INDUSTRY STATS
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Wholesale & Manufacturing Sales positions are at a 5% growth rate, which is slower than average. With that said, there are currently 1,625,700 jobs in the market right now. The total number of jobs is expected to increase by 77,600 to 1,703,300 in the period of 2020-30.
What’s more, the median annual wage for the Wholesale & Manufacturing Sales jobs was $65,420 in May 2020. The lowest 10% earned less than $31,950, and the highest 10% more than $129,200.
Our conclusion? The Wholesale & Manufacturing Sales job market is wide open for candidates.
Top sales lead sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
How to write a Sales Lead resume experience section
Sales lead resume experience: checklist
- Use either chronological or reverse-chronological format when listing your previous jobs;
- Mention only relevant positions that add value to your resume;
- Briefly state the challenges you’ve faced and how you’ve overcome them;
- Highlight the results from your efforts (for bonus points, add numbers, percentage rates, etc.);
- Forget about buzzwords! Use power verbs instead.
Use the examples below to build your own experience section!
- Invoice creation
- Sales development
- Sales targets quotas and team directives
- Management
- Customer service & resolution
- Cash handling
- Lead the Watson Sales all over Italy cross Industry
- Develop the channel market for the new core Cognitive Solutions
- Create a robust pipeline (18M TCV/quarter) to replace the low margin traditional business
- Achieve revenue target (6M TCV/quarter)
- Engage new clients and prospects to build a modern pipeline of contacts
- Build business with Global System Integrators (GSI) in the region (DACH) almost from almost scratch to > 20m$ pa
- Closed multimillion EUR TCV deals for XaaS and transformation projects
- Won major new logo customers like Allianz, Telefonica and Meyer Werft
- Created sustainable partnerships and venue streams with system integration and consulting partners like Atos, CGI, Infosys and Wipro
- Acted as catalyst for Hitachi Vantaras transformation from an infrastructure provider to a software and solutions company to drive digital transformation
- Solution areas covered: (hybrid) cloud transformation, analytics and big data, IoT, Smart Space and Video Intelligence, app modernization
- Vertical focus: BFSI, manufacturing & automotive, telco
- Build business with Global System Integrators (GSI) in the region (DACH) almost from almost scratch to > 20m$ pa
- Solution areas covered: (hybrid) cloud transformation, analytics and big data, IoT, Smart Space and Video Intelligence, AI, app modernization, automation
- Closed multimillion EUR TCV deals for XaaS and transformation projects
- Won major new logo customers like Allianz, Telefonica and Meyer Werft
- Acted as catalyst for Hitachi Vantaras transformation from an infrastructure provider to a software and solutions company to drive digital transformation
- Vertical focus: BFSI, manufacturing & automotive, telco
- Raising over $10,000 through individual sales for the Allanah & Madeline Foundation.
- Achieving the level of "sales leader" within business development program through reaching consistently high sales targets.
- Training and mentoring multiple lower level contractors
- Led a team of 5 global enterprise account managers generating annual revenues in excess of US$ 7 million; Large global accounts include Tata Sky, Unilever, Bosch, Cisco, and Thomson Reuters
- Successfully executed strategic account mapping and strategy of large global accounts generating new business and achieved 110% of targets
- Won complex, long-lead cycle deals from marquee brands like Juniper networks, Tata Sky, and Unilever resulting in non-mobility revenue growth of over 50%
- Built new partnership and alliances with large System Integrators to drive Joint GTM and enable new product adoption
- Led a team of 5 global enterprise account managers generating annual revenues in excess of US$ 10 million; Large global accounts include Tata Sky, Unilever, Bosch, Cisco, and Thomson Reuters
- Successfully executed strategic account mapping and strategy of large global accounts generating new business and achieved 110% of targets
- Won complex, long-lead cycle deals from marquee brands like Juniper networks, Tata Sky, and Unilever resulting in non-mobility revenue growth of over 50%
- Built new partnership and alliances with large System Integrators to drive Joint GTM and enable new product adoption
- Hired to build a net new sales team of 13 Account Executives remotely
- Develop sales strategy that help identify and target additional opportunities with existing customers
- Over-achieved all metrics 3 quarters in a row for an average of 176% to quota
- Set KPI metrics and managed to them
- Routinely develop and pivot sales strategy to gain continuous traction and growth
- Coached, mentored, promoted members of the sales team
- double digit growth of the Big Data Compute business for 4 consecutive years
- Five-fold increase in AI (GPU) business in 2 years
- Development of net new business (up to 20% of existing data centre revenue) in the main regions (UKI, Germany, Middle East, Israel)
- Build business with Global System Integrators (GSI) in the region (DACH) almost from almost scratch to > 20m$ per year as the growth engine for the region
- Inspired and developed the team as team lead of the regional SI and Service Provider Partner Sales Team
- Won major new logos together with system integration and consulting partners like Atos, Cognizant, CGI, HCL, Infosys, TCS and Wipro
- Created a business outcome focused GTM model and be vital part of Hitachi Vantaras transformation from infrastructure to software solutions for digital transformation
- Established SIs as major implementation partners and sales channel for Hitachi's Data Management Software (Pentaho) and Cloud offerings (IaaS, PaaS, Application and Cloud Transformation)
- Drove a new channel mindset within the sales organisation
- Engaged with both: business partners and down stream end customers
- Definition, development and execution of all growth plans of the pillars of Dell technologies - Datacenter/Digital/Software/Security
- Manage Business Plan/Pgm/MDF in order to secure the growth of Titanium and Platinum partners who did more of 4 my per year
- ATOS, CAP, ORANGE, ACCENTURE focused on Dell Servers and Storage Infrastructure (Enabling, Account plans, Events, Financials offers)
- Monitor and measure results and progress towards the achievement of the strategy as HCI solutions, Servers, HPC, Storage, Networking , SAAS solutions and DELL Financial services.
