Presales Resume Writing Guide & Tips
Your Presales resume is your introduction to the company you’re looking to work with. it’s important that your resume highlights both your weaknesses and strengths. The best way to guard against any future interview question is by highlighting all of your skills, from a high-level overview of who you are, what kind of work you do, and why you excel in it.
How to write a Presales Resume:
Your resume should be a snapshot of your career, highlighting the relevant experience you have that makes you the best fit for the job. Ensure that your resume is free of spelling and grammatical errors. Many hiring managers use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to screen applications, so a sloppy resume can make it into an applicant’s file before they ever see it.
- Contact Information on Presales Resume: Make sure your name, address, phone number and email address are up-to-date in your resume. Sending a hard copy of your resume is a great way to get attention from hiring managers. In making such a contact, also include a cover letter that outlines why you’d be successful in the position.
- Summary on a Presales Resume: A good summary should show that you have experience and that you’re a professional at what you do. It should also be a short summary of your skills, and how they can help the company.
- Work Experience in Your Presales Resume: After you’ve included your contact information, make sure you include all of your relevant work experience on the next page of your resume. Keep in mind that it doesn’t have to be new every single year, but each year should increase the weight of your work experience.
- Education on a Presales Resume: If you have relevant college or vocational education, include it on your resume. Always include both a school name and year of graduation (unless the school is no longer in operation), the degree received and a brief summary of the major taught. Also make sure you list your major classes on your resume.
- Keywords to use on a Presales Resume: The most important thing is to use the right keywords on your resume. Many times, the ATS will be the first thing that looks at your resume, and if you don’t have the right keywords, then it’s likely your resume will get auto-filtered and not even sent to a human for review.
- Professional Skills in Presales Resume: After all of your experience is detailed, are you ready to put it all together? This is when your skills section comes in. List out all of the skills that you have acquired over the course of your professional career. List out all of these skills in bullet point format, and make sure to include the title for each skill.
- Other things to include on a Presales Resume: Other than your contact information, make sure you include the name of someone that can vouch for you. This could be a client or employer who knows you well.
List of Typical Responsibilities For a Presales Resume:
- Researched information about prospective clients and technologies to gather intelligence and identify opportunities.
- Defined presales requirements and objectives. Developed sales plans, proposals, and contracts.
- Negotiated terms of new business acquisitions; prepared contracts, reports, and presentations.
- Maintained strong relationships with clients, customers, and prospects.
- Followed up on opportunities by meeting customers’ needs.
- Managed relationships with potential clients and/or end-users to obtain new business.
- Assisted in sales presentations with information about the company’s products and services.
- Worked with marketing to develop sales plans, strategies, and tactics.
- Analyzed competitive products to identify features that make them more effective than the company’s offerings.
- Researched new technologies to advise management on potential applications.
- Traveled to visit prospective customers. Communicated with other departments as needed.
- Developed business strategies for positioning the company in various markets.
- Provided cost analysis for alternative requirements.
Top 10 Must-have Presales Skills:
- Project Management
Everyone is familiar with this term, but many salespeople themselves do not have a firm grasp of what it means. Project management involves the coordination and management of projects. Not only does it include project definition and planning, but also includes everything from budgeting to team organization. - Negotiation Skills
This is one of the most important skills for selling as you go through a product sales cycle, so knowing how to “close” on your customers is critical for success in your job. - Training & Skills Development
Sales professionals need the skills necessary to adapt and change as the market evolves. Training and development should be a core part of your job and be on the forefront of your resume. - Strategic Planning & Marketing Skills
This is one of my favorite skills for salespeople as we can’t sell what we don’t know about, so knowing your company’s product line, customer demographics, and competition is critical to being successful in sales. - Branding
As a salesperson, you need to be able to effectively convey the value of your company and products. If you can’t do this, no one will buy them. - Customer Service Skills
This is extremely key for the success of your business, as customer service plays a vital role in building loyalty. This includes understanding how to deal with customers’ phone calls, emails and social media messages in a timely manner. - Communication Skills
Sales professionals are successful when they can effectively communicate with different people, teams and departments within the company as well as with executives, customers and vendors. It is crucial to your success that you be able to explain complex products in a simple way so that your customers easily understand them. - Negotiation Skills
As mentioned earlier, negotiation skills are one of the most important skills in sales for closing business deals. - Time Management
The difference between someone who’s successful and someone who isn’t is discipline. No one has time to do everything. Successful salespeople all have strict daily schedules, and they stick to them because success demands it. - Computer Savvy
A basic understanding of the computer is essential to most jobs today, so knowing how to use a computer as well as the basics of web design, graphic design and video editing are must-haves for anyone in sales.
