sales resume help

[moonlight]

Since being a SAHM since '09 I decided last year to start working in sales part time to bridge the financial gap while DH is in residency. I'm thinking more and more about where I want my career to go post training. Before I was a SAHM I worked only in the public sector.

This sales stuff is really new to me! I'm looking to transition into a field that requires a small amount of sales experience. I plan to keep my sales jobs for the next couple years in order to use them for resume items for my next career. Plus I feel like its good to have something on there rather than all those empty years. The crazy thing (to me its nuts!) is I'm apparently really good as these sales gigs. I'm #1 in NC and SC for one of my sales jobs this week. I was #2 for the entire year 2011 at the other job for our region (NC and VA). At the one job I have a manager that takes her sales coaching job very seriously. To me it's a silly job, but she coaches me with 110% effort to help me hone my sales skills in this really non pressure manner. Its all very interesting to me!!

My question for you is- what type of information do I need to keep track of for building my resume in regards to my sales experience? This is totally new to me but I think I saw somewhere that sales/business people have sats on their performance, right?

[Michele]

I don't know from experience, but if you are able to save the reports for documentation, then I would just keep a note of where in the ranking you are. Like #2 out of 150 nationwide or what ever.

The other things I would try to keep an idea of would be how much you've increased the sales for the area (it's pretty easy to sell something that people are already buying) and also how many NEW clients you bring each quarter. Also if new products are introduced, how successful you are at getting those sold.

My dad is in sales and these are the things he's always talking about his company making a fuss over. My dad is just an old school nice guy so he doesn't understand the fuss over the numbers. But his manager does and tries to teach him. . He is consistently in the top few for new clients and they love that!

[medpedspouse]

Not from a sales background so take this for what is worth... I would have to agree with Michele about keeping a log of your "numbers" and maybe ask your manager?? Since she takes her sales coaching so seriously, she probably likes mentoring/teaching. Let us know what you find - I am curious now.

Oh - and googling sales resumes may get you some good examples. Sorry if you've done this already and I am of no help.

[diggitydot]

Keep track of not only your rank among other sales peeps in your company, but also how much you increase sales month over month or year over year. Increasing sales in your territory (also sometimes referred to as an AOR - area of responsibility) is a metric that most sales peeps keep track of and use. A lot of sales managers hear "increased sales X%" and see it as a more accurate metric for their needs because THEIR managers are looking for improvement every month and every year.

Other things to keep track:

- Increased customer numbers.
- Lowered returns - shows you help clients make good decisions and help them avoid buyer's remorse.
- Shifting sales from lower-end and less profitable products to more profitable ones.

Those are just a few off the top of my head. Also, there may be some industry specific metrics to use, too.

[moonlight]

Wow, thanks for all the tips! That really helps! At one of my jobs (as of last month) I can print out a daily list of my department's sales. I saved my print out for Feb. I guess I'll keep copies of these numbers while I'm working there. It shows my daily and monthly sales goals and where I'm at. I'm given tons of numbers each week on our weekly phone call. I'll start keeping records of all my work notes.

I've looked at some of those online sales resumes and a few linkedin profiles. I wish the one company had little awards for sales each month or quarter. I guess I can just note each month I was awarded the sales bonus for going over my goal? The weekend job (with the really good coaching boss) has awards but I'm up against the whole nation wide company and I just don't have that kind of crazy high volume out here in a rural North Carolina! To get the first level award I have to sell $10,000 per week for products priced $5.99 to $53.00. That just seems crazy to me. haha!

Thanks again everyone for the info! If you think of anything else, I'm all ears.

[MrsSz]

Keep track of not only your rank among other sales peeps in your company, but also how much you increase sales month over month or year over year. Increasing sales in your territory (also sometimes referred to as an AOR - area of responsibility) is a metric that most sales peeps keep track of and use. A lot of sales managers hear "increased sales X%" and see it as a more accurate metric for their needs because THEIR managers are looking for improvement every month and every year.

Other things to keep track:

- Increased customer numbers.
- Lowered returns - shows you help clients make good decisions and help them avoid buyer's remorse.
- Shifting sales from lower-end and less profitable products to more profitable ones.

Those are just a few off the top of my head. Also, there may be some industry specific metrics to use, too.

I work as a hiring manager for a sales based business. i look at resumes way more than I ever thought I would. What I always recommend is keeping a file of everything. Literally everything that could even potentially be used for resume building. Customer compliments and testimonials are always a good thing to have for reference, even if it isn't on a resume you have the situation and the details fresh in your mind for potential interview questions. Increased customer retention is huge as well as growth of last year (like stated above) but also % over your goal. It is important to reach last year, but what if this years goal is 20% higher and you only increased by 10%? I want to know how successful you are in achieving plan because that is exactly what I am held accountable for and having a drive to make that goal is what I'm in the market for in an employee. I always look for what I call buzzwords on a resume because they lead me to believe the applicant is on the same page as we are. Creating lasting relationships, competitive nature and brand loyalty almost always get a second look from my end. Just my $0.02 but i hope that helps!

[moonlight]

I work as a hiring manager for a sales based business. i look at resumes way more than I ever thought I would. What I always recommend is keeping a file of everything. Literally everything that could even potentially be used for resume building. Customer compliments and testimonials are always a good thing to have for reference, even if it isn't on a resume you have the situation and the details fresh in your mind for potential interview questions. Increased customer retention is huge as well as growth of last year (like stated above) but also % over your goal. It is important to reach last year, but what if this years goal is 20% higher and you only increased by 10%? I want to know how successful you are in achieving plan because that is exactly what I am held accountable for and having a drive to make that goal is what I'm in the market for in an employee. I always look for what I call buzzwords on a resume because they lead me to believe the applicant is on the same page as we are. Creating lasting relationships, competitive nature and brand loyalty almost always get a second look from my end. Just my $0.02 but i hope that helps!

That is super helpful! Based on what your saying I need to get the numbers (at both jobs) from 2011. I was told by one of the account managers I'm going a amazing job, but I wish I knew what she was basing that on. For some reason that one job (with all the great coaching) gives me almost no feed back on numbers, etc. I think its because I'm doing well and they want me to keep it up without any slacking. The only thing I received was in Jan. my location was #2 in growth last year. Today they told me (non coaching job) I was 208% to plan (thus far) for March. Who the heck would have ever thought a Poli Sci major could sell anything to anyone!?!? Anyways... I'll just keep records of everything and slowly start asking for last year's info so see how much I've brought things up. Thank you!!

[MrsSz]

That is super helpful! Based on what your saying I need to get the numbers (at both jobs) from 2011. I was told by one of the account managers I'm going a amazing job, but I wish I knew what she was basing that on. For some reason that one job (with all the great coaching) gives me almost no feed back on numbers, etc. I think its because I'm doing well and they want me to keep it up without any slacking. The only thing I received was in Jan. my location was #2 in growth last year. Today they told me (non coaching job) I was 208% to plan (thus far) for March. Who the heck would have ever thought a Poli Sci major could sell anything to anyone!?!? Anyways... I'll just keep records of everything and slowly start asking for last year's info so see how much I've brought things up. Thank you!!

Congrats for doing SO well!! Some of my best people are people with no prior sales experience. My best was a SAHM and then came back to work part time to supplement income (sound familiar! ) The greatest thing about sales is that it doesn't matter your background, if you've got it you're golden!