Inside Sales Representative Resume Examples & Templates
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Making a resume that stands out can feel like a daunting task, especially when you need to capture all of your expertise as an inside sales rep in a page or two. How do you show how well you juggle prospecting new clients with closing deals and nurturing existing relationships in a way that sells your expertise?
With our expertly crafted inside sales representative resume samples and pro tips, we’ll help you write a resume that captures your expertise, from showcasing your sales metrics to demonstrating your customer relationship management skills.
Let’s turn your hard work and dedication into a resume that truly reflects your potential and opens doors to new possibilities.
Start by editing this sample resume for an inside sales representative job or explore our library of customizable resume templates to find one that matches your unique style.
Inside sales representative resume sample (text version)
JEREMIAH DONELLEY
Sacramento, CA 94207
555-555-5555
example@example.com
Professional Summary
Results-driven inside sales representative with five years of experience maximizing revenue opportunities in B2B sales. Strong cold calling and relationship-building skills with proven expertise in proactively addressing objections and resolving issues. Strong desire to focus on client retention and achieving goals.
Work History
December 2016 – Current
Anixter – Sacramento, CA
Inside Sales Representative
- Set up over 10 new customer accounts each week, establish customer credit and set up payment methods.
- Manage and record all leads from outbound telephone marketing.
- Answer an average of 15 incoming customer calls daily to answer product questions and close sales.
February 2015 – November 2016
Entercom Communications – Sacramento, CA
Sales Representative
- Adapted sales techniques to specific clients and promoted products based on individualized client needs.
- Conducted daily on-site product demonstrations to highlight features, answer questions from an average of 30 customers and redirect concerns toward positive aspects.
- Created effective organizational systems for reports, agendas, contracts and sales records.
July 2013 – January 2015
Mimi’s Café – Sacramento, CA
Waiter
- Maintained customer satisfaction with timely table check-ins to assess food and beverage needs.
- Memorized restaurant wine stock and appropriate entree pairings, driving daily wine sales averaging $2,000.
- Upsold specialty items to increase overall sales and exceed targets.
Skills
- Sales
- Account management
- Strong communication
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software
- Salesforce
- Superior organizational skills
- Expertise in cold calling
- Self-motivated
Education
May 2014
Sacramento City College Sacramento, CA
Associate of Arts Business Communications
Certifications
Certified Inside Sales Professional (CISP) – (Updated 2023)
Important resume sections
Contact details
Start your inside sales representative resume with a header that includes your contact information so employers can reach you for an interview.
As our inside sales representative resume sample shows, include your full name, city, state, ZIP code, phone number and professional email address. If you have a LinkedIn profile or a professional website, add them to this section.
Personal statement
An inside sales representative resume summary is a three- to five-sentence statement that tells the hiring manager how long you’ve been in the industry, your strongest job-relevant skills, and one or two quantifiable accomplishments that speak to your positive impact in past roles. For example:
Dedicated and results-driven inside sales representative with over 10 years of experience delivering exceptional customer service and exceeding goals in high-volume sales settings. Skilled in customer resolution, sales and lead generation. Track record of implementing sales processes and improving overall staff performance by over 15%. Strong communication skills with the ability to manage and motivate staff members.
See our expertly crafted examples for additional inside sales representative resume summary examples. If you are just starting out in your career, it’s better to write a resume objective for an inside sales representative instead.
Skills
Include both hard and soft skills to create a balanced skills section for your inside sales representative resume. Strive to match as many skills from the job description as you can.
Here are some essential skills you might find in a job ad for an inside sales representative:
- Customer service: Inside sales representatives must be skilled at building relationships, answering product questions and truly enjoy helping others.
- Product knowledge: Your ability to familiarize yourself with new products is essential in the field of sales.
- Communication: Strong verbal communication skills are crucial for inside sales representatives to effectively interact with both customers and key stakeholders.
- Problem-solving: Inside sales representatives need to be adept at identifying and quickly resolving customer issues.
Once you have a hearty list of skills, see our inside sales representative sample resume to see how you can format your skills section neatly.
