Tips to Generate More Interviews with Your Résumé

A sales résumé is an achievement-based document that sells your accomplishments to prospective employers. No other profession allows you the opportunity to advertise your achievements, honours, awards and accomplishments upfront.

CPSA’s Sales Resource Centre has put together a series of tips to help you create a powerful résumé and secure the sales position you desire.

Skip the Objective statement on your résumé
An objective heading should only be used if you are a recent graduate of a college or university program. Don’t include an objective statement on your résumé if you’ve been employed as a salesperson or sales executive for several years. Instead, insert the title of the position you want to obtain underneath your name and address information on the résumé.

Don’t use the heading “Executive Summary”
If you want to highlight the 4-5 key qualities/assets you can bring to a prospective employer, don’t put them under the heading “Executive Summary.” For seasoned salespeople and sales executives, it looks more polished if you put this information into a paragraph format that contains no more than four sentences.

Use skill headings that match the sales position that you are applying for.
What’s in a title? Job titles in one company may mean something entirely different in another. This holds especially true in the sales profession. A person whose title is Sales Representative may have the title Account Manager in another company with essentially the same responsibilities and number of client accounts.

A great way to attract an employer’s attention is to match the skill headings that match the jobs you want. For example, let’s compare the headings that Scott used in his “Before” résumé to the heading he used in his “After” résumé.

Before:
Management
Customer Service
Marketing

After:
District Category Manager
Client Relations
Market Research Professional

Include only relevant experience
Sales managers are busy and the pressure is on them to fill a sales vacancy as soon as possible. They don’t have time to shift through hundreds of résumés in detail and are looking for candidates who meet their minimum requirements. Don’t include unrelated job titles or skills on your résumé for the likelihood is high that they will make a snap judgement that you are not qualified.

Prioritize the content of your résumé.
Another common mistake that job seekers make is to itemize important duties and responsibilities in the lower sections of their job descriptions. When listing statements for your résumé rank them in order of importance, impressiveness and relevance to the position you desire. Starting off with a strong statement which uses powerful words/verbs and numbers impacts strongly upon the read and will affect every statement that follows it. From the examples below, which one has the most impact?

Before

• Trained, coached and motivated inside sales staff on company’s products and services.
• Managed all stages of the sales cycle: identifying targets, pursuing leads, communicating with prospects, following through, and persisting to close the sale

After

• Managed a $15 million Ontario territory (largest in the division), serving as liaison between the company, its 35 dealers and 239 corporate accounts. Targeted new customers; collaborated with dealers to develop proposals; negotiate contracts; provide ongoing communication and support during project completion.
• Trained 5 customer service representatives to support dealers on new products and work together to service new and existing accounts.

Great idea: Highlight your achievements in a table
If you consistently meet your targets, exceeded your quotas or have a “pattern” as it relates to your sales achievements, consider showcasing this information in a table format. Have headings that describe the accomplishment and on the opposite axis a list of dates in descending order.

Some suggested headings include: Number of New Accounts Opened, Percentage of Sales Quota Met or Exceeded, Profitability of Accounts, Customer Retention Rate and Sales Awards.

Sell the FAB of your skills.
Many résumés simply provide a list of duties, like a grocery list, that each candidate has been responsible for—without explaining the value-added of those skills to employers.

For example, a salesperson’s résumé might state that he possesses a superior knowledge of SalesLogix, a leading contact management system. This statement lacks an explanation of how his knowledge of this software program can benefit an employer’s bottom line.

If the salesperson were to rephrase this to read “Automated my personal follow-up process using SalesLogix software and eliminated the need for a part-time sales coordinator” he would be demonstrating a direct benefit to his employer’s bottom line.

Forget the “sizzle”, create content that sells YOU
Your résumé must highlight the most important information about your sales experience, skills and education relevant to the position. List accomplishments, outline how they were achieved and who else was involved. Make sure you include numbers on how you contributed to the bottom line, what your sales targets were and by how much you exceeded them, and how much money you saved the company or customer. Also don’t forget to emphasize your creativity. Expand on any new ideas or changes you initiated for the company

Compare the “Before” and “After” statements from Scott’s résumé:

Before

• Managed over 300 commercial accounts for the lubrication division.

