Sales Manager Resume Skills: Definitions And Examples

Updated 30 September 2022

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Sales managers play a key role in ensuring that the sales team achieves its sales targets and offers the best sales experience to customers. Having the right skills can help sales managers improve their individual performance and enhance the team's overall productivity. Understanding the skills required for the role can help you improve your efficiency as a sales leader and advance in your career. In this article, we list the top sales manager resume skills and also share tips on how to highlight these skills during the hiring process.

What are sales manager resume skills?

Sales manager resume skills refer to a specific set of skills that help sales managers distinguish their profile from other candidates during the hiring process. Listing these skills on your resume can help impress recruiters by highlighting your suitability for the role. You can also use these skills to describe your previous work experience and improve your chances of moving to the next level of the selection process. Here is a list of relevant skills that you can highlight on your resume and during the sales manager interview:

analytical and critical thinking skills
accounting and budgeting skills
achieving sales targets
coaching and mentoring skills
communication skills
customer service skills
delegation and negotiation skills
interpersonal skills
leadership skills
market knowledge
organisational skills
problem-solving
sales planning skills
technical skills like expertise in CRM software
time-management skills

Examples of sales manager skills

Here are a few critical skills that can help you build your career as a successful sales manager:

Active listening

Being a good listener helps sales managers uncover customers' pain points and offer the right solutions. Proactive listening helps sales leaders identify the team's challenges and helps you suggest the right tools and resources to help your team overcome these challenges. You can cultivate the habit of active listening by waiting until the other person has finished talking before you offer suggestions.

Analytical and critical-thinking skills

Analytical skills refer to the ability to curate information and analyse and identify the right insights from existing data to solve critical problems. Having strong analytical and critical-thinking skills can help sales managers identify and optimise existing sales strategies to deliver the best results. Strong mathematical skills, attention to detail and process-driven thinking can help you create an efficient action plan that improves the sales performance of your team, helping the organisation grow its revenues.

Communication skills

Sales managers communicate with sales agents, marketing experts, customer support representatives, senior management, current customers and potential clients. Active listening and the ability to convey messages clearly and compassionately can help you build strong professional relationships. Learning how to use the right tone of voice for each situation can help you resolve conflicts and disputes efficiently. For example, using a reassuring and empathetic voice with a disgruntled customer can help you connect with the customer and earn their trust.

Delegation skills

Effective delegation skills reduce the workload of sales managers and help them focus on more important tasks like liaising with senior management and pitching to high-profile clients. Good sales leaders analyse and identify the strengths and skills of each team member so that they can assign tasks based on the individual capabilities of each team member. You can improve your delegation skills by assigning extra work to sales reps who want to take on more responsibility.

Decision-making

Sales managers handle plenty of critical decision-making as part of their role. They make decisions that affect their individual performance and the team's productivity. The ability to make informed decisions by analysing the pros and cons of the situation can help you achieve sales objectives and earn the trust of your team members, as it gives them the confidence that they can rely on their team leader's judgement. Remaining calm during stressful situations and not letting work pressures affect your decision-making is an immense advantage that helps you excel in your role as a sales leader.

Hiring and recruiting skills

Sales managers play a key role in the recruitment process. They interview candidates and identify the best recruits to join their team. Being aware of the hiring process and learning how to be a good interviewer can help you build a strong sales team with employees who work harmoniously with each other. Besides hiring new sales agents, sales leaders also coach and train new hires, helping them ease into their roles quickly.

Leadership and motivation skills

Sales managers require strong and persuasive leadership skills to motivate their team to achieve their goals and reach their sales quotas. The right motivational skills can help you transform an underperforming team into a motivated and goal-oriented one. Offering individual support and guidance can help in enhancing the performance and dedication of team members, helping them find greater job satisfaction.

Related: 10 Common Leadership Styles

Organisational skills

Managing a large team of sales representatives can be overwhelming. Being organised can help you monitor the progress of your team and also ensure the completion of your individual tasks on time. You can use organisational tools like lists, spreadsheets and time-tracking software to help you with organisation and time-management.

Performance management

Besides coaching and training sales representatives, sales managers also handle the performance reviews of their sales team. Strong performance management skills help you effectively monitor and analyse the performance of each team member. Offering regular feedback and constructive criticism can help your team members improve their performance and achieve their sales targets easily.

Strategic sales planning

Sales managers plan the short-term and long-term goals for their team. Planning involves goal-setting, sales forecasting, defining marketing strategies and creating effective sales processes. Strategic and creative planning helps you take a methodical and organised approach to sales goals. This helps you achieve the maximum results by making the best use of available resources.

Training and coaching skills

Sales managers play a crucial role in ensuring the professional growth of their team members by offering regular sales training and coaching. Being aware of the latest sales training methodologies and having extensive product knowledge can help you organise efficient training sessions that motivate your team members. Offering personalised coaching based on the strengths and skills of each team member helps you grow the overall performance of your team and emerge as a trusted mentor and guide in the workplace.

How to improve sales manager skills

Here are a few ways you can improve your sales managerial skills and enhance the performance of your sales team:

1. Attend workshops and leadership training programmes

Professional development opportunities like sales leader training workshops and courses can help you update and improve your skills. Being a lifelong learner gives you a competitive advantage in the workplace by keeping your skills fresh. You can choose to attend in-person training programmes or online courses depending on your work schedule and convenience. While choosing courses or certifications, consider factors like mentor, length of program, area of focus, location and price to select the right training programme that fits your budget and availability.

2. Find a mentor

Working with an experienced mentor can help you improve sales leadership skills. Connect with senior managers at your workplace and request them to provide you with individualised sales leadership training. Alternatively, you can shadow a senior sales leader to gain insights into how they handle various tasks and challenges. Ask your mentor to provide you with feedback on your leadership skills and help you identify areas of improvement.

3. Update your credentials

Some employees require sales managers to hold specific degrees, like an MBA, to qualify for the role. Taking the right certifications and courses can help you gain theoretical knowledge and practical experience in sales leadership. Alternatively, you can also apply for internships and apprenticeships at sales organisations to improve your sales managerial skills and better equip yourself for the role.

How to highlight sales manager skills

Here are a few tips to help you showcase your sales managerial skills and experience to prospective employers:

Sales manager skills for a resume

Use the job description to decide which skills and related achievements you wish to highlight on your resume. Identify keywords from the job listing and try to use them in the experience and skills section of the resume. Use positive action words like guided, trained, mentored, motivated, achieved, forecasted, developed and planned to highlight the relevant skills on the resume. Use the cover letter to provide an in-depth description of the skills you have highlighted on the resume.

Sales manager skills for a job interview

During the interview, you can use the Situation, Task, Action and Result (STAR) interview response technique to highlight your skills relevant to the role. To answer behavioural interview questions, start by describing a challenge you faced at your previous workplace. While framing the answer, highlight relevant skills mentioned in the job description and explain how these skills help you overcome the challenge and deliver the right results. Preparing the answers to a few common job interview questions using this technique can help you gain confidence to attend interviews and impress the interviewer with a powerful response.