Business Development Manager

We are Lick

We are building a people-powered decorating movement where everyone feels supported and inspired to transform their space with our unique pigment-rich colours and high quality products. All with consideration to your and our home; planet Earth.

We’re a business that believes in building confidence in our decorators. Seeing their bright ideas and making them happen. We do this by giving our do-er uppers access to inspiration, advice and how-to guidance from our experts and wider community. As well as making our range of (water-based, trace VOC) paint, (FSC-certified) wallpaper, and eco-supplies with real people and real homes in mind.

It's why we curate a selection of pigment-rich paints with unique depth of colour and their own individual identity, and high-quality designer wallpapers. It's why we have an expert team of colour consultants on-hand to help with any decorating question, big or small. It's why we're building a supportive community of decorators to inspire each other with their projects.

Because we know that a small change in colour can have a huge impact on the way we feel.

Gone are the days of too much choice, feeling like you’re doing it alone, and messy, expensive sample pots.  This is a fresh look for decorating.

Decorator success starts at home...our home. That is why we are also on a mission to be the definitive people-powered company. Building an environment where individuals thrive and collectively transform an entire category.

About the Company

Lick was founded in 2019 by Lucas London and Sam Bradley - both experienced startup entrepreneurs - targeting the $1trillion global home decor market.

Since launching in 2020, we have evolved tremendously and, since then, Lick has expanded into 3 separate brands:

  • Lick: for the DIY customer
  • LickPro: for the Trade customer
  • Lick Tools: our own range of sustainable tools

We have continually developed our product range, developed new sustainability initiatives, and grown our community of decorators. Successful campaigns such as the Heinz x Lick collaboration & Soho Home range, as well as our huge partnerships with Screwfix & diy.com are leading us in the right direction, and it’s really a very exciting time to be joining us on this journey!

Our Office

We are a hybrid working team and we believe in the value of getting together offline and online. For this reason, we are focused on hiring candidates who can easily work in London. We see huge value in our team sharing an office together and strongly encourage everyone to use it as often as they can. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday are mandatory days.

We provide tea, coffee, milk (dairy & plant-based), fruit, a communal outdoor terrace area, meeting rooms, bike storage, showers, and communal breakout spaces throughout the building.

Sustainability at Lick

Supercharging a fresh look for decorating means fixing the home decor industry’s environmental footprint. This is why we've put sustainability at the top of our agenda. We’re constantly working to lower our impact on the planet, and create a better future for our kids.

We're on our way… Our peel and stick samples use 95% less waste than sample pots, our trace VOC water-based paints contain fewer harmful chemicals and a more easily biodegradable end product, and our packaging is 100% biodegradable. 

In 2022, we announced that we are B Corp™ certified - a real milestone moment.

Wellbeing at Lick

We are building a team filled with incredible human beings and it is our collective unique spirits that make Lick very special. We're cultivating an environment where we can all truly be ourselves (on the good days and the bad) and make an authentic impact.

We want it to be easy to openly discuss how you are feeling. We want it to be easy for you to do the things you know will help you thrive. We want to empower you to own your mental health and wellbeing, and we want to ensure you feel supported in doing so.

Our goal is to empower you to own your time and impact. We aim to provide you with the information and support you need to empower you to do fulfilling, impactful work and build relationships that matter.

Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at Lick

People are at the centre of everything we do at Lick. We work hard to make sure that we're amplifying diverse voices externally within our amazing community of decorators. Equally, we are on a mission to make Lick a company where every member of our team feels they can truly be themselves and genuinely make an impact. We will continue to work on ways to be able to formally follow through on this commitment, such as our team led Lick Belonging Group, and using an individual approach for each team member.

Our Culture

Our culture will continue to evolve just like everything else we do, but we can confirm it's fast and very ambitious. We believe a great team can do great things and we work hard to ensure you have what you need to thrive and make a real impact. We put a huge emphasis on information sharing, communications and relationships. 

We have ambitious business goals, but we don’t just do things a certain way because that’s how it’s always been done. We’re here to transform an entire category, this means developing new and better ways of doing things. You can see this in our team everyday and in our commitments to Sustainability, Wellbeing, DEI and the decorator experience.

About The Role

As the Business Development Manager (BDM), you are primarily responsible for driving and increasing Trade and specification project business sales with the assigned territory and channels (Construction, Architectural etc). As such, you will be responsible for growing, developing, maintaining and managing the overall relationship with new and existing Trade customers.

The role will be based, and work out of, a specified Lick store and the territory will be defined by the geographic area of the store. Orders will be placed for manufacturing and fulfillment through the store network.

The responsibility will require both time in store - your office location - but also significant time spent on site and with clients, including but not limited to, local developments and projects, professional decorators, independent contractors, facilities management companies, new build developers, architects, housing association, estate agents. The objective of these on-site visits is to get Lick products used and specified on trade projects, driving brand awareness with trade users.

Relationship building with larger end users is key to ensure Lick is given access to development projects within the region and retain new and existing contractors.

Initially covering the London region and projects linked to this area, the ideal candidate will live within the M25. There may be occasional travel outside of the area if a project hub is located outside of the territory.