Tips to write a Presales Resume Summary:
Your resume summary is both a marketing tool and an advertisement of your skills, so you need to be sure it’s written in a tone that reflects your value as a candidate. There are two ways to approach this. In the first, you want to use bullet points or sentences that highlight what is most relevant to the job description of the position that you’re applying for. If there isn’t room for specific skills, try using broad language and phrases like “high level results” instead.
Presales Resume Summary Examples:
“Having 5+ years of marketing and sales experience, I know that my work is focused on long-term projects that yield high-level results. A proven leader in the field of software development, I have written and published 28 self-published books that help over 40,000 users. In addition to my technical skills, I am skilled in project management. This has allowed me to work efficiently and effectively with diverse teams on the same project.”
How to write a Presales Resume with No experience:
The first step in a job hunt is to take the time to learn how to write resumes and letters of application. These documents should be used by employers as a way to find out exactly what kind of person is looking to work for them, and then basically ask the question, “Do you need this person?”
In the case of entry-level candidates who have little or no experience, a resume should focus on experiences growing up that show leadership ability and interest in a particular field. As an example, if you have scarce experience in sales but a degree in marketing, put your experiences from the marketing field as well as any leadership roles you’ve held while in school.
If you’re just getting started with job hunting but do have some professional experience, then write your resume to highlight the skills that are needed for the job. For a sales position, you should highlight your experience in building rapport and the quality of the product that customers want. If your skills are targeted towards customer service or technical abilities, then these are good areas to elaborate on with your resume.
Don’t try to cram more than you can handle into the opening page of your resume. Rather than worrying about specific experiences that will show up on the first page of a resume, focus on key skills that will be visible throughout.
How to write a Presales Cover Letter:
A cover letter is an essential element of any resume or job application to get the attention of the reader, and quickly show your understanding and interest in the position for which you are applying.
This is a chance to sell yourself and demonstrate some personality. You should think about your cover letter as an extra piece of your resume.
You want to create a great first impression and convince the reader that you are the right person for the job. You can do this by starting your cover letter with a strong opening statement or paragraph which outlines what position you are applying for, what skills and abilities you have which are related to the application, and why they should hire you over other candidates.
Your cover letter should be short, sweet, and clear. You want to be able to give the reader all the information they need in a few paragraphs.
In order to create an effective cover letter, there are a few essential things you need to consider. Each paragraph should start with action words, such as: ‘Presented’, ‘Achieved’, or ‘Managed’. This shows that you were actively involved and achieved results.
Think about the position you are applying for, and what qualifications you have that are relevant to the job you are applying for. This is not a time to brag, as this can be seen as unprofessional. Use words like achievement, success and progress in your cover letter.
Key Takeaways:
- Show that you think outside of the box and have more than one perspective.
- Be yourself, do not be fake.
- Use action words such as Execute, Accomplish, Produce, or Deliver to show that you are a go-getter and accomplished.
- Do not use the term “Responsibilities” and instead write about your achievements.
- Gather several samples of job-related resumes to use as templates.
- Research the company you are applying to by looking at their website and social media platforms to gain an understanding of their products and services, culture, values, etc. Use this information when you apply and during the interview process.
- Make sure that your resume is tailored to your job search; do not send out a generic resume and cover letter.
