We caught up with Matt and his Manager, Karen Derbyshire, to find out more about his ‘enjoyable and interesting role’ and what it’s really like to work in sales. Here’s what they had to say:

Matt joined Realise in 2014. He knew he wanted to work within education and said: “I chose to join Realise because I wanted to work with a good name within the industry.”

His first role was a Sales Advisor, working within a central sales team based in the Sheffield head office. In this role, Matt rang employers across different industries and discussed the benefits of apprenticeships.

After four years in central sales, Matt moved into a new position in 2018. This time it was within the childcare and education sector, as a Sales Executive (Childcare). This job was similar to his previous role in that he still engaged with employers, but this time it was nurseries and schools that Matt spoke to.

Speaking about the career move, Matt said: “I wanted to work in childcare because the sector was, and still is, growing all the time. It can be rewarding and sometimes challenging when talking to employers, but I find it enjoyable!”

A new opportunity came up in 2020, the position of Sales Manager (maternity cover) within childcare and education became available. Matt believed his experience and knowledge of sales made him an excellent candidate to become Sales Manager, and Head of Sector for Childcare and Education, Karen Derbyshire agreed.

Karen said: “Matt has worked for Realise for several years in the capacity of Sales Executive.  During this time he has demonstrated an ability to engage with new employers, promoting how Realise can help them and in turn their employees.

“Matt has worked as a mentor for new Sales Executives joining the business over the last few years, sharing good practice and developing their product knowledge to help them become successful in their roles.

With this in mind, Matt was a natural choice to progress into this role and be promoted to become sales manager. He brings with him a wealth of experience and an excellent track record, which will help him transition into his new role.”

Matt now manages a busy team of six Sales Executives and has plans to expand the department during 2021!

He told us that his new role is extremely varied, saying: “Almost anything can happen during the day! I can go from developing new sales strategies, to coaching the team, or booking in new business. One part of my role which I really enjoy is getting to meet regularly with different stakeholders across Realise.”

Whatever I’m doing, I’m always looking to achieve the very best for the sector and the wider business. I admire so many of my colleagues, who all work very hard every day to achieve success for Realise.”

Matt is keen to encourage others to embark on careers in sales and his advice for others wanting to join the profession is: “Learn the area of sales you are working in and keep studying. Stay motivated and have a daily focus on what you need to achieve each day to meet your targets.”