How To Create A Stand-Out SaaS Sales Resume
Publié le 5 April 2024
Boost your chances of getting hired for an exciting sales job by knowing how to create a stand-out SaaS Sales resume.
Are you good with people, have great tech skills, and are blessed with a charismatic personality that can turn potential buyers into paying customers? If so, you could be a great fit for a job in SaaS sales.
SaaS (Software as a Service) is a growing industry. It presents a lot of opportunities for the right person. If you’re confident that you can persuade people that his software will meet all their business needs, and smash every sales target you see, a career in SaaS sales could take you a long way.
But what does a great SaaS sales resume look like? SaaS sales require a variety of very different skills. How can you highlight your own skills and experience in a way that proves you’re perfect for a job in SaaS sales?
Let’s take a look at how to create a stand-out SaaS sales resume.
What Does a SaaS Salesperson Do?
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The SaaS model has several benefits for the consumer. Because the software is managed by its own company, the user does not have to worry about updates, security, or downtime. Similarly, SaaS is often more scalable and sustainable than the outright purchase option.
The job of a SaaS salesperson is to make these benefits clear to potential customers. Often, SaaS sales will be B2B, with your company selling to other companies needing software services. For example, you may make calls to sell a workforce engagement management solution to HR departments, or talk to finance departments about payroll software.
It’s a position that requires a variety of skills, including:
- Tech skills
- Customer service skills
- Experience with B2B tech platforms
- Sales experience.
Conducting a skills gap analysis can also be beneficial for identifying areas of improvement and further honing your capabilities to excel in the field of SaaS sales. So, a good SaaS sales resume has to cram a lot of diverse skills without becoming too crowded or confusing. A tall order, but doable by following the tips in this article.
How to Create a SaaS Sales Resume That Will Get Recruiters Calling
You may have years of experience under your belt and impressive qualifications to match. Maybe you’ve already found the perfect job opening or have used a people search engine to find the best recruiters at different companies.
Additionally, consider exploring freelancing opportunities on platforms like Upwork to gain practical experience and enhance your skills.
The only question now is how do you make your SaaS sales resume stand out? Here are some tips to get your started:
Showcase All Relevant Skills
HR professionals who recruit for SaaS salespeople, similarly to those who recruit for retail, are up against a few common challenges. One of them is picking the skills they need out of the word salad that comprises many resumes. You can get any recruiter on your side immediately by clearly listing the skills that the job you’re applying for actually needs.
Yes, you may be an expert chef and have a bronze certificate in swimming, but is that really relevant to the SaaS position you want? Remember, while it may feel like these things demonstrate your dedication and commitment in all areas of your life, a recruiter is likely to be skimming through your resume, looking only for things that are relevant to the job description.
So, put the most relevant skills you have front and center. If you want to include that swimming certificate and your famous cooking skills in your resume, then, by all means, do so – but don’t put them in the main ‘skills’ section. List them under ‘hobbies’, mention them in your personal statement, or direct the recruiter to your online presence.
The important thing is to make sure that more tangential skills are not detracting from more relevant things, like your sales skills or your knowledge of customer relationship management software.
Also, when reaching out to potential clients, crafting a compelling job application email that highlights your expertise and enthusiasm can significantly boost your chances of securing projects. This not only provides valuable hands-on experience but also allows you to demonstrate your capabilities in a real-world setting.
Use the Right Resume Template
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The right template can make all the difference to your job application strategy. Resumes do not have to follow the same formula. There are plenty of templates to choose from, so make sure you pick one that enhances your SaaS-relevant skills, and doesn’t obfusticate your fitness for the job. You’d be surprised at how much difference the resume template you use can make.
For example, if you’re going for a job in API development, you may find that a traditional resume that highlights your hobbies and extracurriculars isn’t much use. Instead, the employer will want to ensure you’re experienced in network technology and aren’t a cybersecurity risk. The right template for this job will focus more on relevant ‘hard’ skills and experience and less on ‘soft’ skills and personality factors.
On the other hand, a recruiter for a sales team job will be very interested in your soft skills. They will want evidence that you’re a people-person with the patience to deal with difficult customers and the charisma to make cold conversions. Hobbies, extracurriculars, and personality factors are very relevant here.
So, what template should you use for a SaaS position? Well, it all depends on the nature of the job. As a general rule, any successful sales process will require decent people skills. But a SaaS salesperson should also demonstrate good familiarity with and understanding of how the software works, how competitor software works, common issues with SaaS, and so on.
So, you need a template that allows you to showcase both your people skills and your tech skills. We’d recommend going for a format that weighs towards personal experience, as this allows you to talk about your people skills in human terms, which is always more convincing than listing things like “Empathetic listener”. Just be sure that this template also allows you to list relevant tech skills and experience clearly and concisely.
List the Tech Platforms You’re Familiar With
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The best sales professionals have a strong understanding of the product they’re selling. They will also have a lot of experience with both their own product and similar products. So, to land your dream job in SaaS sales, you need to demonstrate your understanding of software platforms.
If you have a lot of experience, that’s great! List all the common business software you’re familiar with. But be careful about the order you use. Always try to foreground the most relevant experience to the job you’re applying for.
For example, if you’re either selling CCaaS solutions or will be using a CCaaS platform to make your sales, prioritize your experience with CCaaS platforms over, say, your experience with digital creation platforms.
Go into Detail About Your Experience
Relevant skills can be quickly and neatly listed, but when it comes to relevant experience, it’s better to go into a bit of detail. Potential employers will want to know how your experience has shaped you. A bit more detail will also help to demonstrate the transferable skills that your experiences have given you which you will bring with you into a new job.
Let’s say that your previous role was selling business VoIP solutions. Rather than just listing the job title, an effective resume will detail what the job involved, the skills you brought to the position, the skills you learned during the job, how you brought potential customers on board, the sales targets you exceeded, challenges you faced and the actions you took to overcome them, and so on.
This will give a much more valuable picture of your customer service skills, sales experience, and sales skills as they relate to your job search than a simple job title.
Keep It Concise and Relevant
Having just told you to go into detail, we’re now going to tell you to keep things as concise as possible. When you get it right, these two pieces of advice shouldn’t contradict. You can detail your experience clearly and concisely by ensuring that what you’re describing is always hyper-relevant to the position you’re going for.
Remember, recruiters and employers will initially skim through your resume, looking for relevant qualifications, skills, and experience. If you can make these jump out at the reader quickly, there’s a chance they might look a bit more thoroughly at the rest of your resume.
So, make sure that everything you talk about is clear, easily skimmable, and relates to the software industry as closely as possible. Use a concise and easy-to-read format for maximum effectiveness.
Again, relevance is key. You may have revolutionized a restaurant’s communications system or won a baking contest, but if these things don’t have a direct impact on the work you’ll be doing, don’t foreground them. If you must include them on your resume, do so briefly, and not in the main body of the document.
Land Your Dream SaaS Sales Job With the Right Resume
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There’s no one-size-fits-all rule when it comes to resumes. What will work depends a lot on the position you’re applying for.
SaaS is a growing industry, which makes SaaS sales a great profession to get into. There are plenty of transferable skills that have relevance for SaaS sales, from workforce management to retail to tech to customer service. It can all help you to get your dream job in SaaS sales – the trick is to create a resume that showcases these skills in ways that are directly relevant to SaaS sales.
Being clear, concise, and as relevant as possible will make your resume stand out from the crowd and tick all the recruitment boxes. So, follow the tips in this article closely so that you know how to create a stand-out SaaS sales resume, and good luck in your new SaaS sales career!
