Sales Manager CV Example & Template
A complete two-page CV for a B2B software sales manager who leads a team of eight in the UK, followed by what sales directors and recruiters check first. Use the layout, then replace the quota, team size, deal values and win rates with your own, because every shortlister will look for those four things.
Last reviewed October 2026
Example Sales Manager CV
Rachel Whitfield
Sales Manager, B2B SaaS, mid-market and enterprise
Birmingham, UK
Profile
Sales manager with eleven years in B2B software, the last four leading a team of eight account executives selling workflow software to mid-market firms. I have hit or beaten team quota in each of the last three years. I coach on discovery and deal qualification, run a tight forecast and hire reps who ramp quickly. Looking for a senior sales manager or head of sales role at a growth-stage company.
Experience
Sales Manager, Mid-Market
Feb 2022 – Present
Flowdesk (workflow software, 320 staff) · Birmingham
- Lead eight account executives selling to firms of 200 to 2,000 staff; team quota of £4.8m ARR, delivered 112% in 2023 and 106% in 2024.
- Raised win rate on qualified opportunities from 19% to 27% in 12 months by introducing MEDDPICC scorecards and weekly deal reviews in Salesforce.
- Cut average sales cycle from 94 to 68 days by involving solutions engineers earlier and agreeing a mutual close plan with every deal over £40,000.
- Hired and onboarded five reps with a 60-day ramp plan; four reached full quota within two quarters, against a company average of three.
- Forecast to within 6% of actual for six quarters running, reporting weekly to the VP Sales and finance.
Senior Account Executive, then Team Lead
Jun 2018 – Jan 2022
Trackwell Systems · Birmingham
- Closed £1.1m of new annual business in 2019, 138% of quota, and ranked first of 14 reps in the UK and Ireland.
- Promoted to team lead in 2020; managed four reps who delivered 103% of team target in a year when the market was disrupted.
- Built a repeatable outbound sequence for logistics firms with Outreach and LinkedIn Sales Navigator, creating £900,000 of pipeline in two quarters.
- Negotiated 11 multi-year renewals worth £640,000 in total while holding discounting to under 8%.
Business Development Representative, then Account Executive
Sep 2015 – May 2018
Corvid Software · Coventry
- Booked 22 qualified meetings a month as a BDR against a target of 15, ending as top performer for four consecutive quarters.
- Moved into an account executive role in 2016 and closed 41 new customers, with an average first-year contract of £18,000.
- Ran live product demos and wrote proposals for deals up to £75,000, working with the pre-sales team.
Education
BA (Hons) Business Management, 2:1
2012 – 2015
Coventry University
Skills
Team leadership and coaching · Quota setting and territory planning · Pipeline management and forecasting · Salesforce CRM and reporting · MEDDPICC deal qualification · Enterprise negotiation · Outbound prospecting · Sales hiring and onboarding · Compensation plan design · Account planning · Presentation and demo skills
Sales results
- President's Club, 2019 and 2023
- Sales Manager of the Year, Flowdesk, 2023
Why this Sales Manager CV works: what shortlisters check first
Quota and attainment, every year
A sales director reads for one thing first: did you hit your number. State the team quota or your personal target, the period and the percentage attained. Show at least two or three years in a row. A single big year looks lucky, and a rep who always sits at 70% needs an explanation, such as joining mid-year or a territory change.
Team size and how you grew it
Give the number of reps you manage, their seniority and what you did to improve them. Hiring, ramp time, attrition and the number of reps at quota are the clearest signs of a manager rather than a top seller. If you also carry a number yourself, say so, since player-coach roles are common in smaller firms.
Pipeline and conversion numbers
Win rate, average deal size, sales cycle length, pipeline coverage and forecast accuracy show how the team sells, not just what it sold. Name the method you used to change them, such as MEDDPICC, Challenger or SPIN, and the CRM you ran it in. Hiring teams will ask about these figures in the interview, so use ones you can explain.
