Sales Executive Resume Example & Writing Guide
- What should your sales executive resume include?
- How can you create a professional summary?
- How should you describe your work experience as a sales executive?
- Include a fitting sales executive resume education and certifications section
- Which key skills are relevant for a sales executive resume?
- How to select the most impactful sales executive resume template
- Copyable sales executive resume example
- Key takeaways for writing a sales executive resume
The sales executive job market is very competitive, which is why you need a stand-out resume. Discover all the tricks for an effective executive sales resume in this writing guide!
Working as a sales executive can be both rewarding and exciting. Not only do you get to constantly meet new people, but there is also a lot of flexibility and earning potential. However, it is a very competitive position, which means you need a stellar resume to stand out from the other candidates. Crafting an effective sales executive resume means you are showing off your negotiation skills and have an ability to work with various sales techniques.
In this sales executive resume example and writing guide, we’ll go over the following areas:
What should a sales executive resume include
Advice on each section of your resume (summary, work history, education)
Adding relevant key skills to your resume
Choosing the right resume template for a sales executive
What should your sales executive resume include?
When writing your sales executive resume, tailor it around your skills and achievements and show how they tie to the specific role you are applying for. This includes showing what types of sales techniques you’ve worked with in the past, what results you’ve provided other companies with, and what CRM software you are proficient with. Show specific examples of your achievements and quantify them with facts and figures whenever possible.
Your sales executive resume should contain the following elements:
The resume header with your contact information
The resume summary
The employment history section
The resume skills section
The education section
How can you create a professional summary?
The professional summary is the short paragraph directly below your header and contact information section. Here, you’ll give a brief overview of your career and skills. For a sales executive role, a hiring manager will want to learn more about your revenue growth results and how you partner with businesses. These are all areas you can touch on in your professional summary.
To further highlight some of your key skills, include a skills highlight section. This bullet-point table draws attention to some of your top skills. In this table, add the skills you have that will most benefit the specific role you are applying for.
See our adaptable sales executive resume summary below.
Award-winning sales leader with solid record of achievement penetrating and growing new markets, managing sales for Fortune 500 accounts, and leading sales teams to exceed ambitious revenue growth goals. Tenacious, quota-oriented professional with solid success in pursuing market opportunities, capturing new business, and establishing profitable business partnerships. Expert in crafting compelling value propositions for innovative products, establishing clear competitor distinction, and communicating how solutions align with customer business needs. History of success implementing pioneering new sales processes and techniques.
How should you describe your work experience as a sales executive?
Once you’ve given an overview of your experience in the professional summary, you can use your career summary to go into further detail. List your past roles in reverse chronological order, with your latest role listed first. Each role should include a brief overview of the sales work you’ve done and the skills you’ve gained in each role.
You should also draw attention to specific achievements by including a bullet point list with each position. You can use this list to highlight some of your results. The goal is to show a hiring manager what types of results you might bring to their open sales executive role. So be specific when listing your achievements.
For example:
Spearheaded sales team initiative that resulted in 200% growth and $4.5M+ in annual sales revenue.
Take a look at the adaptable sales executive resume employment history section below.
Head of Demand Generation at StorONE, Chicago, IL 2022 - present
Direct team of seven high-caliber sales reps; lead experienced sales staff and coach new reps to achieve success at their first sales job by providing training in proper sales techniques.
Present weekly sales training and informational sessions.
Shape and refine dynamic messaging for new StorONE website.
Facilitate weekly 1-on-1 goal-setting sessions with sales reps.
Liaise with C-level teams in crafting market penetration strategies.
Formulate reports and dashboards covering areas such as meetings booked / completed and pipeline generation from cold leads.
Instrumental in 3X growth in pipeline by growing inside sales team from one to seven, enabling $15.7M in pipeline over nine months with no inbound marketing.
Championed team-oriented culture to engender a spirit of open information and best practices sharing.
Introduced messaging and multi-touch workflow for inside sales team.
Sparked 2.5X increase in meetings booked and completed by conceiving and implementing new sales methodology entailing personalized cadences and messaging in Salesloft.
Spearheaded development and implementation of new managed service providers (MSP) program.
Regional Sales Director at Liqid, Chicago IL 2020 - 2022
Oversaw sales across multiple enterprise, high performance compute (HPC) and cloud accounts, expanding core business from $250K to $4.5M+ in one and a half years.
Facilitated planning and execution of daily customer satisfaction calls.
Cultivated lasting, productive relationships with key HPC decision-makers throughout central region.
Contributed to research and drafting of grant proposals for university space grants pertaining to software-defined composable architecture.
Partnered with marketing team in formulating brand messaging as pertaining to customer business problems.
Ushered in and promoted new data center concepts across HPC, enterprise, and cloud environments through software-defined composable architecture.
Spearheaded training to Dell teams on value of software-defined composability concepts to their clients and overall portfolio, bolstering revenue and profit for Dell.
Played key role in development of new channel and go-to-market (GTM) strategy to enable sales of Liqid products through distribution and VARs.
Integral in architecting and refining Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) calculator.