Work history
Your resume’s work history section is the most important section unless you don’t have any experience. Start with your most recent position and provide company names, locations and the dates you worked for them.
Include three to five bullet points of measurable achievements for every job you list. Here are a few examples of inside sales representative bullet points that effectively describe key duties and responsibilities:
- Answered an average of 20 calls per day, assisting customers with product purchases, fielding questions and providing features and benefits to help close sales.
- Managed high volume of incoming leads, responding within the same business day.
- Exceeded sales goals by 25%, providing exceptional customer service to 100+ customers weekly.
- Created streamlined sales processes for a team of four representatives, increasing the number of customer contacts by 10% monthly.
Explore our resume examples for inside sales representatives to see additional work history section samples.
Education
A resume for an inside sales representative job must also include an education section. Start with your highest degree and work your way backward. Include the name of the schools, the degree or diploma earned and your graduation year (if you graduated recently).
The qualifications and degree requirements for an inside sales rep role may vary depending on the industry and organization. However, many employers prefer that inside sales representatives have at least a high school diploma or equivalent.
If you did not attend college, list your high school information and the classes or training you’ve taken since graduating. See how to list education on a resume for additional tips and examples.
See why MyPerfectResume is a 5-star resume builder
Action words for your resume
Use action words and numbers to add impact to your resume. Here’s a short list of verbs you could mention on your inside sales representative resume:
- Promote
- Pitch
- Record
- Answer
- Close
- Demonstrate
- Call
- Source
- Maintain
- Upsell
- Increase
- Exceed
- Research
- Seek
- Identify
- Assess
- Discuss
- Foster
- Negotiate
- Convince
- Collaborate
- Present
- Report
- Generate
- Resolve
Want more inspiration? We have 800+ resume examples to help you write a professional inside sales representative resume.
Best skills for your resume
Review the job description closely and match the required skills to the skills and traits that fit you. Your inside sales representative resume should feature skills such as:
- Customer service
- Telephone and email etiquette
- Cold calling
- B2B and B2C sales
- Account management
- Knowledge of the sales cycle
- Market and prospect research
- Lead generation
- Applying sales techniques
- Upselling
- Pipeline management
- Forecasting
- Product demonstrations
- Record-keeping
- Client retention
- Product knowledge
- Microsoft Office Suite
- Spreadsheet software
- Presentation tools
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software
- Salesforce
- Negotiation
- Verbal and written communication
- Interpersonal skills
- Persuasiveness
- Relationship-building
- Adaptability
- Teamwork
- Empathy
- Multitasking
- Resilience
- Active listening
- Time management
- Problem-solving
- Organization
Our Resume Builder has all the tools you need to create a professional resume in minutes! We’ll help you fill in your template with our prewritten content options, make edits on the fly, save your finished resume and download it in multiple file formats.
Certifications for your resume
Certifications are not essential for an inside sales representative job, but including at least one on your resume will differentiate you from other applicants and impress hiring managers.
There are many sales-related certifications that you could pursue to boost your resume. Here are a few examples:
- Certified Inside Sales Professional (CISP)
- Certified Professional Sales Person (CPSP)
- Inbound Sales Certification
- Salesforce Certified Sales Representative
- SMEI Certified Professional Salesperson (SCPS)
Pair your resume with a matching cover letter
FAQ
What skills should you put on a resume for an inside sales representative?
There are two types of skills you need to highlight in your inside sales representative resume: hard skills that you’ve actively developed and are specific to the world of sales, like pipeline management and knowledge of B2B sales techniques, and soft skills that are valuable in any role, like communication and time management.
Strive to highlight the skills mentioned in the job description, if they apply to you, to demonstrate that you’re a perfect match for the role. Here’s some other key information to include:
- Technical skills that show your ability to do your job, including knowledge of relevant software and technology.
- Interpersonal skills that you would draw on to deal with customers effectively.
- Important keywords from the job description so that your resume isn’t rejected by applicant tracking systems (ATS).
Explore our guide on how long a resume should be for tips and guidance from career advice experts.
