In short
A sales manager's resume is read by someone who carries a bigger number than you do. They want to know how big a number you carried, whether you hit it more than once, and whether the team you built can hit it without you on every call. That means revenue against plan, year after year, plus the people you hired and the deals that changed the business. What follows is a senior Sales Manager's resume, the reason behind each part, and the headline, letter opening and calls that go with it.
Marcus isn't a real person. His resume works the way a FutureDay resume does: every number is one he actually delivered, and none of them is rounded up. Read it the way a sales director would, in about thirty seconds, then read the notes.
A sales manager's resume, line by line
MARCUS OYELARAN
Sales Manager | Enterprise Software, NSW & ACT | $28M ARR book, 8 sellers
Sydney NSW · marcus.oyelaran@email.com · 0400 000 000 · linkedin.com/in/marcusoyelaran
Summary
Sales manager who builds enterprise teams that hit the number more than once. Leads eight account executives and a $28M ARR book across NSW and the ACT for a workforce software company, delivering 112%, 119% and 108% of plan in the last three financial years.
Sells into large employers with long buying cycles: health, education and government. Runs one weekly deal review that every seller prepares for the same way, so the forecast lands within 5% and nothing big surprises the business.
Career highlights
- Grew the region from $12M to $28M ARR in four years at an average of 113% of plan, by moving the team from geographic patches to industry verticals and landing the company's first two state government contracts.
- Built a public sector team from nothing: first hire, first five customers and $4.8M ARR inside two years, now run by a seller promoted from within the team.
- Lifted average deal size from $180K to $410K by selling whole-of-organisation rollouts instead of single departments, while win rate held at 31%.
Experience
Sales Manager, Enterprise, Quillbank Software 2020 to now
Eight account executives and one solutions consultant, $28M ARR, $3.5M net new ARR target a year. Reports to the Sales Director, ANZ.
- Closed the largest contract in the company's history, a $6.2M five-year rollout across a state health network, after an eleven-month evaluation against two global vendors.
- Cut forecast variance from 22% to under 5% by replacing the monthly pipeline call with one weekly deal review and a written close plan on every deal over $250K.
- Hired seven of the eight sellers on the current team; six reached quota in their first full year.
- Rebuilt the partner program around two national systems integrators, who now source 28% of the team's new pipeline.
Enterprise Account Director, Marrabel Analytics 2016 to 2020
Named enterprise accounts across NSW and the ACT, $3.5M annual quota.
- Delivered 124% of quota on average over four years, ranked first of 14 account directors nationally in two of them.
- Won eleven new enterprise customers, including the company's first university and first federal agency.
- Grew the three largest accounts from $1.1M to $3.9M ARR through multi-year expansion agreements.
Earlier career
Account management and business development roles in telecommunications and office technology, including Senior Account Manager at Corrabee Telecom and Territory Manager at Trelawny Office Systems.
Education and training
Bachelor of Commerce (Marketing)
Graduate Certificate in Management
Systems and skills
Salesforce, Gong, LinkedIn Sales Navigator · Enterprise and government tenders · Channel and systems integrator partnerships · Forecasting · Sales hiring and coaching · Value-based selling
- HeadlineThe book and the team. Role, the market, then how big a number he carries and how many people carry it with him. A sales reader sizes the job from those two figures before reading anything else.
- SummaryThree years, not one. One good year can be a big deal landing at the right time. Plan hit three years running says the team is built to hit it. The second paragraph says how he sells, which the numbers can't.
- HighlightsThe result, then the move that made it. $12M to $28M is the result. Verticals and two government contracts is how. "Now run by a seller promoted from within the team" shows he grows people, not just the number.
- Scope linePut the quota on the page. Attainment means nothing until the reader knows what it was against. Team, book, quota and who he reports to, in one line.
- BulletsNot every line opens with a dollar sign. One deal, one forecast fix, one hiring record, one channel. Four kinds of proof make a manager. Four revenue lines make a very good seller.
- Earlier careerOne line, nothing to count. Only recent roles get detail. The telecommunications years are there, so the reader sees where he learned to sell, without a date to count back from.
- SystemsTools and motions. Salesforce and Gong are what a sales job description names. Tenders and channel partners say what kind of selling he has led. He has used every one.
What does a sales director look for in a sales manager?
They ask three things. Did you hit the number, and what was it? Did you hit it more than once? Can the team you built hit it when you're not on every call? A sales director who sees attainment against plan for three years, plus a line about who you hired, has the answer to all three before reaching your second job.
Before: "Responsible for leading the enterprise sales team and driving revenue growth."
After: "Cut forecast variance from 22% to under 5% by replacing the monthly pipeline call with one weekly deal review and a written close plan on every deal over $250K."
What should a sales manager's LinkedIn headline say?
Recruiters search LinkedIn by title and market, so those come first, and the number sizes you once they find you. Here is Marcus's:
"Sales Manager | Enterprise Software | $28M ARR book across health, education and government"
Not "Results-driven sales leader helping organisations transform". Every sales manager says that, and none of them get found by it.
How should a sales manager's cover letter open?
With a commercial result the reader can picture, tied to the sale they're about to make. Confident, not loud:
"I took an enterprise software region from $12M to $28M ARR in four years, most of it from health and government buyers who take a year to decide. You're moving into the same buyers, and the first year of that sale is where most teams stall."
Then close on the number you'd own in the role and why you'd hit it.
Who should a sales manager call first, and what should they say?
A resume can't start a conversation on its own. Sales management roles often go to someone the sales director already knows, or someone a trusted contact puts forward. Marcus's resume closes the deal; it doesn't open it. Opening it is the work.
A Sales Manager's best first conversations are with:
- Customers you sold to who have moved on. A buyer who signed a seven-figure deal with you has seen how you sell from the other side of the table. They talk to vendors all the time, and vendors ask them who's good.
- Partners and systems integrators. They work alongside every vendor's sales team in your market. They know whose team is missing its number and which company is about to hire.
- The Sales Director or Chief Revenue Officer at software companies selling to the same buyers. That's who hires a sales manager. At a smaller company, it's often the CEO.
The opener is brief, and the ask is light. To a former customer:
"Hi Leanne, congratulations on the new role, I saw the announcement last week. How are the first few months going? I'm starting to think about my next step after six years at Quillbank, ideally leading an enterprise sales team for a software company moving into health or government. You've seen how I work from the customer's side, so if a name comes to mind I'd value an introduction. Coffee's on me either way."
Send a handful like that each day; that's what moves a search. Here's how to ask for a referral without it being awkward.
How FutureDay helps a sales manager
FutureDay writes your resume from your real record, as Marcus's is written, and fits it to each job description with no number you didn't deliver. Every day it then shows you who to contact, what to say, and what to do next.
In summary
Put the book, the team and the quota on the page, so attainment means something.
Show the number hit more than once.
Each highlight is a result and the move that made it.
Mix your proof: a deal, a forecast, a hire, a channel.
Your resume closes; your network opens. Put most of your hours into opening.