As long as companies are selling products, there will be a need for skilled people who help sell them - and that means sales managers are a field that will enjoy consistent demand. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, in fact, anticipates a steady four percent growth in sales manager positions each year through 2029.

Along with determining how best to assist companies in selling their products, sales managers are generally expected to be able to work with individual clients to gain their interest (and keep it) in high value products.

Sales managers can be employed in a wide variety of industries, and the responsibilities each position involves will be specific to the job title. With that in mind, the job listing you’re applying for will be the first major indicator as to the type of resume you should submit.

Read on as we discuss five templates for different positions within the sales manager field, highlight what they do best, and go over some best practices to keep in mind.

Sales Manager Resume Templates

Sales Manager Resume Sample

A general sales manager will be expected to have a basic familiarity with all of the aspects of the sales management position. To indicate this, you should focus on including action verbs and skills that are relevant to sales managers wherever possible.

General sales managers should opt for including strong action verbs and skills or accomplishments that are related to the position

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Recruiter Insight: Why this resume works in 2021

Sales manager oriented action verbs

This applicant utilizes strong action verbs that encapsulate the primary responsibilities of a sales manager throughout their resume. Along with including words like “training”, “supervising”, “planning”, “implementing”, “launching”, and “leading” in their opening summary, they start every single one of their bullet points with a different action verb. To similarly emphasize to the hiring manager that you have a rounded, clear perspective of what being a sales manager entails, you should opt to include a variety of action verbs in your list of accomplishments. You can get an idea of what sales manager action verbs you should be utilizing below the resume templates section of this guide.

Also see: Effective Action Verbs for your Resume

Solid skill inclusion

Along with strong action verbs, this applicant includes sales manager skills in every bullet point. Managing teams, increasing sales, and hiring and training are all referenced in the most recent position held. In addition, the skills bank on the right side of the page lists the sales manager skills the applicant is experienced with. To demonstrate that you are familiar with the duties of a sales manager and have attained accomplishments in the field in the past, you should be sure to touch on all of the relevant elements of the position you have experience with in your resume.

Regional Sales Manager Resume Sample

Regional sales managers should aim to indicate their proficiency with sales management at both the lower and upper levels to show they have both the fundamental skills and greater vision needed for a sales position with more responsibility. This resume does that with its heavy use of quantifiable data points and by showing progressive growth along the sales management career path.

Regional sales managers should include numerical data points to highlight their accomplishments whenever possible, as well as indicating progressive growth in their responsibilities.

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Recruiter Insight: Why this resume works in 2021

Usage of numerical data points, using metrics relevant to sales

At the higher levels in particular, businesses are interested in knowing how particular employees within their company will affect their bottom line. When this applicant notes how they increased sales by 30 percent, helped the company go from 100 to 500 installations in a year, and managed a $20 million territory, it spells out in clear terms how much they will be able to help the business that hires them. You can accomplish this effect by including numerical data points with every bullet point on your resume.

Also see: How to Write Resume Bullets That Get Interviews

Shows progressive growth within a company

For a sales manager to make it to the regional level, it would make sense for them to have taken steps along the sales manager ladder to get there. This resume shows that the applicant began with basic accomplishments (such as upselling products as a sales associate) and progressively grew into positions that have greater responsibilities (up to overseeing four branches at the national level) at the company. By including the promotions that you’ve had within a company, you can show to hiring managers that you have successfully demonstrated your competency to your superiors on a consistent basis. Beyond individual companies, hiring managers like to see that you’re moving upward in your career trajectory, so be sure to indicate that when you can.

Also see: How to Show Promotions on Your Resume

Hotel Sales Manager Resume Sample

Hotel sales managers are involved in the marketing of the hotel itself, and so it helps to indicate your ability to develop and implement successful marketing strategies. In this resume, the applicant references their marketing accomplishments alongside their ability to improve staff performance (including implementing CRM tools and educating the staff accordingly), giving the impression of overall capability when it comes to hotel brand management.

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Recruiter Insight: Why this resume works in 2021

Highlight marketing skills, especially those relevant to hotel management

Note how this applicant includes how they “implemented social media strategies that increased client interest by 20%” and attended more than 10 industry networking events with the net result of increasing sales by 20 percent. If you have similar accomplishments related to sales outreach, marketing, or developing campaigns (online and offline), you should include them to let hiring managers know that you won’t be slacking when it comes to promoting the hotel to gain business.

Staff and team successes are included

This hotel sales manager includes their success at working with a variety of team members to improve the overall hotel performance, showcasing their well roundedness in hotel management. Their accomplishments include educating concierges, training staff, executing sales strategies with five national level sales managers, and working with hotel sales teams. To demonstrate that you have experience working with staff, sales teams, and team members at a variety of levels, you should opt to include any accomplishments that showcase your ability to lead.

Automobile / Car Sales Manager Resume Sample

As automobiles are high ticket items, automobile sales managers should be prepared to indicate that they have familiarity with the financing process and have made measurable gains within that field. This applicant does so by including finance-relevant data points. Furthermore, by including a relevant additional information section, the impression of overall competency is boosted.

Car sales managers can demonstrate their familiarity with the field by including any accomplishments related to improving finance-derived profits, as well as listing their relevant skills and techniques in an “additional information” section.

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Recruiter Insight: Why this resume works in 2021

Awareness of importance of financing

Automobile sales can be dependent on the availability of financing, and financing is the vehicle (if you’ll pardon the pun) that enables some dealerships to stay afloat. If you can similarly demonstrate that you have the capacity to improve the finance income of a car sales business (such as by developing a business plan or by improving relationships with financial institutions), you’ll show hiring managers that you take this portion of the business seriously.