- Pioneered of the GSI plan for EMEA focused Nordics - Germany - France and UK with an equal mix of strategy and execution to expand the business impact of innovative Cloud based solutions .
- Helping partners enter the cloud era, bridge the legacy gap and unleash digital innovations to create a competitive advantage
- Subject-matter expert bridging technology conversations with clients towards more business terms.
- Security Proxy to Telecom infrastructure solutions
- Developped South EMEA areas with large won deals and setting up partners locally
- Establish and enlarge the business for Hitachi's IoT and Cloud Platform
- Build the System Integrator (SI) and Cloud Service Provider contacts and business to deliver >50% YoY growth
- Closed the first lighthouse projects with SIs like CGI, Infosys, Wipro and TCS
- Recruit, inspire and develop the team
- Establish and enlarge the business for Hitachi's IoT and Cloud Platform
- Build the System Integrator (SI) and Cloud Service Provider contacts and business to deliver >50% YoY growth and won new blue chip logos
- Drive adoption of private cloud use cases and IaaS
- Closed the first lighthouse projects together with SIs like CGI, Infosys, Wipro and TCS
- Recruit, inspire and develop the team
- Won major new logos together with CGI, Cognizant, Infosys, Wipro and TCS
- Established and enlarged the business for Hitachi's IoT and Private Cloud Platform (XaaS)
- Built the System Integrator (SI) and Cloud Service Provider business from scratch and delivered significant growth
- Engaged with booth: business partners and down stream customers
- Inspired and developed the team
- Lead team of 6 field sales account managers across 4 states finishing as #1 Region attainment 4 times
- Delivered the highest growth in overall product revenue in sector at 78% YOY, triple digit growth rate in security sales, data center, Meraki, and collaboration and highest 5 year CAGR in Area.
- Most recent attainment 185% Product, 156% Services, and 143% Software sales, with all team members over plan.
- Participated as Global Innovation Challenge Finalist judge (4) years in a row, chose as one of top angel investors in 2019.
- Chosen to participate in Senior Leader Program; received multiple Exceptional ratings as well as other awards and recognition
- Led team of 10 Directors driving $720M in vertical sales across Government, Education, Healthcare, and Financial Services delivered 6% YOY growth during tough economic downturn
- Established team metric/evaluation standards, strategic account focus and roadmap tools, as well as GTM strategies
- Revitalized Consultant relations program, generating $145M in revenue, with 10% YOY growth
- Directed AT&T and Verizon Alliance marketing program teams
- Member, TechAmerica State & Local Government Executive Board
- Led team of 4 Directors generating $250M in Government and Education sector sales
- Developed new channel/engagement models leading to top-producing team in vertical markets
- Established sales strategies, industry value propositions, and business roadmap planning resulting in numerous multi-million dollar wins
- Delivered 25% YOY market growth, 68% in product enterprise sales, and 22% in services sales
PRO TIP
The person reading your Sales Lead resume will be busy, make sure you never waste their time with fluff.
Action verbs for your sales lead resume
Recommended Reads:
Sales lead resume: the skills section!
How to write a strong sales lead resume skills section?
- Make sure to include all types of skills - soft, hard, technical;
- Focus on skills that show your expertise in the field;
- Check the job description for keywords and make sure to add them to your resume – this will help you pass ATS;
- Leave room for discussion – elaborate on some of your strongest skills in other sections of your resume
Top skills for your sales lead resume
Salesforce
MS Office
CRM
Forecasting
Cold Calling
Business Development
Customer Service
Project Management
Relationship Building
Time Management
Storytelling
Research / Information Gathering.
Critical Thinking
Problem Solving.
Tech Savvy
Networking
PRO TIP
Add a Talent Section to your resume, where you can pick your top 3 soft skills and describe how you used them to complete a project or balance departmental communication.
Recommended reads:
Sales lead resume header: tips, red flags, and best practices
Checklist for your sales lead resume header
- Your name and surname in a legible and larger resume font
- The job title you’re applying for or your current job title as a subheading to your name
- Link to your portfolio or online profile, such as LinkedIn
- Address (City and State for the US; just your city for rest of the world)
- Email address
- Headshot (required or welcomed in the EU; not required and sometimes frowned upon in the US)
Stick to popular email providers such as Gmail or Outlook. And use these professional formats to create your username:
- first.last@gmail.com
- last.first@gmail.com
- firstlast@gmail.com
- f.last@gmail.com
- first.l@gmail.com
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Some companies, states, and countries have policies about identifying information like photos on your Sales Lead resume. Be sure to check all the relevant rules before submitting yours. If you’re in doubt, you can always try contacting the company’s HR department to ask for their policy.
