Sales Manager Resume: Examples and Tips
Sales managers are responsible for building and mentoring a sales force, developing sales strategies and supervising sales operations to meet a company’s sales targets. This role traditionally requires a degree in sales/marketing and experience working up the ladder from junior sales positions.
To elevate your resume and take the next step towards a sales manager position, use our tips and resume examples.
Table of Contents
Featured resume example: sales manager
Name: STELLA NEILL
Address: City, State, Zip Code
Phone: 000-000-0000
E-Mail: email@email.com
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS
Accomplished Sales Manager offering over 10 years of experience developing and maximizing territory sales. Diligent in building and retaining accounts by providing support and attentive service. Expertise in marketing strategies, product promotion and merchandising to achieve market penetration. Successful record of expanding network connections through persuasive brand imaging.
WORK HISTORY
- Identified, hired and trained over 12 highly-qualified staff members in multiple locations by teaching best practices, procedures and sales strategies.
- Expanded product distribution by adding more than 16 new distribution points in region, including convenience stores, distributors, retail supermarkets and food services.
- Reduced expenses 7% by effectively negotiating contractor prices, terms and service agreements.
- Improved sales processes to streamline customer acquisition and onboarding strategies.
- Created and launched new online marketing strategies, resulting in 18% sales increase.
- Identified opportunities for growth within territory and collaborated with sales teams to reach sales goal.
- Worked closely with all product development departments to create and maintain marketing materials for sales presentations and client meetings.
- Exceeded sales goals 15% by effectively applying analyzed data to marketing campaigns and sharing data interdepartmentally.
- Managed full-cycle marketing and advertising strategies including estimating costs, managing resource allocation and adjusting production schedules to ensure success.
SKILLS
- Territory management
- Team management
- B2B & B2C sales
- Goals and performance
- Coaching and mentoring
- Sales operation
- Marketing strategy
- Analytical problem solver
EDUCATION
- Minored in Marketing
Top 4 characteristics of a best-in-class sales manager resume
- Summary Think of your resume summary as a brief description of your work experience, achievements and abilities. Start with skills that benefit the sales manager position, such as digital marketing, negotiation or product promotion. Then match these skills with accomplishments which prove your effectiveness. For example: “Hard-working Sales Manager experienced in product promotion and mentoring six sales personnel to consistently hit revenue targets.”
- Skills Skim the job description to learn what the company is looking for, and pull qualifications that best match your abilities, from team-building ability to budget management and client negotiations.
- Work history Your work history should emphasize your achievements. Quantify your impact with numerical data. For example: “reduced costs by 20% while increasing team efficiency by 10%.” Stating that you boosted sales by 45% tells employers a lot more than simply stating “boosted sales.”
- Education List your highest educational credential (e.g., undergraduate or graduate diploma), as well as any courses or certifications you have in areas such as sales, marketing, finance and business administration, as well as specialized areas such as digital marketing or social marketing.
See Why My Perfect Resume is a 5-Star Resume Builder
Find the right template for your resume
No need to search for a resume layout that checks all the right boxes — these three smartly-designed templates can easily be configurable for a sales manager role using our resume builder.
Whitespace
This minimalistic resume uses simple lines to divide sections, allowing the reader to sift through the content easily.
Managerial
As the name suggests, this resume is a good choice to showcase career experience. The two-column layout and monogram design for the applicant’s name adds some design dash.
Pacific
This template highlights your name in a colorful banner, while also structuring your resume content cleanly. Easily customizable, it’s a good choice for sales managers and seasoned professionals.
Head to our resume templates page for even more templates to choose from.
Do’s and don’ts for your resume
- Do review your resume before applying Your resume will provide hiring managers their first look at you — make it count. Review your resume for typos, grammatical mistakes and punctuation errors. Double-check to make sure you’re using the right professional language and terminology for the position, and that all the information is accurate. It’s a good idea to run your resume through at least two rounds of reviews, and even get a trusted friend or colleague to look it over.
- Do make your resume easy to read Hiring managers go through hundreds of resumes — don’t make their jobs harder (and make it harder on yourself) by using a fancy or unorthodox layout. Stick to simple and straightforward: professional fonts, subtle colors and well-organized sections.
- Do keep your resume updated Your resume reflects your career progression and accomplishments, so keep it updated with new job responsibilities or projects, even if you’re not currently looking for a job. Staying up to date on your details will make it easy for you to customize your resume for new jobs.
- Don’t add irrelevant information Each statement of your sales resume must lead the recruiter to believe that you have the right blend of skills and experience for the role of a sales personnel. If you have knowledge of excel sheets, database management or Powerpoint slides, then you can add these in your sales resume because these are skills which are required by sales personnel too. However, if you have worked as a bartender and were an expert is mixing drinks, there is no need to mention that in your sales manager resume.
