Purpose of the Role
The Business Development Coordinator (BDC) acts as the central conduit between the external sales team, the customer, and Gilcrest Manufacturing's internal commercial and estimating functions. The BDC is responsible for managing the post-estimate, pre-close phase of the sales cycle, owning the customer relationship, progressing live quotations, managing design changes and variances and ultimately supporting the Business Development Manager (BDM) in bringing opportunities to a successful close.
Key Responsibilities
Quote Management & Follow-Up
- Receive completed estimates from the commercial/estimating team and co-ordinate
handover to the BDM for customer submission.
- Proactively chase live quotations with customers following submission, maintaining a
structured follow-up cadence.
- Track the status of all active quotes and maintain accurate pipeline records, ensuring the BDM and management team have full visibility.
- Identify and flag stalled quotations and work with the BDM to re-engage opportunities.
Customer Relationship Management
- Build and maintain strong working relationships with customer-side contacts including procurement teams, estimators, architects, project managers and designers.
- Establish and manage a regular meeting cadence with key customer contacts including periodic check-in calls, site visits and review meetings.
- Serve as the primary point of contact for customers during the pre-contract phase, ensuring a responsive and professional experience.
- Develop an understanding of each customer's pipeline, upcoming projects and decision making process to identify opportunities for early engagement.
Design Changes & Variances
- Manage all design changes and variations to submitted quotations, liaising between the customer and the internal estimating team to ensure revised pricing is produced accurately and promptly.
- Clearly communicate variances to the customer, setting expectations around lead times and commercial implications.
- Maintain a clear change log for each active opportunity, ensuring the BDM and internal teams are kept informed.
Internal Co-ordination
- Act as the primary internal liaison between the sales team and the commercial and estimating departments, ensuring smooth information flow in both directions.
- Work closely with the BDM to ensure all customer-facing commercial activity is co-ordinated and consistent.
- Support the BDM through the final stages of deal negotiation, preparing relevant documentation and commercial summaries as required.
- Attend internal sales and commercial review meetings, contributing to pipeline reporting and forecasting.
Skills, Experience & Attributes
Essential
- Proven experience in an internal sales, sales support, or commercial co-ordination role.
- Strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills, with the confidence to engage directly with customers at all levels.
- Highly organised with excellent attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple live opportunities simultaneously.
- Clear and professional communicator, both written and verbal.
- Comfortable working to a fast pace and adapting to changing priorities.
- Proficient in Microsoft Office; experience with CRM systems advantageous.
Desirable
- Experience in a manufacturing, construction, or built environment sales environment.
- Familiarity with estimating or tendering processes.
- Understanding of the roles of architects, main contractors, and specifiers in a project supply chain.
What Success Looks Like
- A higher conversion rate on submitted quotations as a result of proactive follow-up and strong customer relationships.
- Customers feel well-supported and informed throughout the pre-contract process.
- Design changes and variances are handled quickly and accurately, with no delays to the sales cycle.
- The BDM has clear visibility of all live opportunities and can focus on winning new business, confident that existing quotes are being actively progressed.
Pay: From £28,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Company pension
- Cycle to work scheme
- On-site parking
Ability to commute/relocate:
- Avonmouth BS11: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)
Work Location: In person
