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Contract sales manager skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

6 min read

Quoted experts

Adry S. Clark Ph.D.,

Andrea Dixon Ph.D.

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical contract sales manager skills. We ranked the top skills for contract sales managers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 14.3% of contract sales manager resumes contained customer service as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a contract sales manager needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 contract sales manager skills for your resume and career

1. Customer Service

Customer service is the process of offering assistance to all the current and potential customers -- answering questions, fixing problems, and providing excellent service. The main goal of customer service is to build a strong relationship with the customers so that they keep coming back for more business.

Here's how contract sales managers use customer service:

Communicate continuously with store personnel and within distribution channels to ensure product availability, proper delivery, and excellent customer service.
Optimized customer service department by cross training 3 groups inside/outside/retail counter.

2. Product Knowledge

Product knowledge is the skill of having better information and knowledge about the product you are selling. Product knowledge is essential for the employees of the companies so they can communicate and inform the customers about the product. Having great product knowledge is essential for a better sales pitch and to give the customer a better and complete idea of the product that will influence him to buy the product eventually.

Here's how contract sales managers use product knowledge:

Designed and implemented training sessions to enhance product knowledge to improve contractor relations.
Master operation, demonstration and explanation of merchandise and stay current on product knowledge.

3. CRM

CRM stands for Customer relationship management and it is a complete process through which a business or organization monitors and administers its interactions with the customers. A process in which large amounts of data are collected through marketing via a company's website, polls, surveys, and other social media applications. The basic goal of CRM is to target the right audience for their product, and then fulfill their needs, to increase the sales and revenue of the company.

Here's how contract sales managers use crm:

Utilized custom in house CRM, CAD, Office suite and mobile technologies.
Utilized high-level permissions to monitor CRM database use, integrity, and the optimization of operational interfaces and reporting.

4. Sales Management

Here's how contract sales managers use sales management:

Graduate of company management courses including sales management, production management, finance and safety engineering.
Partnered with IT to build first custom sales management and tracking process to map activity against defined sales goals.

5. Building Relationships

Here's how contract sales managers use building relationships:

Coached and trained team on selling techniques, building relationships, and corporate sales support programs.

6. Sales Territory

Here's how contract sales managers use sales territory:

Manage sales territory generating in excess of $20 million in annual revenue in both domestic and international markets.
Developed established Sales territory generating $30,000 in LTL revenue in 1999 to $2.5M in revenue in 2002.

7. Contract Management

Contract management refers to the systematic procedures in governing a contract.

Here's how contract sales managers use contract management:

Insured contract management guideline compliance with GSA, DCMA, NASA SEWP and DHS First Source contacts.
Directed and trained Sales Team, SR. Management and channels on contract management and policy compliance matters.

8. Sales Process

Here's how contract sales managers use sales process:

Leveraged relationships and quickly exceeded revenue goals using disciplined sales process.
Recruit, & Train new hires in Stock Analysis & all phases of the Interview and Sales process.

9. Customer Issues

Here's how contract sales managers use customer issues:

Solved unresolved customer issues and maintained accurate records of past due customers account activity.
Investigate and resolve customer issues identifying root cause, and implement and standardize corrective actions.

10. Vendor Relationships

Vendor management is an activity or a program wherein it allows creating, managing and developing a good relationship for both the client and the service provider in a particular enterprise. It ensures constant communication with the vendors that benefit both parties. It provides engaging materials to promote further the product or service they provide.

Here's how contract sales managers use vendor relationships:

Established and maintained customer and vendor relationships.
Maintain and enhance vendor relationships.

11. Executive Management

Here's how contract sales managers use executive management:

Recommended opportunities and development of additional contract areas by interacting with internal staff, and executive management.
Coordinated and managed multiple marketing and logistic projects with the executive management team and prospective customers.

12. Sales Plan

Here's how contract sales managers use sales plan:

Tracked agents progress and site progress to goal and create sales plans to meet targets throughout the month.
Identified and defined a three year marketing and sales plan, as well as sales goals.

13. Service Agreements

Here's how contract sales managers use service agreements:

Converted sold projects, projects installed by others, existing customers, and competitive prospects into comprehensive service agreements.
Negotiated prices, terms of sales and service agreements.

14. Business Development

Business development is the ideas or initiatives that work to make business work better. Selling, advertising, product development, supply chain management, and vendor management are only a few of the divisions involved with it. There is still a lot of networking, negotiating, forming alliances, and trying to save money. The goals set for business development guide and coordinate with all of these various operations and sectors.

Here's how contract sales managers use business development:

Provided training on prospecting skills, business development and time management.
Exceeded monthly estimated sales targets by 30% Responsible for managing support staff and 24 hour service coordination and business development.

15. Promotional Materials

Promotional material is any document or article - written, printed, graphic, electronic, audio, or video presentation, distributed or made available in whole or in part on behalf of a product, cause, idea, person, or business for promotion, advertisement, announcement or direction. Promotional materials are used to make a business stand out from its competitors and to engage the target audience.

Here's how contract sales managers use promotional materials:

Prepared revenue forecasts, plans, and promotional materials; supervised staff.

What skills help Contract Sales Managers find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on contract sales manager resumes?

Adry S. Clark Ph.D.