Include a fitting sales executive resume education and certifications section
As a sales executive, your educational background may look different from other candidates. While many may have formal education, others may not. Including an education section will help a hiring manager know what you bring to the table. Here are a few tips to consider when crafting this section:
Make it short. Including just your degree and the organization you earned it from is often enough for this section.
List certifications. If you lack a college degree but have training or certifications from other organizations, you can list them in this section.
Don’t include dates unless they are recent or the certification is time-based or expires. Doing so could allow a hiring manager to judge you based on your age or to think your experience is outdated.
Bachelor of Arts in Finance at the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater
Which key skills are relevant for a sales executive resume?
With most sales jobs you run across, a history of successful revenue growth and sales management is crucial. But there are also many other skills you’ll need to have as a sales executive.
Use the job description as inspiration by looking for keywords and skills you can include on your resume. Keep in mind that a hiring manager may require an applicant tracking system (ATS) to flag resumes with the keywords they mention in the job description. Adding those keywords can make your resume stand out during an ATS scan. (If you need more information on how these scans work, read our article on resume ATS optimization.)
We have listed several common skills in our sales executive resume example, but here are some you may want to incorporate into your resume:
Prospecting and lead generation
Competitive analysis
Proficiency in CRM tools (Salesforce, HubSpot, etc.)
Negotiation
Market research
Sales analytics
Sales presentations
How to select the most impactful sales executive resume template
Showing you are a professional and successful sales executive starts with the design of your resume. That’s why you should choose a template that is streamlined and easy to read. Headings should be clear and the resume concise and focused. You can use bullet points to make the document even easier to read.
While it isn’t necessary to restrict your resume to just one page, it shouldn’t be longer than two pages. You should also use a professional font with a standard font size. Finally, carefully proofread your resume to remove any spelling and grammar errors.
We want to make it easy to find the perfect template for your resume. We have many options available for you in our resume builder. We also hope to inspire you to create a stunning resume, so be sure to explore our more than 100 available resume examples.
Copyable sales executive resume example
Summary example
Award-winning sales leader with solid record of achievement penetrating and growing new markets, managing sales for Fortune 500 accounts, and leading sales teams to exceed ambitious revenue growth goals. Tenacious, quota-oriented professional with solid success in pursuing market opportunities, capturing new business, and establishing profitable business partnerships. Expert in crafting compelling value propositions for innovative products, establishing clear competitor distinction, and communicating how solutions align with customer business needs. History of success implementing pioneering new sales processes and techniques.
Employment history example
Head of Demand Generation at StorONE, Chicago, IL 2022 - present
Direct team of seven high-caliber sales reps; lead experienced sales staff and coach new reps to achieve success at their first sales job by providing training in proper sales techniques.
Present weekly sales training and informational sessions.
Shape and refine dynamic messaging for new StorONE website.
Facilitate weekly 1-on-1 goal-setting sessions with sales reps.
Liaise with C-level teams in crafting market penetration strategies.
Formulate reports and dashboards covering areas such as meetings booked / completed and pipeline generation from cold leads.
Instrumental in 3X growth in pipeline by growing inside sales team from one to seven, enabling $15.7M in pipeline over nine months with no inbound marketing.
Championed team-oriented culture to engender a spirit of open information and best practices sharing.
Introduced messaging and multi-touch workflow for inside sales team.
Sparked 2.5X increase in meetings booked and completed by conceiving and implementing new sales methodology entailing personalized cadences and messaging in Salesloft.
Spearheaded development and implementation of new managed service providers (MSP) program.
Regional Sales Director at Liqid, Chicago IL 2020 - 2022
Oversaw sales across multiple enterprise, high performance compute (HPC) and cloud accounts, expanding core business from $250K to $4.5M+ in one and a half years.
Facilitated planning and execution of daily customer satisfaction calls.
Cultivated lasting, productive relationships with key HPC decision-makers throughout central region.
Contributed to research and drafting of grant proposals for university space grants pertaining to software-defined composable architecture.
Partnered with marketing team in formulating brand messaging as pertaining to customer business problems.
Ushered in and promoted new data center concepts across HPC, enterprise, and cloud environments through software-defined composable architecture.
Spearheaded training to Dell teams on value of software-defined composability concepts to their clients and overall portfolio, bolstering revenue and profit for Dell.
Played key role in development of new channel and go-to-market (GTM) strategy to enable sales of Liqid products through distribution and VARs.
Integral in architecting and refining Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) calculator.
Education example
Bachelor of Arts in Finance at the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater
Skills example
Sales Operations Leadership
Go-To-Market Strategy
Hybrid Cloud & SaaS Sales
Territory Expansion
New Business Development
Competitive Pricing
Key takeaways for writing a sales executive resume
Highlighting your skills and achievements that relate to the role is critical for a sales executive resume.
When listing your achievements, use ones you can quantify using facts and figures whenever possible.
Certain keywords, like sales analytics and market research, should be sprinkled throughout your resume for better visibility.
Use our resume builder with its adaptable templates and AI-powered content to craft an effective sales executive resume.
