As a sales account executive, articulating your ability to build relationships and exceed targets can be a significant resume challenge. Our guide will take you step-by-step through the process of showcasing your achievements and sales acumen effectively, ensuring your resume stands out to potential employers.
- Sample industry-leading professional resumes for inspiration and sales account executive resume-writing know-how.
- Focus recruiters' attention on what matters most - your unique experience, achievements, and skills.
- Write various resume sections to ensure you meet at least 95% of all job requirements.
- Balance your sales account executive technical expertise with personality to stand out amongst candidates.
If the sales account executive resume isn't the right one for you, take a look at other related guides we have:
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- Retail Salesperson Resume Example
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Optimize your sales account executive resume format to pass the recruiters' assessment
You may be wondering just how much time you need to spend on designing your sales account executive resume.What recruiters are looking for is systematised content that is clear and coherent. Thus, your sales account executive resume needs to answer requirements and why you're the best candidate for the role from the get-go.
Often, a clear layout consists of:
- Sorting your experience in the reverse chronological order - starting with your most recent and relevant roles. This is an excellent choice for more experienced professionals;
- Writing your contact information (e.g. personal phone number and email address) and your portfolio or LinkedIn link in your sales account executive resume header. If you're wondering to include a photo or not, always make sure that it's appropriate for the country you're applying in;
- Use the basic, most important sales account executive resume sections - your experience, education, summary, etc. Use your resume's real estate wisely to tell a compelling, professional story and match job description's keywords;
- Don't go overboard with the length of your resume. One page is absolutely fine if you happen to have under a decade of relevant experience.
Are you still wondering if you should submit your sales account executive resume in PDF or Word format ? The PDF has a few more advantages, as it doesn't change the format and the text can't be altered upon application.
Format matters most when your sales account executive resume is assessed by the Applicant Tracker System (or the ATS).
The ATS parses resumes, looking for specific keywords, skills or experience that match the job description.
P.S. We recently did a study on how the ATS works and were able to demystify three of the biggest misconceptions about how it assesses candidate resumes.
To pass the ATS evaluation, select any of the serif or sans-serif fonts. Popular choices that would help your sales account executive resume stand out include Raleway, Exo 2, Montserrat, etc.
Most traditionalists go for Arial or Times New Roman, but it's often the case that many candidates choose these fonts, and you'd thus lose points on the uniqueness front.
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PRO TIP
Mention specific courses or projects that are pertinent to the job you're applying for.
Traditional sections, appreciated by recruiters, for your sales account executive resume:
- Clear and concise header with relevant links and contact details
- Summary or objective with precise snapshot of our career highlights and why you're a suitable candidate for the sales account executive role
- Experience that goes into the nuts and bolts of your professional qualifications and success
- Skills section(-s) for more in-depth talent-alignment between job keywords and your own profile
- Education and certifications sections to further show your commitment for growth in the specific niche
What recruiters want to see on your resume:
- Proven sales track record with examples of achieving and exceeding sales quotas and targets
- Expertise in the specific industry or vertical of the company to demonstrate an understanding of the market and customer base
- Strong negotiation and closing skills to show an ability to seal deals effectively
- Excellent communication and relationship-building skills to maintain and grow a strong client network
- Proficiency with CRM software and sales automation tools for managing sales processes and customer data efficiently
Writing your sales account executive resume experience
Within the body of your sales account executive resume is perhaps one of the most important sections - the resume experience one. Here are five quick tips on how to curate your sales account executive professional experience:
- Include your expertise that aligns to the job requirements;
- Always ensure that you qualify your achievements by including a skill, what you did, and the results your responsibility led to;
- When writing each experience bullet, ensure you're using active language;
- If you can include a personal skill you've grown, thanks to your experience, this would help you stand out;
- Be specific about your professional experience - it's not enough that you can "communicate", but rather what's your communication track record?
Wondering how other professionals in the industry are presenting their job-winning sales account executive resumes? Check out how these sales account executive professionals put some of our best practices into action:
- Identified and secured a 30% expansion of market share in the Southeast region by negotiating and closing deals with key regional distributors.
- Led a cross-functional team to develop and implement strategic account plans, resulting in a 40% increase in customer retention rate.
- Mastered the use of Salesforce CRM to track sales opportunities and generate detailed forecasting reports that improved pipeline visibility by 25%.
- Orchestrated the introduction of a new SaaS product line which contributed to a $2.5M revenue boost in the first year.
- Implemented and refined sales tactics that drove a consistent 15% year-over-year growth in key accounts for the software division.
- Collaborated with marketing to launch targeted campaigns that increased lead generation by 60%, heavily emphasizing product advantages.
- Managed and expanded strategic partnerships with Fortune 500 companies, contributing to an annual increase in revenue of $1.8 million.
- Championed a pivot in sales strategy towards consultative selling, which improved customer LTV (Lifetime Value) by 35%.
