Location: Havant - Portsmouth

Reporting To: Sales Director

Salary: £65k OTE (£35,000 basic + OTE £27,000 Uncapped)

About Gravel Hill Car Sales

Gravel Hill Car Sales are a well-established used car dealership specialising in high-quality, competitively priced vehicles. We pride ourselves on having a unique family feel to our operation.

With an extremely strong reputation for customer service and repeat business, we focus on delivering a transparent, relaxed and professional car-buying experience.

Complete with an integrated service workshop, Gravel Hill Service Centre, we provide a fully packaged product to our customers, paired with a unrivalled customer service experience and no-pressure environment.

Role Overview

The Sales Manager is responsible for driving sales performance, supporting and developing a team of Sales Executives, and ensuring an outstanding customer experience. This is a hands-on role requiring both leadership and personal sales contribution.

Our USP is a zero-pressure sales environment focused on retaining an exceptional customer review base - candidates must be able to adhere to the above non-negotiables.

Help us strengthen our position in the race to become the UK’s most positively reviewed independent dealership.

Key Responsibilities

Team Leadership

• Lead, motivate, and manage a team of Sales Executives to achieve and exceed sales targets.
• Support the team in structuring deals and handling complex customer enquiries
• Monitor daily, weekly and monthly key performance indicators (KPIs), taking proactive action to address shortfalls in sales volume, margin, or F&I performance.
• Conduct regular 1:1s, coaching sessions, and performance reviews

Sales / Revenue Management

• Manage the sales process from enquiry through to vehicle handover & follow-ups
• Achieve and exceed agreed monthly and quarterly vehicle sales targets through effective leadership, performance management, and structured sales processes.
• Maximise revenue opportunities through the sale of additional products. Lead and coach the sales team to consistently promote and sell F&I products, ensuring high finance, warranty and service plan penetration, embedding as part of the sales process.
• Drive dealership profitability by limiting discounts, maximising gross profit per unit, and maintaining strong stock turn.
• Ensure compliance with FCA regulations and dealership policies

Customer Experience

• Maintain high standards and ensure a customer-focused sales environment that supports repeat business, strong CSI/Review scores, and long-term retention.
• Handle escalated customer issues professionally and efficiently

Vehicle Preparation & Merchandising

• Work together with the preparation team & service centre to deliver fast turnaround & maximise vehicle profitability
• Ensure all vehicles are presented and merchandised to the highest standards, both on the forecourt and online, with accurate descriptions, high-quality imagery, videos and aligned to our dynamic pricing strategies to attract and convert customers.

Key Requirements

Beliefs

• Believes the automotive retail landscape is fundamentally changing, driven by evolving consumer expectations, digital disruption, and increased demand for transparency and convenience.
• Recognises that the traditional, negotiation-heavy sales model is often seen as stressful, time-consuming, and frictional for customers—and is committed to moving away from this approach.
• Values a customer-first mindset, hospitality- led customer experience where delivering a modern, enjoyable experience is just as important as achieving commercial outcomes.

Experience

• Proven experience in a used car or automotive retail environment, with a strong track record of delivering against sales and profitability targets within a low-pressure sales, customer experience driven environment
• Demonstrable experience leading, coaching, and developing high-performing sales teams; including setting clear objectives, driving accountability against KPIs, conducting regular 1:1s and performance reviews, and providing hands-on support with deal structuring, objection handling, and margin protection techniques to consistently improve individual and team performance.
• Proven experience driving the sale of value-added products, with a strong track record of improving penetration across finance, warranty, and service plans; including embedding F&I seamlessly into the sales journey, coaching teams to present products confidently and compliantly, and using data and KPI tracking to consistently increase conversion rates while maintaining a customer-first approach.

Skills

• Excellent commercial and analytical skills, with the ability to interpret KPIs and drive performance across sales volume, margin, and F&I.
• Customer experience focus, with the ability to create a seamless, low-friction buying journey both in-store and digitally.
• Strong organisational, problem-solving and process management skills, ensuring consistent execution of the sales journey from enquiry to handover.
• Digital literacy, including experience with CRM systems, online merchandising platforms, and performance tracking tools.
• High attention to detail, particularly around compliance (FCA), vehicle presentation, and accuracy of online listings.
• Full UK driving licence

Traits

• Proactive and driven, with a strong sense of ownership over customer enquiries, ensuring no opportunity is missed and every lead is followed through to conclusion.
• Highly responsive, with a natural urgency around customer follow-up, maintaining consistent communication to build trust and keep momentum in the sales journey.
• Customer-centric, with a genuine desire to create a positive, low-pressure experience that prioritises the customer’s needs over a hard sell.
• Results-oriented, with a strong focus on achieving targets while maintaining quality and compliance.
• Hands-on and supportive, willing to lead from the front and assist the team in closing deals and overcoming challenges.
• Adaptable and forward-thinking, open to new ways of working and embracing change in a fast-evolving retail environment.
• Detail-oriented and organised, ensuring nothing is missed across customer communication, deal progression, or vehicle presentation.

Working Hours

• 5 days per week, including Saturday
• 8:30am – 6:00pm (weekdays) 8:30am - 5:00pm (Saturdays)
• Day off during the week

Benefits

• Competitive basic salary with uncapped commission
• Pension scheme
• 23 days + bank holidays
• Staff discounts on vehicles and servicing
• Ongoing training and career development opportunities