A career summary for your sales lead resume
Things to include in your sales lead resume summary:
- Your total years of experience in the industry;
- 2-3 of your most remarkable achievements so far;
- How your experience relates to the position you’re applying for;
- A very brief description of your strengths.
Resume summary formula:
PRO TIP
You’re not going to get hired simply because of a good summary or objective. However, your recruiter can bump you up in front of similarly experienced candidates who didn’t demonstrate such passion and drive.
Recommended reads:
Sales lead resume: The education section
Things to include in your resume's education section:
- Your highest education degree – including course, year of graduation, institution;
- Awards received as part of your education;
- Extracurricular activities that have helped you gain relevant skills;
- Certifications that have helped you master new skills and increase your expertise;
- Entry-level applicants only: relevant courses and projects.
Top Certifications for Your Sales Lead Resume
Lead Generation: Sales Referrals System for B2C & B2B Sales
Lead generation: Sales referrals best practices. Gain the sales skills to generate leads through sales referrals
Future of Sales: Lead Generation in B2B Sales
Learn how to build a sales pipeline using the best tools. Improve your performance
B2B Lead Generation + B2B Sales With LinkedIn, Cold Email
LinkedIn + cold email lead generation for B2B sales. Lead generation, lead nurturing emails, B2B marketing for B2B sales
The Complete B2B Sales Course: Lead Generation to Closing
Master the art of B2B sales to include prospecting, lead generation, scripting, and closing from a Master Sales Trainer
Lead Generation Machine: Cold Email B2B Sales Master Course
Schedule meetings emailing small to large companies for business development, B2B, startup, consultants, & entrepreneurs
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
There are dozens of certifications that you can claim as a Sales Lead. But, some are more effective than others. That’s why you mustn’t include every certificate other applicants might have. Try instead to earn and list a few of the difficult ones.
Choosing the right format for your sales lead resume
In general, there are three basic formats for your resume:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional skills-based resume format;
- Combination (or Hybrid) resume format.
Some things to consider when choosing the right format for your Sales Lead resume include the stage of your career, whether you have all the right skills required for the job or are looking for an industry change, and what field you’re looking to grow in.
The reverse-chronological resume format is the most common one. It lets you describe your most recent job and then move backward. This makes it great for people who have around or less than 10 years of experience and are looking to highlight only their work-related skills and qualities.
If you’re just starting your career journey and reverse-chronological resumes sound too demanding, go for the functional resume format. It’s ideal for showcasing your strengths, personal qualities, skills, education, and the courses you’ve taken, without putting too much pressure on experience and expertise.
Don’t worry if neither of these sounds suitable for you – the hybrid or combination resume format will surely match your needs. It’s similar to the reverse-chronological, but with a catchy twist. Combination or hybrid resumes are great for showcasing both your experience and work-related skills and your personal qualities. Add a “What my day looks like” section for enhancing the jaw-dropping experience!
Here are some more things worth remembering when it comes to formatting your Sales Lead resume:
- Choose standard 1-inch resume margins;
- Go for traditional resume fonts sized 10-12p;
- Match the length of your Sales Lead resume with your experience – choose a one-page template if you have less than 10 years of experience, and be careful with two-page templates – use them only when applying for executive positions;
- Save your resume in PDF to avoid formatting issues and potential unauthorized editing.
Tired of getting rejected? Check out this article on how to craft a resume that stands out!
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Sometimes you’ll want to go after a job which requires more experience than you have. Instead of using a typical Sales Lead resume layout, you can use a creative layout. Getting noticed is the most important challenge and a creative resume layout might help you get invited for an interview as most of other accountants have boring resume designs.
Other sections suitable for your sales lead resume
Depending on the position and the industry, you can spice your resume up by adding some more sections. They will help the recruiter get a glimpse of who you are as a person, besides all your job-related skills and qualities.
Here are some examples:
How to add creativity to your sales lead resume
Gone are the days when creative resumes were frowned upon by recruiters!
What’s more, the right amount of creativity will make recruiters remember you and want to learn more about who you are – both as an individual and as a professional.
There are two ways to build a creative resume - add creative sections or go for a more creative design approach in general. Go for whatever suits you, the position, and the industry most!
What makes a great sales lead resume: key takeaways
- Choose a resume layout that sends the right message across and fits your current career situation;
- Create a resume header that shows your desired job title, and easy to find contact numbers;
- Be specific about your experience, accomplishments and future goals in your summary;
- Feature detailed metrics and specific examples that show the impact you made in your previous roles when describing your experience;
- List soft skills backed by examples;
- Add all of your technical skills and certifications that you have and match the job description;
- Show off a dash of personality in your resume that will demonstrate your culture fit and the right mix of hard and soft skills.