- Spearheaded regional sales training initiatives, resulting in a team productivity increase of 20% and reduced time to onboard new hires by two weeks.
- Drove a 50% increase in B2B contract signings with industry leaders through effective pipeline management and personalized sales presentations.
- Launched and managed a profitable sales territory, increasing the customer base by over 200% within a 4-year timeframe.
- Conducted detailed market analysis to successfully introduce two flagship products into emerging markets, surpassing initial sales projections by 70%.
- Successfully negotiated and closed multi-year contracts with three of the top 10 industry leaders, contributing to a 25% bump in annual revenue.
- Enhanced customer engagement through the development of a client feedback system that led to a 90% satisfaction rate.
- Fostered a client-focused approach within the sales team, reducing customer churn by 12% and establishing a more robust renewal pipeline.
- Initiated a strategic upselling program that increased average deal size by 35% within telecommunications verticals.
- Coordinated with product development teams to tailor solutions, meeting the unique needs of key accounts and driving a customer success rate improvement of 22%.
- Supervised a team of junior sales executives, mentoring and leading them to surpass performance targets by an average of 15% each quarter.
- Executed a digital transformation sales strategy across assigned accounts, growing digital product sales by 200% over three years.
- Developed a comprehensive account penetration plan that resulted in capturing three previously untapped major industry accounts.
- Built and maintained a robust sales pipeline, consistently achieving the top 10% in sales performance company-wide.
- Generated a 24% YOY increase in revenue by successfully driving the adoption of cloud-based solutions within the financial sector.
- Pioneered a client referral program which expanded the client portfolio by 40% through leveraging existing relationships.
- Crafted and executed tailor-made presentations to C-level executives that addressed company-specific challenges and showcased our bespoke solutions.
Quantifying impact on your resume
- Include the percentage by which you exceeded your sales targets to demonstrate your high performance.
- List the exact number of new accounts you secured to showcase your business development skills.
- State the dollar value of contracts you’ve negotiated to highlight your ability to close significant deals.
- Quantify the growth in customer base as a result of your sales initiatives to show the direct impact of your efforts.
- Mention the percentage growth in revenue for your territory under your management to indicate your ability to drive business success.
- Detail cost savings achieved through effective negotiation tactics to illustrate your financial acumen.
- Specify the size of the teams you've led or collaboratively worked with to underline your leadership and teamwork abilities.
- Point out the number of product lines you have experience selling to emphasize your versatility and industry knowledge.
Action verbs for your sales account executive resume
How to shift the focus from your sales account executive resume experience section to your professional profile
If you're at the start of your career journey or transitioning industries, you might be concerned about the lack of professional experience while crafting your sales account executive resume.
How can you effectively present your sales account executive resume experience section under these circumstances?
Rather than a traditional, extensive experience section, demonstrate your expertise through:
- Emphasizing your education. Your academic background might impress recruiters, especially if it includes recent, industry-relevant knowledge;
- Creating a compelling objective statement. The first few sentences of your resume should map out your motivations and career aspirations, offering insight into your goals;
- Highlighting your transferable skills. For example, if you've honed communication skills through volunteering, illustrate on your sales account executive resume how these can benefit a potential employer;
- Detailing your technical background in certifications and skills sections. As a recent graduate, your technological foundations might be particularly attractive to employers looking to develop these skills further.
It's important to remember that employers sometimes prefer candidates with less experience but who are a better cultural fit for their organization.
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PRO TIP
Mention specific courses or projects that are pertinent to the job you're applying for.
In-demand hard skills and soft skills for your sales account executive resume
A vital element for any sales account executive resume is the presentation of your skill set.
Recruiters always take the time to assess your:
- Technological proficiency or hard skills - which software and technologies can you use and at what level?
- People/personal or soft skills - how apt are you at communicating your ideas across effectively? Are you resilient to change?
The ideal candidate presents the perfect balance of hard skills and soft skills all through the resume, but more particular within a dedicated skills section.
Building your sales account executive skills section, you should:
- List up to six skills that answer the requirements and are unique to your expertise.
- Include a soft skill (or two) that defines you as a person and professional - perhaps looking back on feedback you've received from previous managers, etc.
- Create up to two skills sections that are organized based on the types of skills you list (e.g. "technical skills", "soft skills", "sales account executive skills", etc.).
- If you happen to have technical certifications that are vital to the industry and really impressive, include their names within your skills section.
At times, it really is frustrating to think back on all the skills you possess and discover the best way to communicate them across.
We understand this challenge - that's why we've prepared two lists (of hard skills and soft skills) to help you build your next resume, quicker and more efficiently:
Top skills for your sales account executive resume:
Prospecting
CRM software proficiency
Sales forecasting
Contract negotiation
Product knowledge
Market research
Lead qualification
Presentation skills
Sales reporting
Data analysis
Communication
Persuasion
Relationship building
Time management
Problem-solving
Adaptability
Resilience
Active listening
Teamwork
Negotiation
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Highlight any significant extracurricular activities that demonstrate valuable skills or leadership.