Director, Western Oregon University

The skills that stand out on resumes fall into two categories: 1) Skills required to do the job and 2) Skills almost all employers look for. The most important aspect of resumes is to make sure it reflects exactly what the employer needs. Study the job description, identify key skills, and have them reflected on your resume. Think about transferrable skills, not the specific roles you've had.

Most employers look for skills such as communication (written/oral), flexibility, proactivity, problem-solving, project management, and technical. Make sure to cultivate those skills in whatever role you have, and have examples that demonstrate those skills.

What soft skills should all contract sales managers possess?

Andrea Dixon Ph.D.

Executive Director, Center for Professional Selling, Frank and Floy Smith Holloway Endowed Professorship in Marketing, President, University Sales Center Alliance 2019-2021, Baylor University

Since sales professionals have a lot of information available to them today via customer relationship management (CRM) systems, the sales manager's "supervisory" role is less important (especially for experienced sellers). Consequently, the sales manager needs to be more of a coach and enabler of high performance. Having confidence balanced with humility allows the sales manager to engage more effectively with their salespeople.
One of the critical soft skills for sales managers going forward will be the ability to connect members of the sales team to others in the organization - in other words, the sales manager of the future needs to have strong skills in network building for others. Sellers have access to data which helps them build success.
They also need access to the right people to turn to when they need specific expertise or assistance.

What hard/technical skills are most important for contract sales managers?

Andrea Dixon Ph.D.

Executive Director, Center for Professional Selling, Frank and Floy Smith Holloway Endowed Professorship in Marketing, President, University Sales Center Alliance 2019-2021, Baylor University

One of the growing technical skill requirements for sales managers is in the area of data analytics. Our performance and customer systems provide a myriad of data, and the role of the sales manager is to be a sense-maker of that mound of data. What are the implications for changes in strategy or behavior evident in last quarter's activity? How can the sales manager help a specific seller "see" where the data suggest new approaches?

What contract sales manager skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Kerri Orders

Assistant Professor of Business, Aquinas College

In terms of a gap year, I recommend that international business students acquire tangible skills, relevant experience and/or certifications which will enhance their success in their desired area of interest. For example, a gap year could consist of gaining technical or digital training overseas, which would also further the students' cultural intelligence and language proficiency. These types of enriching gap year experiences will assist students to distinguish themselves in a highly competitive market. Furthermore, students should focus on broadening and maintaining their global network during a gap year in order to be ready for the job market once the gap year is concluded.

What type of skills will young contract sales managers need?

Michael Mikitka

Executive Vice President, MHI – Material Handling Industry

Courses and internships are essential. While the required depth of knowledge may vary from one position to another, employers are generally looking for candidates with strong "people-related" skills, those who are willing to continue to learn, and those with the ability to be flexible and adapt.

By "people-related" skills, I mean the abilities associated with effective communication (listen and express ideas and direction) and the skills related to working independently and a team.

As for the interest to continually learn... from a technology, data, and equipment perspective, today's supply chain looks very different than it did 10-years ago. The willingness and ability to continually learn are essential for anyone in a leadership role.

As for flexibility and adapting...supply chain/logistics is as much about responding to disruption and demand as it is planning for it. There is a predictable demand (i.e., seasonal...everyone knows when back-to-school shopping begins). Then there is the unpredictable demand (i.e., power-outages, wildfires, pandemic) that impact market and the ability to operate. Candidates that express flexibility and problem-solving skills will be much sought-after.

What technical skills for a contract sales manager stand out to employers?

Todd Lee Goen

Instructor & Internship Director, Christopher Newport University

Technical skills are often industry and/or position specific. Applicants should highlight any technical skills related to the position advertisement and those that add value to the position/organization. Most importantly, requirements for technical skills change with time and technological advances. This means employers value workers capable of adapting to change and continually improving and acquiring new technical skills. Thus, it's usually more important to demonstrate you are capable of learning and developing technical skills than it is to have a specific skill set upon hire (although this is not true for some positions/industries).
That said, technical skills related to online presentations, virtual meetings, virtual networking, remote working and the like are hot commodities right now. While most organizations were in the process of adopting many of these technologies and ways of doing business pre-pandemic, the pandemic accelerated the process. Organizations are making it work, but they often don't know best practices or the most efficient means of working in the largely virtual, pandemic environment. Post-pandemic, many of the remote/virtual changes the pandemic brought will stay in some form. Technical skills that support this type of workplace will make applicants stand out to many employers because they need/want to do virtual/remote business better.

Do you want to know more?

List of contract sales manager skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a contract sales manager resume and required skills for a contract sales manager to have include:

Customer Service
Product Knowledge
CRM
Sales Management
Building Relationships
Sales Territory
Contract Management
Sales Process
Customer Issues
Vendor Relationships
Executive Management
Sales Plan
Service Agreements
Business Development
Promotional Materials

GSA
Sales Strategies
Sales People
RFP
Cold Calls
Trade Shows
Customer Orders
Sales Associates
Contract Review
Building Materials
Company Sales
Inventory Control
General Contractors
Gross Profit
Depot

Customer Relationships
Government Contracts
Repeat Business
Real Estate
Training Programs
POS
Product Development
Customer Contracts
DOD
Contractor Accounts
Retail Store
Direct Reports
OEM
Contract Negotiations

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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