Automatically apply for jobs with Zippia

Upload your resume to get started.

Sales representative skills for your resume and career

Q: How to calculate sales growth

To calculate sales growth, you need to subtract the net sales of the previous period from that of the current period, then divide that number by the net sales of the previous period, and finally multiply that number by 100 to get the sales growth percent.

Q: How to calculate sales percentage.

To calculate sales percentage, you need to determine your numbers, figure out what you want to forecast, and use the formula for calculating the percentage of sales to expenses. The first thing you must do to calculate sales percentage is gather data on the sales and business expenses your company or business has.

Q: How to increase sales on Amazon?

To increase sales on Amazon, get help from influencers, drive more reviews, and optimize for search. Consumers research a product before buying it, and they may search for reviews from trusted sources, such as influencers they follow. Working with influencers can help boost your sales, especially if you find an influencer whose niche aligns with your products.

Q: What is a sales order?

A sales order is a commercial document, in physical or digital form, that is prepared by a seller and issued to a customer to indicate that the customer has purchased a product or service.

Q: What is a sales quota?

A sales quota is a set number of sales a company or individual must complete in a specific period of time. Companies often set sales quotas to give their employees specific marks to hit in terms of the number of sales they make on a monthly, quarterly, or yearly basis.

Updated January 8, 2025

6 min read

Quoted experts

Anthony McMullen,

Frederik Beuk

Some of the most important hard skills a sales representative can possess include the skills and knowledge related to sales processes. It's important that sales representatives have experience with business development, customer relationship management, meeting sales goals, and an abundance of product knowledge regarding what they are selling.

When it comes to soft skills, sale representatives should have very strong communication skills. You will also need to demonstrate stellar customer service skills, and a focus on customer satisfaction. Sales representatives need to communicate consistently with customers and be able to resolve any issues, so communication and customer service skills are crucial.

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical sales representative skills. We ranked the top skills for sales representatives based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 9.0% of sales representative resumes contained sales process as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a sales representative needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 sales representative skills for your resume and career

1. Sales Process

Here's how sales representatives use sales process:

Present solution programs to potential customers through detailed sales process by gathering relevant evidence through extensive fact finding meeting/tour of facility.
Established effective sales process including setting clear call objectives, time and territory management, and reporting weekly achievements to management.

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 sales representatives use product knowledge:

Developed profitable relationships with current and prospective customers, and provided exceptional customer support through attentiveness and extensive product knowledge.
Maximized beauty product sales by developing customer relationships and thorough product knowledge through Business to Business commission based selling.

3. 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 sales representatives use customer service:

Provided detailed customer service to existing policyholders by developing relationships with customers in order to better meet their needs.
Demonstrated exceptional customer service towards customers upon entering store building relationships and better understanding with each customer.

4. 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 sales representatives use crm:

Consulted businesses to improve customer acquisition and retention through effective social media marketing and utilizing the Signpost automated CRM.
Developed and maintain business relationships with businesses and policyholders using established methods such as customer relationship management CRM.

5. 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 sales representatives use business development:

Formulated new and innovative short and long-term business development strategies that generated increased levels of customer satisfaction, gross revenue/sales ranking.
Develop productive relationships with key influences within the assigned Territory to support business development and gain access with medical professionals.

6. Sales REP

Here's how sales representatives use sales rep:

Created easily manageable client information database in Microsoft Excel to improve organization and contact information availability for company sales representative utilization.
Worked directly with the Technological Director with any computer problems Sales Representatives had while completing their daily operations.

Choose from 10+ customizable sales representative resume templates

Build a professional sales representative resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your sales representative resume.

7. Customer Relations

Here's how sales representatives use customer relations:

Captured market share in targeted product categories by developing strong customer relationships with distributors, printers, and advertising agencies.
Maintained and built customer relationships to establish DirecTV accounts which resulted in customers participating in two-year agreements with our company.

8. Work Ethic

Here's how sales representatives use work ethic:

Exhibited suitable communication skills and work ethic when cooperating with General Mills representatives and grocery managers during shelf shipper installation projects.
Operated cash registers and organize product displays Dedicated work ethics and positive personality to provide astounding customer service.

9. PowerPoint

Here's how sales representatives use powerpoint:

Provided PowerPoint presentations, project analysis, specifications, contract document analysis and cost estimates to client base.
Assisted manager with weekly rep training by preparing PowerPoint presentations/Word documents and participating in the presentation

10. Business Relationships

Here's how sales representatives use business relationships:

Registered interviewed and placed temporary workers throughout Greater Cleveland and surrounding area by soliciting and creating new and existing business relationships.
Establish, develop and maintain business relationships with current customers and prospective customers in the assigned territory to generate new business.

