Guide: How To Write An Effective Sales Executive Resume

Updated 18 March 2023

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A sales executive takes part in all aspects of sales, including direct sales of products and services, setting sales goals and policies and building customer relationships. If you are applying for a job as a sales executive, your resume is often your first chance to impress a prospective employer. A well-written resume highlights your work experience, skills and educational and professional background. In this article, we describe why resumes are important for sales executives, explain how to write a professional sales executive resume, offer tips for writing a successful resume, and provide an easy-to-use template along with an example.

Why Is Writing A Sales Executive Resume Important?

You can demonstrate your ability to sell your skills and experience to a potential employer through a well-crafted sales executive resume. An effective resume can showcase your sales skills and experience using sales terminology and keywords. Your resume can display your ability to close sales, broaden your customer base and increase sales revenue for your employer. A well-written resume allows prospective employers to quickly see the benefits you can provide as an employee.

How To Write An Effective Resume For A Sales Executive?

To make your resume noticeable to potential employers and hiring managers, follow these steps:

1. Make your contact information prominent

Display your contact information prominently so employers can find it easily. You can include your name, mailing address and phone number. While including your email address, make sure it sounds professional. You can also create a separate email account for work-related correspondence to prevent important emails from getting mixed up in your regular inbox.

You can also include a web page address if you have one. This gives your potential employer more information about you and is a good addition to your contact information if this is common or required in your industry or role. Avoid linking to blogs or social media pages in your contact information if they are unrelated or irrelevant to your career.

2. Write a professional summary

Your professional summary lets a potential employer or hiring manager know your career achievements and skills and demonstrates your abilities. Limit this section to just one or two sentences. For example, you can write, ‘Awarded sales executive with more than 15 years of experience in showroom sales.' or ‘Accumulated 95% customer satisfaction rating and 97% customer retention rating over years.'.

3. Describe your work experience

While listing your work experience, mention your most recent job at the top of the section. Include the title of your job, the name of the company you worked for, the location of the company and the duration of your employment at the company. There are several key elements that you can highlight in your sales resume. A few of them include:

Regions you have managed or where you made sales
The products you sold
Typical customers you sold to
Notable persons you have worked with
Your biggest sales deals
The length of your sales cycles
Quotas met or exceeded along with the percentage of quota if exceeded
Number of staff members you managed
Large sales budgets you have administered

An effective work description is short and highlights your achievements as an employee. To make your resume more noticeable to a potential employer, you can replace vague statements with descriptive sentences. For example, replace ‘exceeded quotas' with ‘consistently met or exceeded domestic sales quotas by 17% each quarter'.

4. List your professional skills

Listing your skills according to each job description shows hiring managers and potential employers how well your skills align with their needs. As more companies are using Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) that search for keywords on resumes, you can improve your prospects by highlighting your skills with keywords. Some common keywords for a sales executive resume are:

Account management
Business analysis
Cold calling
Customer relations
Lead generation
Negotiation
Prospecting
Customer retention

Additionally, you can also mention any soft skills you possess. These include excellent communication skills, attention to detail and problem-solving. This can let your potential employer know that you have the right combination of skills and talent for the role.

5. List your certifications

Here you may list all your sales-related certifications. Include the name of the certification along with the name of the certifying agency or body, the date on which you obtained the certification and the location of the certifying authority. Remember to mention the expiration date if applicable and leave out certifications that have passed their expiration date.

6. List your professional affiliations

If you have memberships in organisations that require you to have skills that relate to your career path, you can list them in this section of your resume. You can include memberships in professional organisations for sales professionals and any leadership roles you have in them. You can also mention any civic affiliations you have that relate to your career goal.

Tips For Creating A Good Sales Executive Resume

Here are a few tips to help you craft a professional resume:

Proofread your resume: Carefully review your resume for spelling and grammatical errors. A well-written resume demonstrates your attention to detail and professionalism.
Align your skills to the needs of each employer: Modify your resume to address the expectations of each job description. Look for keywords in the job posting and include them in your resume where relevant so you can capture the hiring manager's attention.
Keep your resume short: Limit your resume to one or two pages, even if you have an extensive work history. This makes it easy for potential employers and hiring managers to find your skills and qualifications.
Keep your resume's format professional and simple: Use clear, legible fonts and leave some white space on the page.
Review resumes written by other sales executives: Take a look at resumes written by other professionals in your industry to learn best practices for resume writing in your field.
Be specific about your achievements: When listing your work accomplishments, include specific information such as ‘increased sales by 50%' or ‘named top sales associate for four years in a row'. When you include metrics, potential employers can quickly see the value you bring to a job role.

Sales Executive Resume Template

Use this template to create your resume for a sales executive role:

[Your name]
[Your address]
[Your phone number]
[Your professional email]

Professional Summary

[A sentence or two explaining your sales skills and any previous achievements. This is a summary of your experience and you may write about your experience in sales, mention relevant skills you possess and any high-level qualifications]

Education

[School] [City, State]

[Degree] [Graduation year]

Certifications

[Certification] [Name of issuing organisation] [Date of Issue] [Expiration Date, if applicable]

Work Experience

[Job title] [Employer name] [Duration of employment]

[List of job responsibilities with specific quantifiers whenever possible]

[Job title] [Employer name] [Duration of employment]

[List of job responsibilities with specific quantifiers whenever possible]

Skills

[Mention experience, achievements or skills that directly relates to the job description. Include soft skills]

Professional Affiliations

[Mention any professional organisations in which you participate or have a leadership role in]

Civic Affiliations

[Mention any organisations that you volunteer or are a part of, that directly relate to the job description or industry]

Example Of A Sales Executive Resume

Here is an example that you can use as a guide when you create your resume:

Ramesh Babu C-1, KK Apartment
Shanti Nagar, Kanpur
+91 98953 24639
ramesh.babu@gmail.com

Professional Summary

Senior sales manager with 15 years of experience in showroom sales, creating new professional relationships and maintaining strong customer relations to generate repeat business. Consistently exceeded sales quotas by 20% in consecutive years.

Work Experience

Senior Sales Manager
PAN India Sales
January 2015 - Present

Successfully led sales team of 60+ staff members to a 75% increase in sales
Managed relationships between the sales leaders and product teams to improve products and sales methods based on customer feedback
Planned and conducted training sessions for trainees with the best industry standards
Earned several awards and recognitions for sales performance, including the Sales Leader of the Year in 2017, 2019 and 2021

Sales Manager
Norton Sales And Services
March 2005 - December 2015

Top sales producer 7 years in a row
Met or exceeded the financial goals of the company every year
Trained 100+ sales associated, bringing new talent into the industry

Professional Skills

Commercial awareness
Product knowledge
Relationship Management
Account Management
Numerical skills
Negotiation skills
Communication skills
Leadership skills
Cold calling
Customer relations
Lead generation
Determination