How should you format an inside sales representative resume?
The best resume format for your document will depend on the amount of work experience you have and the seniority of the position you’re applying for. Consider which of these options fits your career profile:
- The functional format is a good option for entry-level sales professionals with no or very little work experience as it keeps the focus on your skills and training.
- A combination format highlights both your skills and your work experience, so it’s ideal for midlevel job applicants.
- The chronological resume format is the best choice for experienced professionals with consistent career progression as it places emphasis on your job history.
An effective resume format also requires using a professional font and clear headers and bullet points, like in our inside sales representative sample resume.
What should you write under the experience section on an inside sales representative resume?
As noted in our inside sales representative resume sample, it’s important to list your current and previous job titles, employer names, locations and the dates you were employed by each company.
Under every heading, it’s better to include specific work accomplishments from each position rather than simply listing your duties and responsibilities.
Try to quantify your achievements (e.g., Exceeded monthly sales quota by 15% for four consecutive months) because numbers tend to stand out in hiring managers’ minds and are great indicators of impact.
If you don’t have any work experience, focus on volunteer work, internships, courses and extracurricular activities that have helped you hone skills relevant to sales.
Best practices
- Use measurable achievements to describe your abilities and experience as an inside sales representative. For example, “Led team of six sales associates, consistently meeting sales goals and ensuring customer satisfaction throughout the life cycle.”
- Use action words to add impact to your inside sales representative resume.
- Tailor your resume to your target inside sales representative job.
- Use keywords from the job description throughout your resume for an inside sales representative role.
- Format your inside sales representative resume so that it is easy to read by ATS software and human eyes.
- Lie about your inside sales representative experience and skills.
- Boast that you’re the “most successful inside sales representative around.” Instead, focus on concrete examples of your experience working with customers, closing sales and generating leads.
- Include irrelevant personal information, such as your ethnicity and age.
- Add skills and experience that aren’t relevant to an inside sales representative role.
- Forget to proofread. A resume with errors is unprofessional. Use our ATS Resume Checker to scan for 30+ common errors and improve your resume score.
Interview tips
Research first.
A critical first step in interview preparation is to learn about the employer’s history, goals, values and people before the interview.
Showing in-depth knowledge about a potential employer conveys interest, passion and commitment — traits that make for a desirable candidate. See our job interview guide for additional tips from career advice experts.
Practice your answers.
Practicing your answers is really important. Be sure to practice for your interview by reviewing the most common interview questions, such as:
- How do you determine priorities when scheduling your time?
- What two or three things are most important to you in your job?
- What has been your most rewarding accomplishment?
Then, prepare for common behavioral interview questions, such as:
- Describe a time when you had to cope with a stressful scenario.
- How would your boss describe you?
- What are the qualities that contribute to professional success?
Also, prepare for job-specific questions, including:
- Can you walk us through your approach to generating leads and building your pipeline?
- How do you assess the effectiveness of your sales process, and what metrics do you use to measure success?
- Could you provide an example of a time when you had to resolve several customer objections and were still able to close the sale?
Write down two or three possible answers for each question, then practice answering them with a friend.
Prepare questions to ask during the interview.
At the end of an interview, the interviewer will often give you the opportunity to ask them a few questions.
Always have at least three questions prepared for each person you speak with during the interview process. Doing so shows that you are interested and have been paying close attention.
Some questions you might ask for an inside sales representative job are:
- What kind of support is available to inside sales representatives during customer negotiations or complex sales situations?
- How is success measured for this role?
- What goals would you set for me over the next six months?
- Can you describe the company’s current approach to employee development and training?
Remember to ask open-ended questions and give the interviewer time to answer.
Gather references.
Have professional references ready before you enter your interview — you never know if the hiring manager might want to contact them immediately. Ask a former manager and two former colleagues who can speak about your performance as a sales representative and who you know will give you an excellent review.
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Inside Sales Representative Resume Example
Toni is a Career Expert who has been providing career advice to professionals for over 16 years. Her areas of expertise include interview prep, salary negotiation, resume writing and career change coaching.
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