Including your education and certification on your sales account executive resume
The significance of your resume education section is paramount. It can show your diverse talents and experiences that are relevnt to the position.
- Incorporate educational qualifications, mentioning the institution and period.
- If you're on your academic journey, pinpoint your expected completion date.
- Opt for leaving out degrees that don't serve the job's purpose.
- Provide an overview of your educational experiences if it spotlights your milestones.
When recruiting for sales account executive roles, candidates with relevant education and certification definitely stand out amongst competitors.
Showcase your academic background in the best way possible by:
- Listing all degrees and certifications that are part of the candidate qualifications in the sales account executive advert
- Including any extra certificates, if they make sense to your application
- Not going over the top in details - the certificate name, institution, and dates are enough
- If you're in the process of obtaining a degree or certificate that's relevant to the job, include your expected graduation/certification dates
The education and certification sections help back up your application with years of experience in the industry or niche.
Select some of the most cutting-edge or applicable credentials for your next sales account executive application from our list:
The top 5 certifications for your sales account executive resume:
- Certified Professional Sales Person (CPSP) - National Association of Sales Professionals
- Strategic Account Management Certification (SAMA) - Strategic Account Management Association
- Certified Sales Leadership Professional (CSLP) - The Sales Management Association
- Certified Sales Executive (CSE) - Sales and Marketing Executives International
- HubSpot Sales Software Certification - HubSpot Academy
PRO TIP
List your educational qualifications and certifications in reverse chronological order.
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Best practices to your sales account executive resume summary or objective
To start, how do you know if you should include a resume summary or a resume objective ?
- Resume summaries are ideal for sales account executive professionals with more experience, who'd like to give a quick glimpse of their biggest career achievements in the top one-third of their resumes.
- On the other hand, resume objectives serve as a road map for recruiters. Candidates use the objective to show how their experience aligns with the sales account executive role they're applying for while showcasing the North Star of their career (or where they want to be as a professional in the next couple of years).
The resume summary or resume objective could be the perfect fit for your sales account executive resume. The function of both is to highlight your professionalism succinctly. So, keep your writing specific: include no more than four sentences and target your application to the role. Here's how these specific resume sections help the sales account executive candidates stand out.
Resume summaries for a sales account executive job
- Seasoned Sales Account Executive with over 10 years of experience in the fast-paced tech industry, bringing a record of consistently surpassing quota by at least 20%. Expert in relationship-building, sales forecasting, and marketplace analysis, with a significant accomplishment in securing a $2 million deal with a key client in the financial sector.
- Highly motivated former Marketing Manager seeking to leverage 8 years of brand development and campaign management into a sales-driven career. Proficient with CRM tools and data-driven decision-making, having increased brand market share by 15% through strategic partnerships and innovative promotions.
- Dynamic former Customer Service Supervisor eager to transfer 5 years of problem-solving and upselling skills into the realm of sales. Adept at understanding customer needs and providing solutions, having successfully introduced a loyalty program that reduced churn by 30% and increased repeat business.
- Driven professional with 7 years of comprehensive experience in the pharmaceutical industry, skilled in cultivating long-term client relationships and adept in negotiating contracts. Recognized for leading a team to achieve a record high in annual sales, generating over $5 million in revenue for the fiscal year 2021.
- Eager to develop a sales career, I bring unmatched enthusiasm for market success and a deep commitment to learning industry techniques. Armed with a recent MBA and a passion for impactful communication, I am poised to exceed sales targets and contribute meaningfully to customer satisfaction and loyalty.
- As a recent graduate with a Bachelor's in Business Administration, I am keen to apply my academic knowledge of market analysis and consumer behavior to a professional setting. My objective is to employ strong interpersonal skills and a customer-centric approach to foster meaningful business relationships and drive sales growth.
More sections to ensure your sales account executive resume stands out
If you're looking for additional ways to ensure your sales account executive application gets noticed, then invest in supplementing your resume with extra sections, like:
These supplementary resume sections show your technical aptitude (with particular technologies and software) and your people skills (gained even outside of work).
Key takeaways
Securing your ideal job starts with crafting a compelling sales account executive resume. It should not only highlight your professional strengths but also reflect your personality. Key aspects to remember include:
- Choose a clear, easily editable format, allowing more time to focus on the content of your resume;
- Emphasize experience relevant to the job, focusing on your impact on the team;
- Opt for a resume summary if you have extensive professional experience, and a resume objective if you're just starting out;
- Include technical skills in the skills section and interpersonal skills in the achievements section;
- Recognize the importance of various resume sections (e.g., My Time, Projects) in showcasing both your professional abilities and personal traits.