- Don’t create a lengthy resume Your resume should be a summary of your qualifications, not a novel. Avoid adding unnecessary details about high school clubs, or listing every single responsibility from previous jobs. Stick to listing your most impressive achievements, bolstered by quantifiable data, wherever possible (e.g., “Handled key accounts for 15 clients, with total revenue of $2 million”). Keep your resume to one page, unless the employer places a premium on previous work experience, in which case you can extend to two pages to accommodate a larger work history section.
- Don’t mislead If you have any gaps in your professional or academic career, don’t lie to cover up the fact. Recruiters will give you the chance to explain your unemployment period during the interview, and they value honesty. And of course, you should avoid writing anything that isn’t 100% accurate. Don’t take the risk of companies doing due diligence and catching you in a fib.
Sales manager resume FAQ
- 1. What are the skills you should emphasize for this specific job?
- 2. What are some examples of training and certifications that fit this specific resume?
- 3. How should you construct your resume?
- 4. How should you craft your resume if you’re looking to take the next step forward in your career?
1. What are the skills you should emphasize for this specific job?
A sales manager position requires flexibility, multitasking ability, and effectiveness at not only monitoring sales but devising new strategies. Some essential skills that help those requirements are listed below:
- Managing and mentoring sales employees
- Tracking sales personnel performance
- Client acquisition
- Recruiting new sales talent
- Developing strategies to improve client retention
- Strong interpersonal skills
- Expertise in customer service
- Problem-solving
- Conflict resolution
2. What are some examples of training and certifications that fit this specific resume?
Below are some courses that would be helpful to feature in your profile:
- Sales Technique Training
- Certified Sales Leadership Professional
- Certified Sales Executive
- Diploma in Sales Management
- Business Communication
- Recruitment Training
3. How should you construct your resume?
Before you draft your resume, go through the job description thoroughly and note keywords and phrases that define what a company is looking for (e.g., display advertising expertise, or a proven track record of meeting or exceeding sales goals).
Next, determine the right resume format for your situation, depending on your experience (for this position, a chronological format is usually the way to go).
Then compose each section of your resume to address the keywords you found in the job posting. For instance, if the job calls for display advertising expertise, mention it up front in your summary (e.g., “Seasoned sales manager with experience in display advertising”).
In your work history, include key responsibilities and achievements, making use of action verbs like “managed,” “oversaw” or “implemented” (e.g., “Implemented processes that resulted in revenues that exceeded sales goals by 23%”).
4. How should you craft your resume if you’re looking to take the next step forward in your career?
Target the position you’re interested in moving up to, and check job descriptions and resume examples for skills and training that the position requires. Then, look for opportunities to take on responsibilities and coursework that will fulfill these requirements. Some examples of skills and accomplishments you should aim for:
- Stepping up your presentation skills
- Devising new techniques and processes to boost operations and profits
- Creating solutions to target specific fallings in current sales plans
- Taking on more leadership in sales personnel training
- Researching current market trends and implementing new strategies based on your findings
Resume examples for the next step in your sales career
- Account Executive Resume
- Account Representative Resume
- Analyst Resume
- Appliance Associate Resume
- Assistant Director Resume
- Assistant Manager Resume
- Associate Resume
- Automotive Sales Manager Resume
- Beer Representative Resume
- Bid Manager Resume
- Car Assistant Manager Resume
- Car Associate Resume
- Car Consultant Resume
- Car General Manager Resume
- Channel Manager Resume
- Dental Representative Resume
- Department Store Associate Resume
- Direct Representative Resume
- Franchise Owner Resume
- Freight Associate Resume
- Furniture Associate Resume
- Furniture Manager Resume
- General Manager Resume
- Independent Representative Resume
- Inside Representative Resume
- Inside Sales Representative Resume
- International Manager Resume
- Jewelry Associate Resume
- Manager Resume
- Mechanical Engineer Resume
- Mobile Associate Resume
- Operation Analyst Resume
- Operation Manager Resume
- Order Processor Resume
- Outside Representative Resume
- Outside Sales Representative Resume
- Representative Resume
- Route Representative Resume
- Stock Broker Resume
- Team Member Resume
- Telecom Associate Resume
- Telecom Manager Resume
- Telemarketer Resume
- Veterinary Manager Resume
- Wine Manager Resume
- Wine Representative Resume
- Wireless Sales Professional Resume
- Workforce Manager Resume
Cover letter examples for the next step in your sales career
- Agent Cover Letter
- Sales Associate Cover Letter
- Automotive Salesperson Cover Letter
- Sales Coordinator Cover Letter
- Director of Sales Cover Letter
- District Sales Manager Cover Letter
- Sales Executive Cover Letter
- Franchise Owner Cover Letter
- Freight Associate Cover Letter
- Inside Sales Representative Cover Letter
- Lead Sales Associate Cover Letter
- Merchandiser Retail Representative Cover Letter
- Outside Sales Representative Cover Letter
- Professional Cover Letter
- Regional Sales Manager Cover Letter
- Salesperson Cover Letter
- Seasonal Sales Associate Cover Letter
- Sales Specialist Cover Letter
- Team Member Cover Letter
- Telemarketer Cover Letter
- Territory Manager Cover Letter