“I would like to move from non-sales to a sales job. How do I write a sales resume? I don’t have any sales experience, but I’ve had a lot of communication with customers, aiding them with their accounts. Should I put that information into my new resume to help me get a sales job?”
Definitely design a sales resume that outlines all your sales-related skills, somewhat serving as a “bridge” from your past to your future. Elements of your career that are considered transferable skills to a sales position will help paint the right picture for hiring personnel. For example, do you have involvement with customer service, customer relations, account management, relationship building, and client account troubleshooting? Do you aide the sales department with maintaining client relations? Do you assist with up-selling? What about involvement with marketing? Corporate communications?
Skills that are applicable to sales positions include typically revolve around core areas, such as:
◊ Client Account Management
◊ Customer Service/Customer Relations
◊ Business Development/New Sales
◊ Marketing/Advertising
◊ Corporate Communications
◊ Sales Team Support
◊ Product Line Introductions
◊ Market Research, Analysis, and Reporting
◊ … amongst others, of course.
Transitioning from one career or industry to another is a challenge, but very doable … you just need to change your mindset a bit. For example, let’s say your position was in a call center. In a roundabout way, you’re involved in the sales process. Therefore, you can insert select tasks into your resume that will benefit your new focus. A sample sentence could be, “Remedied client inquiries and complaints, which subsequently generated a high repeat and referral business.” Maybe you can guesstimate an amount of repeat/referral business you help sustain. Or better yet, you can provide sales figures for the sales department you support, providing brush-stroke details within your resume. Anytime you can add numbers and percentages to your sales resume, you’ll add even more appeal to it.
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