Embarking on the quest for a senior sales manager position, you've polished your resume and zeroed in on potential jobs—only to find a compelling cover letter is also required. Unlike a resume, your cover letter is your chance to showcase a pivotal professional triumph, weaving your proudest moment into a narrative that underscores your value. Striking a balance between formality and originality, minus the clichés, can be tricky. And remember, keep it concise—no more than a single page. Let's dive into crafting a cover letter that stands out without stepping over the line.
- Making excellent use of job-winning real-life professional cover letters;
- Writing the first paragraphs of your senior sales manager cover letter to get attention and connect with the recruiters - immediately;
- Single out your most noteworthy achievement (even if it's outside your career);
- Get a better understanding of what you must include in your senior sales manager cover letter to land the job.
Let the power of Enhancv's AI work for you: create your senior sales manager cover letter by uploading your resume.
If the senior sales manager isn't exactly the one you're looking for we have a plethora of cover letter examples for jobs like this one:
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Senior sales manager cover letter example
Lucas Rodriguez
San Francisco, California
+1-(234)-555-1234
help@enhancv.com
- Emphasizing Relevant Experience: The cover letter focuses on the applicant's success in expanding market share and securing strategic partnerships within the healthcare sector, showcasing industry-specific accomplishments that are directly applicable to the target role.
- Quantifying Achievements: It includes specific data such as a 30% market share increase and exceeding annual revenues of $5M, which help to concretize the applicant's successes and demonstrate a capacity for driving tangible business results.
- Strategic Alignment: The letter highlights the applicant’s enthusiasm for contributing to transformative projects, aligning with a forward-thinking organization, which suggests a strong cultural fit and a clear understanding of the potential employer's mission and business approach.
What are the basics of the design or format of your senior sales manager cover letter?
To start, here's a reminder for you: the Applicant Tracker System (or software that is used to assess candidate profiles), won't be reading your senior sales manager cover letter.
Recruiters enjoy reading senior sales manager cover letters with a standardized format that uses:
- the same font as the resume (e.g. modern ones like Raleway or Volkhov are prefered over the clichéd Times New Roman or Arial);
- single spacing to keep the content concise and organized (this is all ready for you in our cover letter templates);
- a one-inch margin to wrap around the text, like in our cover letter builder;
- PDF as a file format, as it allows your design (and visual element) to stay the same.
Finally, we can't go on without mentioning the key sections of your senior sales manager cover letter.
In the top one-third, make sure to include a header (with your contact information, name, role, and date), a salutation, and an introduction.
Next, follows the heart and soul of your senior sales manager cover letter or its body.
End your senior sales manager cover letter with a closing paragraph and, if you wish, a signature.
The top sections on a senior sales manager cover letter
- Header: Include your full name, contact information, and the date, which is essential for the recruiter to easily reach you and for documenting when the application was submitted.
- Opening Greeting: Address the hiring manager by name if possible to personalize the cover letter and show that you have researched the company and the person responsible for hiring.
- Introduction: Briefly state your interest in the position and your career background, highlighting your years of experience in sales management and your understanding of strategic sales leadership.
- Body: Detail your achievements in previous sales management roles, such as growing sales territories, leading successful teams, or implementing innovative sales strategies, which demonstrate your capability to fulfill the role effectively.
- Closing: Express your eagerness to discuss how you can contribute to the company’s goals, thank the reader for considering your application, and provide a call to action, such as waiting for a response or stating that you will follow up.
Key qualities recruiters search for in a candidate’s cover letter
- Proven track record of meeting or exceeding sales targets: Demonstrates the ability to drive revenue growth and achieve business objectives.
- Strong leadership and team management skills: Essential for guiding sales teams, motivating staff and fostering a high-performance sales culture.
- Strategic planning and market analysis expertise: Critical for identifying growth opportunities and developing effective sales strategies.
- Excellent communication and negotiation abilities: Key to building relationships with clients, negotiating deals, and closing sales.
- Experience in budgeting and sales forecasting: Vital for predicting future sales and making informed business decisions based on financial data.
- Adaptability to change and innovation: Important in a senior role to navigate market shifts and help the company stay competitive by embracing new sales methodologies and technologies.
