Career Resource Center
Creating a Great Sales Resume
As a sales professional, you understand the importance of marketing not only your product but yourself. When meeting with a potential client you need to get their attention, differentiate yourself from the competition, and demonstrate how your products, services and experiences will add value to their organization.
Developing your sales resume is no different. When searching for a new role you become the product you are trying to sell, and your resume is the tool that gets you in the door. Whether you submit your resume by mail, fax or electronically through online job sites like Workopolis, Career Builder, Monster or Hot Jobs, you need to create a resume that differentiates you from the other candidates, clearly illustrates your skills and attributes, and demonstrates what you have to offer the company.
To help you in creating a great sales resume, SalesForce Search offers the following tips:
- Show your results - Sales are all about getting results. To demonstrate the success you have achieved in your past and current roles, you should include specific examples or data to back-up your claims. Rather than generic statements like "I helped increase the company's revenue", be specific with examples such as "Increased sales revenue in the Western region by 15% in my first year, and 20% in my second year". You should consider inserting a graph or chart to further illustrate your successes.
- Demonstrate your understanding of the sales process - Selling is a process, not an event. Along with the numbers, you need to show your experience and knowledge of all facets of the sales process including lead generation, developing relationships, closing the deal and account management.
- Show what you can offer to the company - Try to market yourself, not just explain the experience you have. Differentiate yourself from other candidates by showing how your personal attributes and actions will have a positive impact on the organization.
- Highlight any recognition or awards received - You should include any professional awards you have attained (e.g., top sales person in your region for 2006). Make sure you also include awards outside of work including scholarships and community awards. While these awards may not be directly related to the role, they help demonstrate the personal attributes, commitment and drive that are critical to success in the sales world.
- Be clear and concise - Write your resume as succinctly as possible, preferably in bullet format, starting each sentence with an action verb. Recruiters review hundreds of resumes each day so make yours is easy to read and to the point.
- Pay attention to detail - Do all of the little things right. Make sure your spelling and grammar are error-free, your contact information is up-to-date and easy to find, and your resume is formatted in a logical format with most recent experience listed first.
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