Market and buyer fit
Make clear who you sell to: SMB, mid-market or enterprise, which sectors, and typical contract values. A manager who has led reps selling £15,000 deals to small firms is hired differently from one who closes £250,000 deals with procurement. Match your wording to the segment of the company you are applying to.
Tools and process ownership
Sales managers own the CRM hygiene, forecast call and reporting. Name Salesforce, HubSpot or Dynamics, plus tools such as Outreach, Gong, LinkedIn Sales Navigator or Clari that you have used. Mention any dashboards, comp plans or playbooks you built, as these show you can run the process and not only the people.
Key skills recruiters look for
How to write each section of a Sales Manager CV
Profile
State your years in sales, years in management, segment and the size of team. Add your attainment in the last full year. Finish with the next step you want, such as senior sales manager or head of sales, so the reader knows how to place you.
Experience
Start every role with a line giving company size, team size and quota. Then use three to five bullets, each pairing an action with a number: win rate, cycle length, revenue, hiring or forecast accuracy. Put promotions inside one company as separate lines.
Skills
Keep a short list of skills you can defend, split between leadership, process and tools. Use the names from the advert, such as Salesforce or MEDDPICC. Leave out soft-skill adjectives like 'driven' that cannot be checked.
Awards and rankings
Rankings and club trips matter in sales because they are measured. Say the award, the year and the field, for example first of 14 reps. Drop anything vague or older than about eight years unless it was exceptional.
Cover letter
Name the company's segment and a recent change, like a new product or market, then give one result of yours that fits it. Sales leaders get many generic letters, and a specific one reads as someone who has done the homework.
More example bullet points
Strong Sales Manager CVs lead with measurable impact. Here are examples of the kind of bullets that make recruiters stop scrolling:
Led team of 8 AEs to 115% of $5M annual quota, ranking #1 region globally for 2 consecutive years
Built outbound sales program from scratch generating $2M pipeline in first quarter
Reduced average sales cycle from 90 days to 55 days through qualification framework and deal desk process
Common Sales Manager CV mistakes
- Describing duties such as 'managed a sales team' without quota, size or result.
- Giving revenue numbers with no period, target or team size to compare them with.
- Mixing personal achievements and team achievements so the reader cannot tell which is yours.
- Claiming to exceed quota in every year while listing three jobs in five years without any explanation.
- Leaving out the type of customer and the deal size, which are the first things a sales director asks about.
Full guide
Sales Manager CV guide: what recruiters actually look for →
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How to tailor your Sales Manager CV for each application
Every Sales Manager job posting is different. The skills they prioritize, the seniority they expect, the setting — all of it shapes what your CV should emphasize. A CV that gets an interview at one employer can miss at another, even for the same job title.
The fastest way to tailor your CV is to paste the job description into NextCV. The AI reads the posting, maps it to your experience, and rewrites your bullets to match what the employer is scanning for. 1 free preview, no signup required — you only pay when you want a clean PDF download. Sign up free for 3 more.
Sales Manager CV FAQ
What should a sales manager CV include?
A short profile, then experience with quota attainment, team size, win rate, deal size and forecast accuracy for each role. Add your CRM and sales tools, education and any awards or rankings. Keep it to two pages and put the strongest numbers on the first one.
How do I show quota attainment on a CV?
Give the target, the period and the percentage achieved, such as 112% of a £4.8m annual team quota in 2023. Show several years if you can. If a year was weak, do not hide it, but put the strong ones in the bullets and be ready to explain the gap.
Do I need a degree to become a sales manager?
Not usually. Most UK sales managers are promoted from sales roles on results, and many employers value a record of quota attainment over a qualification. A degree or a sales-focused course helps for large companies, but numbers carry far more weight.
Is it better to show personal sales or team results?
Show both, and label them clearly. Personal results prove you can sell, and team results prove you can lead. For a manager role, put team figures first: attainment, hiring, ramp time and retention. Keep your own best years to one or two lines.
How do I move from account executive to sales manager?
Show leadership before the title: mentoring new reps, running a pod, leading pipeline reviews or helping with hiring. Give your own attainment record, then evidence that others improved because of you. Ask for a team lead role internally if you can, as it is the usual route.