Kick off your senior sales manager cover letter: the salutation or greeting
When writing your senior sales manager cover letter, remember that you're not writing for some complex AI or robot, but for actual human beings.
And recruiters, while on the lookout to understand your experience, would enjoy seeing a cover letter that is tailored to the role and addresses them. Personally.
So, if you haven't done so, invest some time in finding out who's the hiring manager for the role you're applying to. A good place to start would be LinkedIn and the corporate website.
Alternatively, you could also get in touch with the company to find out more information about the role and the name of the recruiter.
If you haven't met the hiring manager, yet, your senior sales manager cover letter salutation should be on a last-name basis (e.g. "Dear Mr. Donaldson" or "Dear Ms. Estephan").
A good old, "Dear HR Professional" (or something along those lines) could work as your last resort if you're struggling to find out the recruiter's name.
List of salutations you can use
- Dear Hiring Manager,
- Dear [Company Name] Team,
- Dear [Hiring Manager's Name],
- Dear [Department] Director,
- Dear Mr./Ms. [Last Name],
- Dear [First Name] [Last Name],
Your senior sales manager cover letter intro: showing your interest in the role
On to the actual content of your senior sales manager cover letter and the introductory paragraph.
The intro should be no more than two sentences long and presents you in the best light possible.
Use your senior sales manager cover letter introduction to prove exactly what interests you in the role or organization. Is it the:
- Company culture;
- Growth opportunities;
- Projects and awards the team worked on/won in the past year;
- Specific technologies the department uses.
When writing your senior sales manager cover letter intro, be precise and sound enthusiastic about the role.
Your introduction should hint to recruiters that you're excited about the opportunity and that you possess an array of soft skills, e.g. motivation, determination, work ethic, etc.
Structuring your senior sales manager cover letter body to add more value
You've hinted at your value as a professional (this may be your passion for the job or interest in the company) in your introduction.
Next, it's time to pan out the body or middle of your senior sales manager cover letter.
When creating your resume, you've probably gone over the advert a million times to select the most relevant skills.
Well, it's time to repeat this activity. Or just copy and paste your previous list of job-crucial requirements.
Then, select one of your past accomplishments, which is relevant and would impress hiring managers.
Write between three and six paragraphs to focus on the value your professional achievement would bring to your potential, new organization.
Tell a story around your success that ultimately shows off your real value as a professional.
Closing paragraph basics: choose between a promise and a call to action
You've done all the hard work - congratulations! You've almost reached the end of your senior sales manager cover letter.
But how do you ensure recruiters, who have read your application this far, remember you?
Most senior sales manager professionals end their cover letter with a promise - hinting at their potential and what they plan on achieving if they're hired.
Another option would be to include a call for follow-up, where you remind recruiters that you're very interested in the opportunity (and look forward to hearing from them, soon).
Choose to close your senior sales manager cover letter in the way that best fits your personality.
What to write on your senior sales manager cover letter, when you have zero experience
The best advice for candidates, writing their senior sales manager cover letters with no experience, is this - be honest.
If you have no past professional roles in your portfolio, focus recruiters' attention on your strengths - like your unique, transferrable skill set (gained as a result of your whole life), backed up by one key achievement.
Or, maybe you dream big and have huge motivation to join the company. Use your senior sales manager cover letter to describe your career ambition - that one that keeps you up at night, dreaming about your future.
Finally, always ensure you've answered why employers should hire precisely you and how your skills would benefit their organization.
Key takeaways
Writing your senior sales manager cover letter doesn't need to turn into an endless quest, but instead:
- Create an individual senior sales manager cover letter for each role you apply to, based on job criteria (use our builder to transform your resume into a cover letter, which you could edit to match the job);
- Stick with the same font you've used in your resume (e.g. Raleway) and ensure your senior sales manager cover letter is single-spaced and has a one-inch margin all around;
- Introduce your enthusiasm for the role or the company at the beginning of your senior sales manager cover letter to make a good first impression;
- Align what matters most to the company by selecting just one achievement from your experience, that has taught you valuable skills and knowledge for the job;
- End your senior sales manager cover letter like any good story - with a promise for greatness or follow-up for an interview.
