The salesperson is one of the crucial professions in the world. They are responsible for generating income. In the modern world, it does not matter how good that product really is if nobody buys it. Being a good salesperson implies possessing specific skills, experience and vast knowledge about human behavior. If you already worked in that sphere, it will be much easier for you to create a powerful resume and demonstrate your impact and measurable achievements.
You should remember that your main goal is to showcase the relevant skills and competencies that will demonstrate your suitability for the position of a salesperson. Employers always know what kind of person can become a good fit for their team, so try to meet their expectations by providing all the necessary information about your professional life. The following rules can surely help you to create an effective document that will land you a job
The contact data almost always goes first, but right after that, you have to include some specific information about your achievements and relevant working experience. Determine the main requirements provided in the job offering and present yourself in a way that strictly matches them. Pay close attention to all the phases of your previous employment in the other places
Focus on what recruiters want to see on your resume. Recruiters don’t want to see you mentioning irrelevant work experience, strange hobbies and … bad grammar.
There are two main formats - chronological and functional. If you have an extensive list of relevant work experience, the chronological format is perfect for you. Use the following order for this format:
If you are an entry-level salesperson or are changing careers, you may find the functional format to be more suitable. The sections go as follows:
Get creative by adding extra sections if they help you demonstrate your competencies (e.g., Awards, Publications).
Be overly creative with naming those sections. Online scanners look for particular words and may not recognize a section named ‘Relevant Background’. It is better to use a more conventional heading like, ‘Work Experience’.
Double-check your grammar and ask somebody to proofread your resume.Use a simple resume template. Stick to a professional looking font such as Arial, Calibri, Verdana or Times New Roman and keep the font size within 9-12 points.
Take a look at our examples of the resumes that landed jobs for their owners. Among them, you can find former candidates who were changing careers, entry-level applicants, and the ones who work in wholesale and retail sales. You can download one of our templates and adjust it to your qualifications and work experience.
An entry-level salesperson resume sample.
Along with professional work experience, you have probably had your share of sleepless nights and high levels of stress over the years. However, it is difficult to translate all of this work into a strictly formatted and concise resume. To ensure that this is no longer an obstacle in your career search, we have compiled a list of tips that will easily help you fill out our resume template and highlight your most notable achievements.
The summary is the very first section that will draw the attention of a reader, so the way you put words together in this part is extremely important. Here you present the ability to be a person who can sell virtually anything to anyone in the world, even during periods of economic crises and recessions. You have to persuade the employer in your professionalism by including the years of experience, recent achievements and as many numbers as possible because in this profession numbers speak for themselves. Keep your summary statement short, not more than 5-6 lines but compelling and engaging.
Take a look at some great salesman summary examples:
Dedicated senior electronics salesman with over ten years of experience providing a superior level of customer service, acquiring new purchasers, and retaining existing clients. Demonstrate excellent selling skills using cold calls and sales leads resulting in consistent growth of revenue from trading off previously unpopular items. Highly focused on exemplary service and continuous improvement. Possess strong time management and multitasking abilities, allowing to improve the efficiency of work processes. Excel in marketing activities as well as client relations and resolution of customer complaints.
Experienced electronics salesman, good at customer service, performing cold call sales, and working in challenging environments.
If you are submitting your salesperson resume online, it will most likely be scanned by an applicant tracking system. An applicant tracking system (ATS) is a robot that scans your resume and looks for necessary keywords, work experience, and additional requirements if there are any. However, it is still important to use professional terminology and jargon when sending a resume directly to a recruiter, despite it not being relevant to ATS. Using professional vocabulary will demonstrate that you are familiar with this field.
Include a fair number of sales-related keywords like “customer service”, “excellent product knowledge”, “generating sales” and “communication skills”.
Overuse keywords which serve no purpose in your sentences.
In the “Work Experience” or “Employment history” section, you can use some action words that are popular among scanning software programs.
Use relevant action words, such as: sale, communicate, service, negotiate, encourage, demonstrate, organize, showcase, maintain, identify, market, assist, generate, schedule, deliver.
It is also important to present your skills in the best wording possible so that the recruiter can immediately grasp your qualifications. For instance:
Use your academic credentials as evidence of your achievements and experience. Academic prowess is what any employer notices on your resume.
However, if you have additional education (Master’s degree, certificate, etc.), including it into your resume will only strengthen your qualifications and education profile - this will prove your expertise in the area. An MBA (Sales Management) degree, for example, is increasingly popular.
Drop your technical experience. In today’s companies, every employee is expected to have technical skills.
You are free to include any general technical skills you may have, but it is better to stick to mentioning specific tools that salespeople often use. Social media, software, online services - everything that you are proficient in can be pointed out. Titles like Postwire, Hootsuite, Maptive or Brainshark will surely make HR-Manager give you some extra points and will set you above other applicants.
Here are some examples of job descriptions:
The “achievements” section is very important to a potential employer because here you give him or her some concrete and tangible results that can be verified, compared to averages, and eventually tip the balance in your favor. Try to recall all the essential accomplishments and provide the necessary evidence to back up your claims and prove that you are the one they need in their company.
Here are some examples:
Applicant Tracking Systems will carefully check your document and detect whether it is suitable and good enough for further exploring by a real person, so you have to give those heartless machines every possible keyword that can bring you closer to the desired job interview. Try choosing from these:
| customer service | excellent communication skills | excellent product knowledge |
| cashier management | retailer service | POS terminal |
| time management | merchandising | advertisement |
| customer satisfaction | individual sales | marketing strategies |
| generating skills | housekeeping | inventory |
| order processing | recordkeeping | servicing goods |
20% of the sales force is considered to deliver 80% of the company's revenue. Over 50% of sales managers report being way to busy to train their sales teams.
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