Travel Sales & Business Development Co-op

Travel Sales & Business Development Co-op

Location: Cambridge, MA Program Dates: Jan 5th, 2027-June 2027 with the opportunity to extend through August 2027 if exceeding co-op program goals and targets Work Schedule: Full-time (40 hours/week) Compensation: $20/hour + bonuses for achieving sales targets

For consideration, applicants must live/relocate to the state of MA or within commutable distance to our Cambridge, MA office. Enjoy the flexibility of working from home on Fridays, while collaborating in the office from Monday through Thursday.

Please note, this opportunity is open to all applicants, including recent graduates and individuals who have already completed their degree.

The Opportunity: As a Travel Sales & Business Development Co-op at EF Go Ahead Tours, you'll gain hands-on experience in sales, business development, and customer engagement while helping travelers plan their next life-changing adventure.

Working alongside a high-performing and supportive sales team, you'll connect with travelers who have recently returned from tour, past travelers considering their next destination, and prospective customers who have expressed interest in traveling with EF Go Ahead Tours. Through meaningful conversations, you'll learn how to uncover customer needs, build relationships, and guide travelers toward the right experience for them.

This role offers exposure to consultative selling, customer experience, sales strategy, and cross-functional collaboration while developing transferable skills that can support future careers in sales, marketing, business development, customer success, and beyond.

No previous sales experience? No problem. Our co-op program is designed to teach you the fundamentals of sales while providing ongoing coaching, professional development, and mentorship. You'll gain valuable experience selling an exciting product: travel.

Co-ops who consistently exceed performance goals and demonstrate strong success throughout the program may be considered for future full-time opportunities, including our Travel Sales Consultant role.

What You'll Learn:

• Consultative sales and relationship-building techniques
• Business development and pipeline management
• Effective communication and objection handling
• Exposure to customer retention, loyalty, and repeat business strategies
• Goal setting and performance management
• Collaboration across sales, marketing, traveler support, and operations teams
• Time management and prioritization in a fast-paced environment

Responsibilities:

• Build relationships with travelers and help them discover opportunities for future travel experiences
• Manage a portfolio of past and prospective travelers while identifying opportunities to generate new business
• Conduct outbound phone outreach, follow-up conversations, and scheduled consultations with potential customers
• Utilize consultative selling techniques to understand traveler interests and recommend appropriate tour experiences
• Partner with team members and cross-functional stakeholders to support customer engagement initiatives
• Balance outbound, inbound, and scheduled conversations throughout the day
• Accurately document customer interactions, sales activities, and follow-up actions within company systems
• Consistently achieve or exceed individual sales goals and activity expectations, including averaging approximately 65 outbound calls per day.

Qualifications:

• Strong communication and interpersonal skills
• Excitement for building relationships and connecting with a diverse range of individuals
• Self-motivated with a goal-oriented mindset
• Demonstrates curiosity, coachability, and a willingness to learn
• Strong organizational and time management skills
• Ability to balance multiple priorities while working independently and collaboratively
• Comfortable receiving feedback and continuously improving
• Interest in sales, customer engagement, marketing, business development, or travel preferred

Why you'll love working here: This is the most fun, high caliber place you'll ever work. Ask any employee why they love EF (whether they've been here 10 minutes or 10 years) and they'll probably tell you the same thing: it's the people. When you work at EF, you join a purpose-driven, international and energetic community that thrives on continuous learning, fearless innovation and mutual support.

At EF, we're in the business of understanding. Between people. Between cultures. For over half a century we've been the leader in international educational programs and experiences designed to foster such understanding. Through language, cultural exchange, academic studies, and educational travel, we create the kinds of immersive experiences that challenge biases, open minds, and pave the way for a more understanding world.

Founded in 1965 in Sweden, EF (Education First) is a global association of education companies that share a common mission of opening the world through education. EF has been recognized on Forbes 2025 and 2024 World's Best Employers and 2024 Top Companies for Women lists, Fast Company's 2025 Next Big Things In Tech, and was a 2024 App Store Award winner in Cultural Impact. At EF Go Ahead Tours we believe in the power of travel to widen your eyes, broaden your mind and see the world and yourself in entirely new ways. For over 35 years we've guided travelers - from young professionals to retirees, solo travelers to entire families, on carefully crafted journeys. To us, each experience is an opportunity to not just create unforgettable moments, but to inspire greater understanding between people and cultures. Every day our global team comes to work hoping to help as many people as possible share in those experiences.