What are the key transferrable skills to highlight in a sales CV/Resume?

Monday, October 13th, 2008 - cv writing

Tara asks: After nearly 10 years working in automobile sales, my ex husband was recently laid off, and is looking to move into another industry altogether. What are the key transferable skills for the positions of salesman, closer, fleet manager, & finance manager which he should highlight on his resume when applying for sales positions in other fields?

In answer:
The most successful way of gaining employment is to write a focused job application – generic CV/Resumes and approaches can work, but are less successful.

I recommend that he finds a definite job target and write his CV/Resume around that. Do not try to create a resume around all of those job titles you listed titles, try to narrow it down to an industry. For instance, the reason you can be more succesful in a specific job application is to use the same language used in the advert to describe his skills. You are just reflecting the same key words, and this is a very easy method to make sure that his presentation aligns with his goals.

If he decides to apply himself in multiple sectors, then use multiple CV/Resumes if necessary. It’s better to have several focused CV/Resumes than only one that you try to keep generic.

In general, transferable sales skills include the following keywords:

Relationship Development, Solutions Selling, Account Management, Account Retention, Network Development, Consultative Sales & Closing Strategies, Needs Assessment / Analysis, Presentations, Strategic Planning, Negotiations & Deal Structuring…

Some sales management skills/keywords include:

Sales Force Leadership, Team Building, Training, & Motivation, Compensation/Incentive Programs, Turnaround & Startup Leadership, Proactive Sales Planning, Partner Recruiting, ROI Maximization…

The CV/Resume should be highlighting the past achievements, with recommendations from managers and customers (as the sales profile is 100% based upon customer).

Good Luck!

Leave a Reply