Writing a Sales Manager CV? Here's How You Can Use Numbers to Show Your Accomplishments (With Practical Examples)

Are you ready for that career upgrade to a sales manager position? Grab a pen and paper, here are a few tips for sprucing up your sales manager CV.

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After gathering the courage to start applying for your dream job as a Sales Manager, what’s next? How do you start writing your Sales Manager CV? Do your skills match the role? What does the employer want to know about you? Worry not; this is the ultimate guide to writing a Sales Manager CV.

8 main highlights of a sales manager CV

A strong Sales Manager CV will set you apart from other applicants. It is your first point of communication with your potential employer. A clear and organized CV will highlight why you are qualified for the role and will make a good first impression. Please don’t settle for a generic sales manager CV; customize it to your skills, experience, and qualifications. 

The hiring manager needs to see you sell yourself through your CV. If you can’t sell yourself to a recruiter, how do you plan on successfully managing an entire sales team? Your potential employer should be able to pick out the following from your Sales Manager CV - 

 

1. Skills

2. Experiences

3. Qualifications 

4. The impact you have made on your previous role

5. Projects where you have managed a team

6. Your impact on other people’s career

7. Mastery of your sales job and the leadership opportunities you have held 

8. Coaching experience

These should be the main highlights of your CV. Now that you know what your CV should contain, let's create a layout. Your layout should be organized and straight to the point. You need to capture the attention of your potential employer and make a positive first impression.

 

Sales manager CV layout

Now that you know what needs to be in your CV, let’s break down how the CV should look.

1. Executive or professional summary

The summary should be a brief paragraph summarizing your experience and qualifications for the sales manager position. Additionally, spell out how you plan on adding value to the organization and your career goals. 

 Here's an example:

“High-performing sales professional who used data-driven sales concepts to sell more than $500,000.00 in B2B software products. Seeking a sales manager position to make use of my relationship-building, analytical, coaching, and CRM software proficiency to develop and sustain a winning sales team at [Name of the Company].”

2. Contact information

Provide all the details the recruiter will need to contact you, such as your email address, phone number, and name. Place this at the top of your CV for ease of access. You may include a state or city. However, you don’t have to put your full physical address. Additionally, you can add a link to your LinkedIn profile.

3. Work experience

Highlight the jobs that gave you sales and managerial experience. When you list them, start from the most recent job and use action words when describing your role. For example, trained, coached, collaborated, established, influenced, achieved, and expanded, among others. 

As you expound on your role in previous jobs, don’t leave out the projects you worked on and links to content you wrote or spearheaded. Additionally, make your CV ATS (Applicant Tracking System) friendly by picking out some of the advertisement's keywords and including them in your resume. 

4. Education

Add your academic achievements and any leadership roles you took during that time. Include all the managerial courses and sales training that you have participated in in your past.

5. Skills and qualifications

Pick out keywords from the job description that match your skills and qualifications. Moreover, add the certificates that you earned (if any). Some of the skills that need to be on your sales manager CV include: 

 

• Delegation skills

• Communication skills

• Analytical skills

• Motivation and collaboration skills

• Coaching skills

 

Guide to writing achievements in a sales manager CV

Including your achievements in your CV will make you stand out from the other applicants. It is a good way of using your past to prove that you have the right abilities, skills, experience, and qualifications for the job. So many things fall under personal achievements, including:

 

• Promotions

• Number of bids or contracts that you have won

• Awards you’ve won

• Number of projects you have completed within a budget and on time

• Amount of time you have saved by coming up with efficient tools and methods

• Number of times selected as a project or team lead in an organization or club

• Increased sales figures 

• Number of qualifications gained

• Time spent in long-term employment

• Number of professionals you have educated or trained 

• Good results in tests and examinations

• Number of customers served

Sprinkle your achievements throughout your sales manager CV, especially your measurable achievements. Which one sounds better?

 

“Used data-driven sales concepts to sell software products” 

or 

“Used data-driven sales concepts to sell more than $500,000.00 in B2B software products.”

 

The first statement is positive but vague. The statement makes it seem that you just wanted to fill out a space rather than sell yourself. On the other hand, the second statement shows that the applicant is confident in their abilities and qualifications. Including measurable achievements in your sales manager CV increases the chances of a recruiter singling you out from the other applicants. 

 

How to add numbered accomplishments to your CV

1. Always provide context 

Don’t just plaster numbers in your resume. The numbers have to make sense. Provide context showing where the company was before you provided your skills. E.g. “Directed a sales workforce of 24 people that boosted Company sales from $2 million to $5 million within a year.”

 2. Highlight your most impressive accomplishments

Make sure all your accomplishments are communicated clearly. Don’t bundle them together. For instance, your CV could read, “Supervised a team of up to 80 employees in managing a budget of up to $8 Million.”

Instead, write “Managed budgets of up to $8 MIllion” and “Supervised up to 80 employees” as separate points. The separation will highlight each accomplishment.

3. Include accomplishments that are hard to quantify

What if you don’t have quantifiable accomplishments? Don’t worry. Use whatever you have to create a measurable accomplishment. For example: If you are employed as a sales associate but have been performing managerial duties. If these managerial duties helped the company not hire a sales manager, you were doing the work of two people. Therefore, you saved the company an amount equal to what they would have paid the sales manager. 

4. Be less specific, if needed

If you absolutely cannot quantify your accomplishments, use less specific measurements like:

 

• Highest

• Top

• Most

• Best

• Only

• First

 

Conclusion

Don’t shy away from using numbers in your CV because you are not sure of the exact amounts. You are allowed to also use subjective results. Remember that your potential employer wants you to assure them that you know what you are doing and you are fit for the job. Moreover, look into the possible interview questions that you may be asked when you secure an interview

 

Another interesting read:  Why Companies are Hiring More Sales Talent in 2022 (And Why You Need Pre-employment Tests)