Sales Manager Resume Examples [+ Job Description & Skills]

On the surface, there isn’t much of a difference between a Sales Associate and a Sales Manager. They both deal with sales, they’re both excellent persuaders, and they both dabble in analysis. So what sets them apart and how can you incorporate that into your sales manager resume?  

Aside from the average annual salary of $82,000 USD Sales Managers also enjoy HR related responsibilities. Not only are they in charge of managing sales professionals, but they’re additionally responsible for:

• Hiring and training new talent;
• Managing sales strategy and performance;
• Analyzing data.

This article will cover exactly how to create a distractingly attractive sales manager resume with a detailed guide on what to include (e.g. what are the 5 most important sales manager skills), what 4 top secret tips to increase your chances of making it to the final applicant pool, as well as a curated selection of 4 stellar sales manager resume examples. We’ve also thrown in a few FAQs for good measure.

How to Write an Epic Sales Manager Resume

Your sales manager resume is consistent with other types of resumes by featuring a resume profile (header, summary, and objective), work experience section, education section, certification section, and skills section. However, it’s imperative that you tailor each section to not just the type of job you’re applying for - sales - but also to the specific company.

In this section, we’ll be sharing how to customize each section to do just that.

Resume Header

A sales manager resume header is a short, 50-character maximum title that showcases your strengths and makes you stand out to the recruitment team. It is added just underneath your name but above the resume summary. 

Stuck on how to write an attention grabbing resume header? Follow these fail-safe sales manager resume templates:

• [Position] + With + [Number] + Years of Experience
• [Adjective Describing Personality Trait] + [Position] + Who + [Quantitative Achievements]
• [Adjective Describing Personality Trait] + [Position] + Who + [Specialist Skill]

… And check out these sales manager resume examples: 

Sales Manager Resume Header Examples:

Resume Summary

In addition to a stellar sales manager resume header, you also want to reel the hiring manager in with a persuasive resume summary that highlights your strengths, achievements, and skills. And creativity, as you only have two to three sentences to work with.

Harness the power of the following sales manager resume examples to entice recruiters to examine your sales manager resume more thoroughly.

Resume Objective

Resume objectives, also known as career objectives, are your career goals, visions, and motivations for the future, at least in relation to the job that you’re applying for. While they’re generally seen as optional for senior level sales professionals, those creating entry level sales manager resumes are strongly encouraged to include resume objectives to draw attention to their strengths and away from their weaknesses (which would be lack of experience).

Work Experience

The work experience section is the most important part of a sales manager's resume because it addresses how your academic and professional experiences and skills make you the ideal candidate for the job. This means that you need to work extra hard to make this section stand out from the crowd. You can give yourself a better shot at success by doing the following:  

Take Keywords From the Job Description

Taking keywords from the Job Description (JD) is one of the easiest ways to ensure that your sales manager resume gets noticed, and it’s as simple as knowing which keywords to pick and copying them in. This may seem a little like stealing, but the hiring managers put those  important keywords there for a reason and you’re merely taking what they’ve already offered. 

Use Action Verbs To Describe Your Achievements

Next, you need to discuss what you were in charge of, what you accomplished, and what skills you demonstrated during your past work or academic experience. Mentioning sales manager skills is incredibly important in the work experience section because it gives you the opportunity to expand upon how these skills make you the perfect candidate for the job.

The best way to highlight such skills and achievements in your sales manager resume is by using action verbs in sentences that follow the format: Action Verb + Achievement. Here are a few examples (minus the quantifiable results):

• Analysis skills: Analyzed performance using KPIs to refine sales strategies, resulting in an increase in revenue each quarter.
• Sales skills: Exceeded sales goals through strategic product presentation, upselling, and fostering strong customer relationships. 
• Training skills: Strategically planned and executed onboarding training programs for new hires, contributing to an increase in staff retention rates.

Sales manager resume skills are not limited to presentation, organizational, and training skills, however, so feel free to use any of the 30 action verbs from the following table that are most suited to your academic and/or work experience:

 Add Quantifiable Results To Expand Your Achievements

Regardless of how well you implement action verbs into your sales manager resume, they won’t be enough to blow the socks off the hiring manager: only the addition of quantifiable results can do that. This is due to results acting as evidence of your actions, further persuading recruiters that you are actually proficient in the sales manager skills mentioned. 

Examples of results that you can add figures and numbers to include increased revenue, increased customer retention, increased customer reach, etc. Check out the following sales manager resume samples to get an idea of how to integrate quantifiable results into your achievements.

Skills

As previously discussed, a sales manager is a leader, a mentor, and above all else a great salesperson. Ensure that such skills are flagged in your sales manager resume by the ATS (more on this later) by explicitly stating your sales manager skills in a list format. This also helps bring extra emphasis to the skills that you mention. 

Not sure what sales manager skills to add? We’ve compiled a list of the 60 most important skills to showcase on sales manager resumes, from general and technical hard skills to key transferable soft skills. Note that not all skills may be applicable for your specific application, so it’s best to check the JD beforehand.

Education

Education is one part of a sales manager resume that’s often overlooked. Who needs to add education if you have years of experience, anyway? Even if this is going through your head when creating your application materials with CakeResume’s free resume builder, you should bear in mind that it is essential to add an education section.