After

• Managed over 300 commercial accounts for the lubrication division, with a retention rate exceeding 85% after 3 years.
• Use “power” words and action verbs. As the above example illustrates, using numbers to quantify your sales accomplishments, can elevate your image in the eyes of the person scanning your résumé. The more specific and descriptive you can be in describing your duties the better.

Another strategy is to use words that match the level of position you want or solidify the image of a professional who takes action. For example, Scott wants to use the experience he’s gained to move into a key account position. To strengthen his image, he should use as many “decisive” words as possible.

For example, instead of writing “In addition to account executive responsibilities, also managed office operations for 3 months during management restructuring,” Scott would strengthen his image by writing,“In addition to account executive responsibiliites, also directed workflow, supervised and trained 5 inside sales personnel for 3 months during management restructuring.”

By using management terms, Scott shows a prospective employer that he is capable of taking over management responsibilities on short notice and that he is able to provide continuity to the operations side of the business.

Analyze ads and job descriptions to identify key words.
Learning how to analyze key words in online classified ads and job descriptions listed on company websites is a key element in creating powerful résumés. For example, an online classified ad for an Account Representative reads as follows:

Account Executive
Type: Full Time Length
Location: Toronto
Industry: Manufacturing
Education: College or university degree desirable
Salary: $40 - 50K
Description: This position focuses on new business development in a manufacturing industry. A proven track record selling graphics and printed materials is a must. The ideal candidate is results oriented and has good interpersonal skills. Contact: Direct résumé submission or inquiries to: BDMrésumé@bagg.com. Please cite reference number 8454.

Even though this ad is small, it contains 10-12 key words that should be addressed in Scott’s résumé. Scott can also “lift” the key words contained in such an ad to create headings on his résumé, such as Print Industry Experience, Professional Sales Experience, Sales Training and Designations.

Read between the lines to identify and solve an employer’s hidden requirements.
In addition to the skills and qualifications listed an ad, the employer will have additional requirements that the salesperson needs to address in his résumé and cover letter. For example, does the employer need someone who can deal effectively with other departments, research industry issues to solve problems or anticipate a client’s needs? To give yourself an edge, it’s important to identify these hidden expectations and demonstrate how you can solve those needs.

Never adopt a “one size fits all approach” to résumés and cover letters.
Pants come in all sizes, shapes and colours, so why create only one résumé and one cover letter to send out? You’ll generate many more requests for in-person interviews by tailoring your résumé and cover letter so that they address the specific skills outlined by employers.

Many companies are foregoing traditional screening methods in favour of web-based screening tools. For example, CPSA’s online job search service CareerMall (www.cpsa.com) is powered by Workopolis and offers a tool called the Screening Room™. The Screening Room allows employers to sort, rank and file candidates' résumés and make both shared notes (with others in the company) and private notes or comments about the candidates in a secure, password-protected database.

FINAL STEPS
Once you have created your sales résumé there are some last minute steps to take:

Proofread, proofread and proofread again.
Minor typographical, grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors can ruin all your hard work and efforts up to this point. Many employers if they spot such an error, use it as a basis for discarding the résumé. If your résumé is not discarded, any errors create a bad first impression and calls into question your attention to detail.

Many word processing software programs have a built-in spell-checkers to check the spelling of words and grammar structure. When using these spell-checkers remember that you have to select the thesaurus (e.g. English—Canadian OR English—United States) to have your document compared to the right version. When it doubt use the old fashioned method and consult the Oxford English dictionary. Double-check phone numbers, spelling of proper names, cities and company names as these items are not corrected by spell-checkers.

Get a professional opinion.
Ask a colleague who you respect and who is knowledgeable about your industry to give you a second opinion. If this is not possible there are professional résumé and outplacement services who can assess your résumé and give you feedback on it. Check your ego at the door and listen to any judgements, suggestions or recommendations they make. Ultimately the choice is yours about whether to make these changes but listen to what is being said.

Proofread again.
If you decide to revise your résumé, proofread and spell-check it one last time before hitting the “Send” button to email it or putting it in the mail box.

© Sales Resource Centre, Canadian Professional Sales Association, 2001.