Why Some Amazing Sales People Fail to Get Raises, Interviews and the Top Jobs.

If you’re in any type of revenue generating role – sales, account management or business development – you need to constantly be gathering and collecting your success stories. It should be a daily habit – like brushing your teeth.

So you might ask, “Why? Well, for one, you might want to come to the boss some day and make the case for a promotion and/or raise – and having your brag sheet ready will serve as a reminder of how you’ve contributed to the company’s success. Additionally, once you determine that it’s time to move on and seek a new position with another company, your detailed and substantiated list of accomplishments will serve as the feature attraction on your resume.

Some companies are good at recognizing sales people for success. Many publish rankings, create umpteen awards and carefully measure all sorts of performance-related stats on a district, regional and national basis. However, if you’re in sales and work for a company that doesn’t do a very good job of keeping score (and that would probably represent the majority of companies), then you need to step in and start measuring and documenting your own successes.

Most importantly, always try to make your sales achievements quantifiable and meaningful to a hiring manager outside your company and/or industry. And remember, adjectives are a poor substitute for numbers.

When it comes time to sharing your success on your resume, remember to be selective in what you list. It’s not “the more the better” – but rather “quality over quantity”. We see some pharmaceutical reps who publish every metric known to mankind – often listing 80 or more achievements for a litany of various drug names. The problem is that the story gets lost in this blizzard of “good stuff”.

If your objective is to find another sales related position within the same industry you’ve been in for quite some time – we favor parking your achievements under each respective position – within the chronology of your professional experience.

However, if you’re changing industries, we strongly suggest that you aggregate your very best sales achievements – no more than a dozen, or so – and place them under the heading “Selected Sales Achievements”- right in the center of the first page. This way, your very best content is front and center, and it places the focus of your resume on your track record, rather than the industry you last served.

When recording your achievements always try to describe HOW you achieved such impressive results. This makes an achievement more impactful – though be careful not to go into too much detail. Ideally, bullet-pointed accomplishments are no more than one to two lines in length – with three lines being the exception and not the norm.

When working with a Professional Resume Writer, don’t feel the need to create a well-crafted, impactful sentence – leave that to them. The one thing they can’t do, though, is produce the essence of your achievement. You, alone, are privy to that information.

As recruiters, we at FiveChairs place a large number of B2B sales professionals in the Greater Nashville Area. For the next few weeks we’ll be setting aside a limited amount of time to provide?Free Personal Branding and Resume Advice?to Sales, Account Management, Business Development and Sales Leadership professionals in the Greater Nashville Area.

Our offer to assist is not entirely of a humanitarian nature. We're hoping and expecting that our company will eventually earn a placement fee - from an employer – as a result of placing some of those for whom we provide assistance.

If interested in scheduling a 20-minute confidential phone meeting, simply send your resume (even if it is dated) [email protected]. Place?“Sales Career”?in the subject line.

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FiveChairs Talent is a Nashville-based recruiting firm and has been one of the areas top recruiters since 2003 and noted experts on?résumés, career personal branding and navigating the Nashville area job market.

Employers pay for 100% of all placement fees.

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Are you an employer looking for amazing talent in the Greater Nashville Area???Give us a shout. For the thousands of Nashville-area candidates we already represent – from early career candidates to C-level executives, regardless of vocation or industry?– we charge employers a one-time 9.9% placement fee. There are no other fees. If you don’t hire anyone from us, you owe us nothing. We also provide a 6-month replacement guarantee.?[email protected]

Are you a job candidate looking for a position in the Greater Nashville Area??Perfect! Let’s talk. From early career candidates to C-level executives, regardless of vocation or industry?– we can keep your search private within our?Talent Registry?- OR?- you can apply to be featured in our online?Talent Pool?and be proactively networked to local employers. Either way, just send us a message to schedule a confidential phone call, so we can learn more about you and recommend a job search approach. Note: We don’t charge candidates for our placement services.??[email protected]