Sales Representative Resume Example
A resume template and guide to write a great Sales Representative resume that will land more interviews. Or have Leet Resumes write your resume for free.
Marc Cenedella
Marc Cenedella is a nationally recognized thought leader on careers, resume writing, job search, career management and recruiting, Marc is frequently sought out by national media organizations for his expert commentary on employment, resumes, the job search and the job market.
The Sales Representative Resume: How to Sell Yourself
Selling is an art, and you’ve made a career out of it.
While you’re an expert at communicating the exact value proposition a customer needs to hear to make the purchasing decision, writing a resume about yourself feels very different.
Luckily, you’ve found the perfect resume example and guide.
The experts at Leet Resumes have created a step-by-step guide specifically designed for Sales Representatives. At the end of this article, you’ll have a resume template that will land you more interviews and job offers.
Prefer to have someone else write your resume?
That’s an option, too. Leet Resumes will write your Sales Representative resume for you. They’ll even do it for free (seriously!). Tips for a job well done are always appreciated.
How to Format a Sales Representative Resume
There are no handy acronyms to memorize for what to include in a resume template, but luckily there are only five simple sections to complete and this article will walk you through each one:
- Professional Headline
- Summary
- Work Experience
- Education
- Keywords
Ready to get started? Let’s jump right in.
Name + Contact
First things first, start with your first and last name at the top of the page.
Choose a font that’s legible and professional and make it slightly larger than the rest of the text. You’re familiar with brand recognition. The concept applies here, too: make it easy for your recruiter to remember who you are so they know who to call for the interview.
Directly underneath, add your contact info. This includes a phone number, email and location. These days, just a city and state will do, but if you prefer to add your full address, go for it.
The most important part of this section is to be professional – and that includes your email.
No one takes the guy with a .net email seriously when he’s handing out business cards, so don’t be that person on your resume. Hobby emails and usernames that look like early 2000’s spam is an easy way to get your resume tossed. When in doubt, opt for the classic firstname.lastname approach.
Professional Headline
Think of your resume as an advertisement of you and your work. The professional headline is the slogan that quickly grabs the reader’s attention and makes your value proposition clear. If it’s relevant, they’ll keep reading. If not, it’s probably not the right job for you.
In two to five words, you’ll sum up your entire career as a Sales Representative to give your reader a high-level overview of what you do.
Start with a positive and slightly flattering adjective to describe yourself. Something like professional, driven, team-oriented or dependable might work here. Think of how previous employers and customers would describe you and your work ethic and try to share that insight with your word choice.
Then add a word that describes your level of experience: junior, senior, executive, lead, or assistant.
Finally, cap it off with your official job title: Sales Representative.
In the end, you should have an elevator pitch of a headline similar to: Diligent Senior Sales Representative, or Team-Oriented Junior Sales Representative.
Professional Summary
After you’ve hooked their attention with the headline, your professional summary will pull them through the AIDA funnel to the interest stage.
In two to four lines, you’ll outline the benefits of what you bring as a Sales Representative and get them eager to request an interview.
In the first line, list all the job titles you’d accept for your next position. This can include roles that are adjacent to your current job, or roles you’re interested in pursuing. Just be sure to include the exact job title of the role you’re applying for. (Brand affiliation, anyone?)
In the next line, list the key skills and attributes that qualify you for these roles.
Since you have an arsenal of skills that make up your sales expertise, use the job description to tailor your selection for the specific skills your potential employer is looking for.
Basically, they’ve written out their buying criteria and all you need to do is let them know you’re the best solution for their pain points.
Include a variety of skills that address their needs and highlight your strengths. Some examples might include: lead generation, CRM, communication skills, B2B/B2C, or outbound sales.
If you’re just getting started as a Sales Representative, lines one and two might be all you have. Not to worry, that’s all you need to land an interview.
Lines three and four are optional. If you have the experience to furnish them, it’s an added bonus but not necessary to win the job.
In line three, list your sales achievements and in line four add your promotions, awards and notable successes. These might include sales records, customer recognition awards or noteworthy landed accounts.
If nothing comes to mind, keep it concise with the first two lines and let your work experience make the conversion.
Still prefer to write your own resume?
If you need a break, try Leet Resumes. They’ll craft a custom version of this resume example with the details of your own sales career. Plus, it’s free. (Though tips are always welcome.)
Work Experience
The work experience section is where you close the deal.
It’s a mistake to think that this is the place to list your responsibilities as a Sales Representative. You wouldn’t sell to your customers by reading the instruction manual, so don’t make the same mistake on your resume.
Instead, use this space to tell the story of your successful sales career. Highlight your upselling records, your contributions to the MRR and your customer retention rate.
Start by listing your previous job positions in reverse chronological order. Referring to the resume example above on how to format each entry, add the exact job title and dates of employment. Under each title, add a bulleted list to highlight your accomplishments in that role.
To win the interview, use this simple formula for each bullet point:
Strong Success Verb + Measurable Impact = End Result
For example: Exceeded average company closing ratio by 7% with a 5-year average above 25%.
Or: Surpassed quarterly quota for 7 consecutive years to lead sales team in MRR contributions.
Strong success verbs elevate tepid actions like “managed, performed, or was hired to…” by replacing them with actions that automatically showcase the positive outcome.
These are words like advanced, capitalized, generated, reduced, maximized, outperformed or negotiated.
The other key to making your resume stand out is to use as many numbers as possible.
Numbers are specific and provide context to your claims. It’s much easier to see your impact if you describe how you “decreased your CAC by 20%” than if you just “decreased customer acquisition cost.”
Look for numbers in the number of clients you served, your sales numbers, lifetime value, revenue contributions, or churn rate. When you think you have enough numbers, go back and double the amount again. There’s no such thing as too many numbers in your resume and each set of measurable data you include brings you one step closer to landing the interview.
Finally, don’t forget to include every promotion.
Promotions are like word of mouth marketing. To back up the success stories you’re sharing, promotions highlight previous employers who appreciated your work so much that they rewarded you for it.
That’s powerful social proof for any future employer looking for a quality candidate.
Education
This section can be short and sweet.
Simply list where you attended school, the years of attendance, the degree(s) you graduated with and any honors or awards you received.
Your extracurriculars aren’t relevant to your sales career, so you can just leave them out. The same goes for any degrees you never finished.
Sales Representative Keyword Resume Examples
As you’ll see in the resume example, the final section of keywords is a simple list at the bottom of the page. This is where you’ll add any additional skills or attributes, as well as any technologies or certifications that qualify you for the Sales Representative position.
Think about including keywords from each of these categories:
- Soft Skills: active listening, empathy, excellent written and verbal communication
- Hard Skills: negotiation, marketing strategy, direct sales, prospecting
- Technologies: Microsoft Office, Salesforce, CRM, CMS, HubSpot
- Certifications: Salesforce Certified Administrator, CPSP, CPSL, CISP
Your Sales Representative Resume Template
With your final keywords in place, you’ve completed a great Sales Representative resume to bring you closer to landing the sales job of your dreams.
Remember, no one likes a stock sales pitch, and your resume is no different. Use this as a resume template to customize for each sales position you apply to using the details they provide in the job description.
A little extra effort to speak directly to your audience will make all the difference in closing the deal and landing the interview.
Wish someone else would write your resume for you?
You’re in luck. The experts behind this resume template and guide will write yours for free! (Though tips are always appreciated.) Try Leet Resumes today for a free Sales Representative resume written by the experts.