Responsibilities

What you will be doing:

  • Achieving the allocated revenue targets both by period and annually
  • Building the rapport and partnering with the Lick Studio Store.
  • Working collaboratively with the Director of Interior Design and LDP team.
  • Collaborating directly with and involving the Lick Studio and LDP on sales and service opportunities and new business leads and generations.
  • Conduct product, application, and sales training and development sessions with all relevant customers.
  • Present the Lick solution to larger contractor groups and end users.
  • Provide extraordinary service to both DIY and Trade customers, which includes, but not limited to: job-site demonstrations, problem solving, executing and following up on Paint trials, tinting / mixing paint as needed, and delivering paint to a job-site.
  • Maintain an appropriate weekly Trade customer call rate and maintain a call record of all contacts and sales calls.

Requirements

Experience:

  • Professional sales experience and / or calling on contractors and project developers within retail or consumer goods industry.
  • Experience selling products to strategic accounts in home improvement, construction, or property maintenance industry.
  • Experience in sales or customer service.
  • Previous paint/coatings experience or specification selling experience.
  • Must have a valid driver’s license and own transport.

Qualities

  • Strong organisational & communication skills and experience presenting to groups of employees.
  • Commercial skills and ability to create and present a solution proposition to contractors and larger end users.
  • Ability to work independently.
  • Ability to work a flexible work schedule. This may include evenings and weekends.

Benefits

  • Competitive salary, commission structure and share option grants
  • A generous Annual Leave allowance: 26 days per year, a day off for your birthday and extra time off at the end of the year
  • Health Insurance through Vitality
  • Flexible Working - own your working hours
  • £300 allowance for Lick products
  • Private pension scheme
  • Generous Primary and Secondary Caregiver Leave allowances
  • Living Wage Foundation accredited employer - we pay at least the London Living Wage to all team members regardless of living and working location
  • Monthly Deep Dive sessions from your fellow teammates; these sessions aim to get the wider company up to speed on a particular project or topic
  • The Lick Impact Award, a monthly team-led initiative, recognises individuals for their hard work and amazing attitudes
  • Lots of amazing opportunities to get to know other members of the team at different team events and to have an impact on our culture through our Lick Belonging Group and beyond
  • Contribute to building a culture where well being is part of how we do things & not just a bonus, and first-hand experience of being part of, and growing with, a fast-moving and ambitious company
  • You are hopefully reading this and thinking I can't wait to be part of the team that makes this even better as the company grows ;)

    Lick is an equal opportunity employer and committed to creating an inclusive environment for all of our applicants. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, colour, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. If you would like to request any accommodations from application through to interview, please email us at [email protected]

As this role is based in London UK, candidates must have the right to live and work in the UK. Candidates without these rights will not be considered.

We are LickWe’re replacing the stresses of the outdated decorating industry with a simplified journey and customer-centric experience, and we’re building a world class team to do it.We know together we can create a better, easier more effective home decorating experience online. We’re revisiting everything from customer consultations, to quality of materials, and intelligent funnel optimisations to help our customers make confident online decisions and create spaces they love to spend time in.About the companyLick was started in 2019 and launched online in April this year. Founded by Lucas London and Sam Bradley - both experienced startup entrepreneurs. The team recently signed a term sheet with an industry-leading consumer VC to lead our seed round to accelerate our growth taking amount raised to $5m alongside our other expert investors including the founders of Lovefilm, Zoopla, Carwow, Cazoo, and partners of Piton Capital, Talis Capital and Samos and Magnus Rausing @ MAHR Projects.Lick is focused on building a disruptive home decor brand that is obsessed with helping people transform their home with ease and a smile.Lick is a direct-to-consumer home decor brand with a focus on sustainable, industry leading community building. Check out our brand on instagram.Read more about our brand from our partners at Two Times ElliotHave a look at some industry pressRead some press from the home decor marketWe’re targeting the >$200bn European home decor market because we believe that a simple change in design can have a massive impact on the way we feel about the spaces we spend our lives in. We think the customer journey for interior decorating is broken and we don't just want to fix it, we want to become the leading brand in this space, because our customers know everything we do is driven by their insights and our expertise combined.Our OfficeWe moved into our beautiful sunny, airy office space 🏠a few days before lockdown. We now work with a remote first approach, and we tend to use the office as needed, with 2-6 people in there each day, but focus is on working remotely and being safe. If you do use the office, there are fresh coffee, snacks and refreshments, and also a beautiful park just 2 minutes from our front door for a walk or bit of Autumnal sunshine ☀️.We are only 5 minutes walk 🚶away from Vauxhall station with easy access by train, tube, bus or bicycle. There are lots of secure spaces for you to store a bicycle/shower/change as needed.Our CultureLess than one year old, and 6 months since launch, our culture will continue to evolve like everything we do. To give you a sense of what to expect, we can confirm it's fast and are very ambitious, with high expectations. We believe a great team can do great things and we work hard to ensure you have what you need to thrive and make a real impact. We put a huge emphasis on information sharing, communications and relationships. We use data and customer insights to improve what we do and how we do it. Some photos from our Q4 Team Together Day. The group photo (above) was the closest we have ever physically been to each other (and it was only 3 seconds) but we feel close, because we put real effort into really getting to know each other.With customers and creativity at our core, we have a LOT of fun at Lick. Everyone at Lick is a colour specialist and of course we offer all team members training, paint and supplies too. Check out these transformations for some inspiration...If you are passionate about being an impactful member of the Lick journey, using your creativity to help customers and define the future of home decor we would love to hear from you!

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