GREG NOLAN
Chichester,United Kingdom
Summary
An accomplished Account Executive who successfully transitioned from a professional sports career into business development. Experienced in managing a full 360° sales cycle while collaborating with cross-functional teams to develop more efficient sales strategies. Brings over 5 years of experience in SaaS and employee benefits sales, with a proven track record of exceeding targets and driving positive change within both start-up and scale-up environments.
Overview
11
11
years of professional experience
Work history
Business Development Manager (Hospitality Sales)
Goodwood Estate
Chichester, West Sussex
2026.01 - Current
- Goodwood is England’s oldest sporting estate. My role is to generate net-new revenue by selling corporate hospitality, events, away days, and senior leadership meetings
- Annual target of £600K, within 3 months I've closed £50K in net-new business from companies that had not previously engaged with Goodwood
- 100% outbound role that requires a creative approach to prospecting. I actively leverage local networking events and business expos to meet senior decision-makers and build relationships
- Selling into Marketing departments, Office managers or C-suite
Senior Account Executive (Employee Benefits, SaaS)
YuLife
London, United Kingdom
2024.07 - 2025.12
- Onboarding and managing a team of 3 junior Account Executives. Responsibilities include product training, pipeline management, forecasting and weekly deal reviews.
- Leading the adoption of new sales processes (CRM management, outbound strategy, objection handling, SPIN & MEDDIC training)
- Created a new 12 step, multichannel inbound sales sequence to improve MQL>SQL rates from 33% to 50%
- Pipeline built through 50% MQL's and 50% outbound activity, including events, LinkedIn outreach, referral initiatives, and targeted cold prospecting campaigns.
- Focused on 70% new business development and 30% account management, building long-term client relationships, securing renewals and retention across existing accounts, and identifying opportunities for new business and upselling within larger key accounts. E.G. introducing Dental or additional wellbeing benefits.
- Managing clients with user bases between 50 and 500 with average ARR between £10,000 - £75,000
- Annual target £300K - 2024: 110%, 2025: 100% - awarded sales contributor of 2025.
Account Executive (Employee Benefits, SaaS)
YuLife
London, United Kingdom
2023.01 - 2024.07
- YuLife is the first life insurance company that inspires life. Our app-based software enhances group insurance (Life, Income Protection, Dentals and PMI) to help employees live their best lives and be rewarded for it.
- Comprehensive knowledge of group insurance schemes for risk and healthcare protection.
- Managing full 360 sales cycle through multi-channel: SDR collaboration, inbound sales inquiries and outbound prospecting (6Sense, SalesNav, Cognism, industry events CIPD/REBA).
- Managing 3 to 6-month sales cycles, consistently closed deals with ARR between £10,000 - £25,000 ARR.
- Multiple deals in a fast-paced sales environment (5-10 deals per Q).
- Led ICP analysis to improve inbound close rate from 15% to 30%.
- Annual target £300,000 - 2023: 125% to target
Account Executive (Marketing, SaaS)
OpenSponsorship
London, United Kingdom
2022.01 - 2023.01
- OpenSponsorship is the largest and most-widely used global marketplace for sports sponsorship and partnerships making it easy for all brands to partner with athletes, teams and events
- Start up experience: entered a new UK market as a founding AE hire, grew from 0 to 30 clients in 12 months
- Closed the largest international deal, accounting for £100,000 ARR
- 360 sales cycle and comfortable working up to 30 leads per week through various channels (Inbound, LinkedIn, sequencing, outbound)
- Successful in closing a variety of businesses from start-ups to multinationals such as Levi’s, MyProtein, JD Sports and FUSE.
- 2022: 125% of target accounting for over £500,000 of new business revenue.
Sales Development Representative (SaaS)
EQS Group
London/Munich, City of London
2021.01 - 2021.12
- EQS Group is a leading international provider of regulatory technology (RegTech) in the fields of corporate Compliance and Investor Relations. They ensure the professional control of compliance workflows in the fields of whistleblower protection and case management, policy management and disclosure obligations.
- My role was to book sales meeting with our head of sales in combination with a 360 closing role for companies under 100 seats
- 2021 - 120% of meeting quota
- 2021 - 150% of new business target accounting for £75,000 of new business revenue
- Prospecting activities included cold calling, email campaigns, LinkedIn, events, and referrals. I also applied MEDDIC and SPIN sales methodologies to qualify and progress opportunities.
Professional Athlete
HC Tilburg
Tilburg, Netherlands
2015.04 - 2021.01
- Six memorable seasons with HC Tilburg, competing in the Netherlands Hoofdklasse.
- Duel-career as a professional athlete
- Dutch language proficiency
Education
Master of Science – MSc - Organization Studies
Tilburg University
Tilburg, Netherlands 07/2019 - 09/2021
Student Athlete, BSc - Sports development
Sheffield Hallam University
Sheffield 1 2011 - 1 2014
Skills
- Revenue Generation
- Pipeline Generation
- Product Demonstrations
- Prospecting
- Pipeline Management
- Sales Presentations
- Employee Benefits
- Life, Income Protection, Critical Illness, Dental & PMI consultation
- Software as a Service (SaaS)
- MEDDIC & SPIN methodologies
Tools: Hubspot CRM, Cognism, 6sense, Apollo, ZoomInfo, LinkedIn Sales Nav, GONG, Claude, Clay
Timeline
Business Development Manager (Hospitality Sales)
Goodwood Estate
2026.01 - Current
Senior Account Executive (Employee Benefits, SaaS)
YuLife
2024.07 - 2025.12
Account Executive (Employee Benefits, SaaS)
YuLife
2023.01 - 2024.07
Account Executive (Marketing, SaaS)
OpenSponsorship
2022.01 - 2023.01
Sales Development Representative (SaaS)
EQS Group
2021.01 - 2021.12
Professional Athlete
HC Tilburg
2015.04 - 2021.01
Master of Science – MSc - Organization Studies
Tilburg University
07/2019 - 09/2021
Student Athlete, BSc - Sports development
Sheffield Hallam University
1 2011 - 1 2014