11. Sales Territory

Here's how sales representatives use sales territory:

Managed sales territory of over 200 personally developed accounts, selling consumable and capital equipment to Dentists and institutions.
Assigned to an under preforming sales territory covering west/central Kentucky geography design around a predominately independent customer base.

12. Sales Quota

Here's how sales representatives use sales quota:

Created innovative sales strategies to gain new business-to-consumer relationships, resulting in exceeding weekly sales quotas.
Exceeded performance benchmarks through reaching sales quotas, improving customer satisfaction and increasing customer retention rates.

13. Develop Strong Relationships

Here's how sales representatives use develop strong relationships:

Develop strong relationships and physician advocates within accounts through clinical knowledge of procedures and products.
Develop strong relationships with internal and external customers.

14. Sales Presentations

Here's how sales representatives use sales presentations:

Gained expertise in company's product line and delivered sales presentations door-to-door successfully meeting and exceeding sales performance goals.
Established relationships with management representatives at commercial, industrial, and other businesses and conducted sales presentations and demonstrations.

15. Sales Strategies

Here's how sales representatives use sales strategies:

Used understanding of sales strategies including comprehensive research, planning and development of effective strategies for overcoming potential barriers to revenue.
Conducted complete market research and created effective sales strategies to identify and maximize opportunities for both increased efficiency and profitability.

5 Sales Representative resume examples

Build a professional sales representative resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 5+ resume templates to create your sales representative resume.

Create my resume

Build a professional resume in minutes using this template.

What skills help Sales Representatives find jobs?

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

What skills stand out on sales representative resumes?

Anthony McMullen

Associate Professor of Business Law and Director of Forensics, v, University of Central Arkansas

This will depend on the specific field. Business is an incredibly broad area. Anyone with a business type of degree will at least obtain basic knowledge in accounting, economics, finance, management, and marketing. These skills should be highlighted. But when thinking about a resume, workers should think about (and participate in) experiences that allow them to use these skills. And once they have these experiences, they should be able to articulate how they used these skills on a resume. Don't just say, "I did ______." Say, "I used _________ in order to accomplish __________."

What sales representative 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 sales representative stand out to employers?

Amy Rogan

Assistant Professor of Teaching in Communication, The University of Findlay

I worked in journalism for 21 years. In my time as a newsroom manager the number one thing I looked for in an applicant was work ethic. I can teach you to write, shoot, edit, and everything else but I cannot teach work ethic. That is the number one skill graduates need as they enter the workforce. It's a skill that's in short supply and it's the foundation of any profession. It doesn't matter if there is a pandemic influencing the industry or if journalism is simply evolving, work ethic is the constant.
I stay in contact with other journalists still in the business and they echo that sentiment, along with the willingness to learn and to stay humble. Cultivate that passion that drives journalists to serve their communities by helping people stay informed and support our democracy.
Storytelling is the next most important skill. Whether it's in a tweet, a two-minute package for TV, or a 3-part series in the paper, journalists need to be able to tell a compelling story that keeps the attention of consumers despite the many other things vying for their attention. Know your audience, understand your story, and don't be afraid to ask questions. If not you, who will ask those questions?
Then of course, multimedia skills. Translating that great storytelling into compelling photos, video, audio will make a graduate that much more attractive to potential employers. At a recent conference I asked a panel of newspaper editors and publishers if an applicant has multimedia skills does that influence their ability to get a position. They all said--if you have multimedia skills your resume goes to the top of the pile.

What soft skills should all sales representatives 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 sales representative skills to add to your resume

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

Sales Process
Product Knowledge
Customer Service
CRM
Business Development
Sales REP
Customer Relations
Work Ethic
PowerPoint
Business Relationships
Sales Territory
Sales Quota
Develop Strong Relationships
Sales Presentations
Sales Strategies
Account Management

Mobile Phones
Cold Calls
Store Training
Client Relationships
Customer Satisfaction
Product Demonstrations
Medicare
Sales Techniques
Trade Shows
Outbound Calls
POS
Sales
Sales Objectives
Product Line
Sales Floor
Customer Complaints

Customer Accounts
Lawn Care
Primary Care
Inbound Calls
Internal Medicine
Medical Sales
Repeat Business
Enterprise Sales
Sales Volume
Direct Sales
Call Planning
Sales Growth
Pay Structure
Door Sales
Develop Sales Strategies
Customer Inquiries