orders. Nurturing these relationships, you will simultaneously develop in-depth knowledge of our unique vintage lighting range. The ability to manage your own workload, alongside a resilience to juggling multiple tasks whilst prioritising effectively, is a must.

You’ll be a clear and confident communicator, with a friendly yet professional written and verbal manner. And you’ll be self-motivated, organised, and have excellent time management skills. You will need the ability to work under your own initiative as well as collaborating with a small team, so interpersonal skills are essential. You’ll also be an enthusiastic learner, retaining the confidence and desire to develop your own learning, as well as the wider ethos of the business.

As part of your induction, you’ll undertake an extensive journey of learning through all areas of the business to fully understand the niche position of the company, the diverse range of lighting products we refurbish, and the team we work with.

We pride ourselves on our high level of customer service and the exclusive nature of the items we retail, and the successful candidate will reflect all of these qualities.

This full-time role is based in our wharfside warehouse studio overlooking the estuary near Falmouth. It is an exciting opportunity to develop your skills and work alongside an ambitious, passionate team focused on sustainable business and doing things differently.

About us
At skinflint we’ve combined a passion for classic design with a commitment to sustainability to become Europe’s leading vintage lighting retailer. All of the lights we salvage are exclusively high-quality originals, and each unique piece has a story to tell...

Respecting and preserving the heritage of each light we reclaim, we sensitively restore without compromising character, and expertly refurbish to the highest modern-day standards. We also offer a lifetime guarantee and repairs, and a product buy-back scheme. Our aim? To keep lights out of landfill and in use forever. And more widely, to promote a sustainable circular approach to design and consumption.

This ethos threads through everything we do – from our people, to our products and supply chain. We work with renowned innovative brands, interior designers and architects on high-profile projects across the globe. But we get equally as excited seeing our lights in people’s homes and collaborating with independent, like-minded, forward-thinking start-ups on our doorstep.

We look to initiatives that support a triple bottom line approach to sustainable business, and in doing so balance purpose with profit. We are on the journey to becoming B Corp certified, and believe that all individuals and businesses large and small can make a difference in protecting our planet.

Do you share our passion and vision? We’d love to hear from you.

Responsibilities & duties

• Delivering exceptional customer service whilst maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction.
• Handling and responding to all phone, online and face-to-face enquiries, communicating with clients on a proactive and reactive basis with a friendly yet professional approach.
• Approaching every client enquiry with consideration and understanding of their B2B or B2C requirements.
• Building a rapport with clients to understand their individual needs and project requirements, recommending suitable products and ensuring all their needs are met.
• Generating and issuing any sales related paperwork to clients in a timely and accurate manner.
• Handling all client feedback, product issues and complaints proactively in a timely and professional manner, reporting to the wider team when necessary.
• Processing card payments and refunds adhering to our GDPR policy.
• Actively participating in weekly sales meetings providing feedback and information for the team on all relevant orders from new and existing clients.
• In accordance with skinflint’s evolving sales and client liaison strategy, proactively develop and maintain a close working relationship with existing key and new clients.
• Monitoring and effectively following up all active client leads, actively engaging with clients to drive sales, maximise profitability and achieve targets.
• Proactively updating all client records across all our CRM and CMS platforms.
• Coordinating and overseeing all UK and international client enquiries, reviewing their requirements and providing shipping quotations.
• Overseeing and managing prop hire clients, understanding their niche requirements and ensuring orders are fulfilled, often within tight timescales.
• Welcome client appointments to the studio, and hold face-to face-meeting/video calls to establish clients' needs and advise on suitable products.
• Managing product listings with third-party retailers and on online platforms.
• Develop in-depth knowledge of skinflint’s product range, keeping up to date with all available and upcoming lighting stock.
• Develop knowledge and understanding of key technical lighting terminology to be able to respond to any product enquiries or questions accordingly.
• Consult and coordinate with the workshop team for any custom modifications or client requests.
• Manage and coordinate the daily selection of products for packing and dispatch, ensuring our high-quality control procedures are consistently met.
• Coordinating with the wider team, manage the daily dispatch and shipment of both UK and export orders, with all necessary paperwork generated accordingly, including export documentation.
• Occasionally there may be a requirement to work unsociable hours including weekends and evenings when necessary for example for trade events.
• As working as part of a small and dynamic team would be happy to take on other responsibilities as and when necessary.

What we offer

• Competitive salary, pension contribution (with ethical funding options) and 30 days holiday per year.
• A relaxed yet professional place to work in a beautiful studio location in Cornwall overlooking the estuary.
• Flexible working hours.
• Excellent career prospects with the chance to grow with the team and individually as the business expands.
• A wide range of employee benefits including quarterly company away days, volunteering time, and more.

What you offer
Essential:

• Proven and demonstrable sales and customer service experience.
• Passion and aspiration to communicate with clients with a friendly, engaging and professional telephone/email manner.
• Competent in using customer relationship management (CRM) and content management system (CMS) software.
• Meticulous eye for detail, logical and methodical approach to tasks. Be self-motivated and organised, while being resilient to handling multiple responsibilities and prioritising effectively.
• Degree level qualification, and English/Maths GCSE at grade C or above.
• Highly competent in all Microsoft Office packages and strong IT skills.
• A creative bringer of ideas and ability to think out of the box!
• A team player.

Desirable:

• Sales qualifications or training an advantage.
• Previous sales and customer service experience with a design or lighting brand.
• Experience in Adobe Creative Suite programmes including Photoshop.
• Creative skills including writing, photography and filmmaking.
• Foreign language.

How to apply: Please register and apply through the Unlocking Potential website here.