Effective resume writing is done in part by familiarizing yourself with different job roles and understanding their intricacies.

In this tip, we start with sales because it can be one of the more accessible job roles we write for. We’ll put perspective on more advanced jobs (e.g., IT and engineering) through additional tips we publish.

Sales are broken down by type, including business-to-consumer (B2C), business-to-business (B2B), and business-to-government (B2G).

TYPES OF SALES ROLES

B2C is often a shorter sales cycle - few days to a few weeks. B2B is longer - few weeks to months. B2G is crazy long - one year or more. I’ve written multiple resumes for B2G sales professionals who HAVE NEVER SOLD A THING due to the long sales cycle. Because of this, B2G (and B2B too) sales professionals should include in their resumes what’s in their sales pipeline as well as the actual business they’ve closed.

Sales professionals focus on new business development, account management, or both. New business includes the hunters and gatherers in the sales world. Account managers manage existing client accounts, emphasizing customer servicing and retention.

It’s common for sales professionals to be involved with new product/service development and identifying new revenue channels (e.g., vertical markets and untapped industries or demographics).

JOB TITLES

Sales executives and managers won’t always have direct reports. If they do, they are responsible for their team’s book of business as well as their own -- though they may not be required to produce their own sales. It depends on the employer. Of course, there are a multitude of other job titles, including outside sales reps, account managers, sales consultants, and sales engineers.

REGION, TERRITORY, OR GLOBAL

As sales professionals become experienced, their scope expands, moving from a small region to territorial (e.g., multi-state) and then global with emphasis on a specific country or demographic (e.g., SE Asia).

ACHIEVEMENTS

Sales resumes are typically easy to write because there’s so much achievement to consider. When working with that next sales professional, ask about all potential achievements, including:

• Per-Account Sales Growth (client increases their spend with the sales rep)
• Market Share Growth (taking clients away from competitors)
• New Multi-Year Contracts (common with major cloud-based service providers)
• Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) (known measurement for subscription services)
• Upselling & Cross-Selling Opportunities (credit card company that sells life insurance)
• Margin Improvements (most common in manufacturing where per-part profits can be narrow)
• Awards & Incentives Received (President’s Club, bonuses, vacations)

Of course, let's not forget about exceeding sales quotas. 😉

SALES TRAINING

A growing number of companies (e.g., Cintas) use proprietary sales training. However, there are many other well-known training firms, including Sandler, Dale Carnegie, and Sales Hacker, where sales professionals seek new skills.

Hiring companies pursue top sales performers, so including achievements in the sales resumes you write is critical for the clients.