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Phone sales skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted experts

Frederik Beuk,

Dr. Matteo Cantarello Ph.D.

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical phone sales skills. We ranked the top skills for phone sales based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 15.1% of phone sales resumes contained inbound calls as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a phone sales needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 phone sales skills for your resume and career

1. Inbound Calls

Here's how phone sales use inbound calls:

Received inbound calls from people nationwide who were out of work and searching for jobs via the internet.
Prioritized daily inbound calls, quotes, and sales related inquiries.

2. Customer Calls

Here's how phone sales use customer calls:

Answered customer calls efficiently and professionally.
Handled multiple inbound/outbound customer calls daily.

3. Outbound Calls

An outbound call is made by the call center representative to the customers on behalf of the company. Such calls help increase sales and generate revenue for the organization.

Here's how phone sales use outbound calls:

Field Inbound/Outbound Calls and Generate Sales Appointments with Customers that Contact the Dealership via the Internet or Phones.
Placed outbound calls for sales involving XM Radio.

4. Credit Card Payments

Here's how phone sales use credit card payments:

Performed customer services duties for each customer accounts and processed credit card payments.
credit card payments with seating arrangements on Ticketmaster and Windows Artics.

5. 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 phone sales use product knowledge:

Obtain effective product knowledge to properly educate potential customers.
Maintain a close working rapport with dealers by providing expertise in dealer operations, credit analysis and in-depth product knowledge.

6. Sales Floor

The sales floor is the area in a company or a business that is specified for retail activities or is designated as the selling area of the shop. A car showroom can be considered a sales floor, as it has cars in its display which are to be sold. A sales floor is generally crowded with sales assistants who are there to help you out while you can search and check out the products. Generally a sales floor has free access to the public and they can observe, view and get information about the product that is being sold.

Here's how phone sales use sales floor:

Learned the pros and cons of a wide variety of display methods and pricing tactics for a constantly changing sales floor.
Provide outstanding customer service over the phone and on the sales floor

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7. Cold Calls

Cold calling is a kind of business solicitation from customers who didn't express interest in their product and services before. In this technique, a salesman conducts a call with potential customers with whom they haven't had a prior interaction. Cold calling can include phone calls or telemarketing. However, in-person visits like door-to-door marketing are also a type of cold calling

Here's how phone sales use cold calls:

Conduct cold calls with a goal of selling financial products to small business owners.
Hired originally to sell home business memberships by cold calling.

8. Customer Orders

Here's how phone sales use customer orders:

Input customer orders into main computer system as well as handled all customer service requests for order status.
Processed customer orders and catalog requests while maintaining a high level of accuracy during the busy Holiday Season.

9. Customer Inquiries

Here's how phone sales use customer inquiries:

Responded to customer inquiries for price of pillow, tried to convert to sale.
Delivered extraordinary customer service by promptly and accurately responding to customer inquiries to make it easy to do business.

10. Cell Phones

It has many names like mobile phone, cell phone, handphone, cellular phone, or handphone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, is a portable telephone that can receive and make calls over an (RF) radio frequency network even when the user is not stationary. To simplify, a cell phone is a device with access to a cellular radio system enabling it to be operated over a wide area, while the user remains within a telephone service area.

Here's how phone sales use cell phones:

Sell cell phones and customer service
Provided customer service and sales for Nextel cell phones in retail/outside environment.

11. Sales

Here's how phone sales use sales:

Commissioned contractor with designated territory * Sales of cellular telephones/services * Inventory/Security * Business to business sales * Responsible for Advertising
Major responsibilities included answering and resolving initial service inquiries, while making effective and smooth transitions into sales opportunities.

12. Computer System

Here's how phone sales use computer system:

Enter all phone and internet orders on computer systems.
Assist customers in choosing services appropriate for their needs Manage multiple phone lines Manage multiple computer systems

13. Outbound Sales

Here's how phone sales use outbound sales:

Targeted Outbound sales representative- Contacted targeted customers for sales
Placed outbound sales calls to prospective customers for newspaper subscriptions

14. Windows

Windows is a chain of operating systems that controls a computer and is developed by Microsoft. Every version of Windows consists of GUI (graphical user interface), with a desktop that allows the user to open their files.

Here's how phone sales use windows:

Assist customers in minor technical support of phone and computers on Apple, Windows, and Android devices and computers.
Assisted the launch of an on-site retail store for Microsoft employee accounts: including Windows Phone 7 product launch.

15. Upselling

Here's how phone sales use upselling:

Identified customer issues and provided appropriate solutions via upselling additional products and services while obtaining customer commitment by developing plans.
Communicated and interfaced effectively with customers as well as upselling and enticing customers to buy.

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What skills help Phone Sales find jobs?

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

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

Frederik Beuk

Associate Professor of Marketing, University of Akron

Digital Literacy and AI are obviously on everybody's mind. The benefit for early career professionals is that these are skills they can use to differentiate themselves from more established professionals. Embrace these tools. At the same time, being an authentic storyteller that helps buyers envision the potential of your solutions can be an extremely powerful skill.

What technical skills for a phone sales stand out to employers?

Dr. Matteo Cantarello Ph.D.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies, William & Mary

Programming has become an asset within the humanities, too. Even though hires of digital humanists are still limited in number (at least within my discipline), they are probably destined to increase in the near future. Also, flexibility and versatility with respect to teaching are also highly marketable. Any candidate who has experience with in-person, hybrid, and online courses and who has degrees, titles, and certificates that demonstrate that is extremely appreciated on the academic job market.

What soft skills should all phone saleses possess?

John Cicala Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Digital Marketing, University of North Alabama

The ability to write for reading and not to write as if they are simply transcribing an internal conversation with the paper or whatever media is being used to communicate. They should also possess the ability to interact and to converse with others in person and to actively listen.

Do you want to know more?

List of phone sales skills to add to your resume

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

Inbound Calls
Customer Calls
Outbound Calls
Credit Card Payments
Product Knowledge
Sales Floor
Cold Calls

Customer Orders
Customer Inquiries
Cell Phones
Sales
Computer System
Outbound Sales
Windows

Upselling
Customer Issues
Customer Relations
Phone Orders
Vacation Packages

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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