Additional information section lends to impression of competency

Including an additional information section with relevant accomplishments, techniques, or skills for car sales management will cement the impression that you have experience in this niche. “Negotiation” and “Dealer Management” are both strong techniques that car sales managers should aim to include, while having familiarity with tools like CRM and Reynolds shows you have a solid sales background. Lastly, if you have any certifications that are relevant to the field, you can list them here.

Retail Sales Manager Resume Sample

Retail sales managers are on the front lines of sales, meaning they will be having more customer interactions than sales managers in other positions. This applicant shows that they have the ability to work with both customers and employees in a way that supports business sustainability.

Retail sales managers should aim to show their ability to meet the needs of both customers and their employees, along with providing basic sales management accomplishments such as improving sales or reducing shrinkage.

Download Resume Template (Google Doc) Download Resume in PDF Go to Resume Page

Recruiter Insight: Why this resume works in 2021

Emphasis on customer relationships

Businesses that are looking for retail sales managers are primarily looking for competent, friendly faces that will be able to handle any situation that arises for customers on the sales floor (or off of it). This applicant does that by referencing their focus on fostering “a positive customer experience”, attaining over 96 percent customer satisfaction with their team, and expanding the customer account base by 35 percent, to highlight a few instances. To demonstrate that you have an affinity for building and maintaining constructive customer relationships, you should aim to emphasize customer- or client-centered accomplishments at your past positions.

Interpersonal skills are indicated through achievements

While all sales managers can be expected to have a degree of interpersonal skills, retail sales managers generally need to have the ability to keep both their customers and their employees happy. In this resume, the applicant includes several accomplishments that give the impression that they have a solid ability to work with others. As examples, they list how they were among the few who received a teaching fellowship at their university, as well as their work to develop a project that led to 85 percent employee retention. If you want to show hiring managers that you care for others in a way that elevates their performance, provide data points that support it.

Also see: How to Write Resume Bullets That Get Interviews

Skills For Sales Manager Resumes

While it’s true that sales managers can work in a variety of industries, hiring managers are looking for general skills in their applicants. On the left, we’ve listed the most common skills for sales managers to include on their resumes.

You should aim to include the relevant sales managers skills that you have for each of the sales-related positions that you’ve held. If you’re applying for a position with a specific job title (such as regional sales manager or hotel sales manager), use our templates above to help you determine what skills are best to include.

Your skills can be listed in a summary at the start of your resume, in a skills bank on the side or bottom of your resume, and in your list of accomplishments at sales-related positions.

Sales Management
Account Management
Key Account Development
Sales Operations
Marketing Strategy
Sales Presentations
Business-to-Business (B2B)
Trade Shows
Sales
Business Development
Merchandising
Forecasting
Sales Process
Product Development
Consumer Products
Negotiation
Pricing Strategy
Retail
Direct Sales
Contract Negotiation

Sales Manager Resume Tips

When piecing together your sales manager resume, your first step should be reviewing the job listing to determine what kind of sales manager they’re looking for. The specific position title is the first clue, but you can also get an idea from the language used. For example, if the listing references working with clients, be sure to include any accomplishments pertaining to customer satisfaction, increasing sales, or maintaining a customer base.

Use action verbs relevant to the position

No matter what type of sales manager position you’re applying for, you should aim to include action verbs that are best suited to the position. As an example, the first template we looked at was spot on with its emphasis on managing, developing, increasing, and engaging, all of which are strong verbs that paint a picture of overall capacity in the picture.

If you’re applying for a retail sales manager position, on the other hand, recruiting, coaching, coordinating, and conducting all speak to experience with working with teams.

Use numerical data points, related to sales

All types of sales managers should focus on including numerical data points whenever possible. Doing so enables hiring managers to see that you aren’t all qualitative fluff, but that you have the ability to produce results within businesses (and can do so within their organization). It’s much stronger, for instance, to say that you’ve maintained an average increase of 30 percent growth in sales (as in the second resume we looked at) rather than stating that you’ve contributed to a steady increase in sales over three years.

Action Verbs For Sales Manager Resumes

To get an idea of what action verbs you should be using in general as a sales manager, you can refer to the list on the left. These action verbs have been gleaned from sales manager resumes, and will enable your resume to make an impression on hiring managers while also making it past automatic screening tools.

As noted above, you should tailor your action verbs to specific positions based on your experience.

Recommended
Counselled
Sold
Developed
Negotiated
Recruited
Trained
Instructed
Grew
Initiated
Promoted
Consulted
Increased
Expanded
Persuaded

For a full list of effective resume action verbs, visit Resume Action Verbs.

Resume Bullet Points From Sales Manager Resumes

You should use bullet points to describe your achievements in your Sales Manager resume. Here are sample bullet points to help you get started:

Led the firm's sales and business operations in South Africa, responsible for $45MM annual sales and capability building of 200+ sales personnel

Scripted and tested phone sales process; increased customers by 30% in 6 months

Generated 50+ project requests through cold call sales and systematic email outreach; completed due diligence to qualify leads based on credit, industry and location

Managed a portfolio of 5 customers, generating new business revenue totaling $10M / year

Determined sales effectiveness strategy for a ERP software supplier to increase sales by $10M over three years

For more sample bullet points and details on how to write effective bullet points, see our articles on resume bullet points, how to quantify your resume and resume accomplishments.