While the path to becoming a sales manager isn’t heavily dependent on what you studied at school, like for personal bankers, hiring managers will still want to know what academic institution you attended, what you studied, and for how long. For recent graduates and entry level applicants, it’s also recommended that you mention your:

• Majors and minors (if applicable)
• Relevant coursework
• Honors and awards
• Extracurricular activities
• GPA (but only if it’s above a 3.5)

Here are a few examples on how to format your education section in a sales manager resume.

Certifications

Whether you’re a seasoned sales manager or not, adding activities that you’ve participated in outside of your usual 9 to 5 can help bolster your sales manager resume. Activities can include participation in projects, courses, workshops, and webinars, as well as membership to certain organizations.

You may also choose to include any relevant awards or certifications for sales professionals that you’ve gained. Examples of relevant things you can add to this section include, but are not limited to:

• Hubspot Inbound Sales Certification
• Certified Sales Development Representative (AA-ISP)
• Certified Professional Sales Leader (NASP)

Tips for Writing a Sales Manager Resume

Use an ATS-friendly Format

We’ve mentioned the acronym ATS quite a bit in this article, so what is it? ATS stands for Applicant Tracking System, and if you’re not familiar with it yet it will be the bane of your application experience if you don’t use CakeResume’s resume templates. 

That’s because our resumes are formatted in a way that the ATS can recognize. The ATS is a powerful HR tool that sifts through applications for keywords, but it has trouble recognizing rich visual designs like columns, tables, and images. Thankfully, with CakeResume’s stylish yet ATS-friendly templates, you won’t need to skimp on design for your sales manager resume

Tailor it to the Job and Company.

Having a general sales manager resume in your back pocket is a great idea to save you time and effort when making a bunch of applications, but it won’t get you the job. This is because sending off an uncustomized resume to a company indicates that you didn’t really take the time - or the effort - to understand what they’re looking for, which gives the feeling that you’re not that interested in the job.

You can easily ensure that your general sales manager's resume matches with the position by taking keywords from the JD, understanding what requirements there are for the role, and doing a little research on the company. This should then influence what you choose to mention in your resume objective, work experience, and skills section.  

Include a Portfolio

Just because you’re applying for a management position doesn’t mean you shouldn’t showcase the projects that you’ve excelled at. Remember, this is still a sales position. To ensure that the hiring managers are blown away with your application, digitally link your portfolio to your sales manager resume with CakeResume’s free portfolio tool. 

Add a Cover Letter

No application is complete without a cover letter. This is especially true for a sales manager application which requires formality, creativity, and persuasion in copious amounts. 

When writing a sales manager cover letter, you need to address the reason for your application (i.e. why do you want to apply for the job?) and what advantages you have (i.e. what makes you different from other candidates?). For the latter, you should elaborate on skills and experiences that you’ve already mentioned in your sales manager resume and/or featured in your portfolio.

Sales Manager Resume Examples

Entry-level Sales Manager Resume Example

Regional Sales Manager Resume Example

Retail Sales Manager Resume Sample (Mid Level)

Senior Sales Manager Resume Sample

FAQs For Sales Manager Resumes

How should I format a resume sales manager position?

When brainstorming the right sales manager resume format, you need to first understand the difference between a resume (where you mention only relevant academic and work experience) and a CV (where you mention every instance of academic and work experience that you’ve had). 

Next, you need to know the distinction between each of the four resume formats and which is best suited to your professional background. This generally comes down to a reverse chronological format vs. functional (skills-based) format battle, where the winner is whichever resume format better amplifies your relevant skills and achievements.

How to write an entry-level sales manager resume with no experience?

Taking the first step and making an application to a position that you’ve never held before can be daunting. Thankfully, by highlighting your transferable leadership, communication, and analytical skills, as well as experience in sales, you can make your sales manager resume just as good as someone else’s with years of experience.

• Leadership Skills: As we’ve established throughout this article, sales managers act as mentors, trainers, and, of course, leaders to their team. You can reflect this key skill by showcasing any leadership position you’ve held, such as volunteering, taking charge of a school project, or managing a team in a different industry.
• Communication Skills: Communication is key to being an effective leader and a great salesperson. Highlight your strong communication skills in your sales manager resume by providing examples that demonstrate your communication skills in customer service skills, project and report presentations, or successfully generating leads. 
• Analytical Skills: Sales managers need to be adept at analyzing data, so your sales manager resume needs to convey your ability to analyze, interpret, and report. This skill can be reflected through participation in projects where you conducted research and analysis (like market or competition) to provide teachers or employers with a report.

Key Takeaways

In this article, we’ve detailed how sales managers are leaders, mentors, excellent communicators, detail-oriented analyzers, and just all-around great salespeople. If nothing else, remember to mention these four soft skills in your sales manager resume, plus four other hard skills like sales forecasting, budgeting, sales strategy, and market and competitor analysis.

We’ve also covered how you can weave these relevant sales manager skills into your resume through the work experience and skills section, as well as how to make your resume stand the test of the ATS by taking keywords from the JD and using CakeResume’s free services. 

In addition to the resume builder and portfolio maker, Cake features an expert blog with hundreds of articles tailored to make creating your resume and navigating your career easy.

— Originally written by Eva O'Mara —