If you’re eyeing sales roles in fintech, it's crucial to ensure that your resume communicates essential information about your sales experience and target markets clearly and effectively. This article explores four key elements that can elevate your sales resume, increasing your odds of getting to an interview.
You already know that recruiters are swamped with resumes, and review them lightning-fast. If key points are not addressed, your resume can easily be set aside. There’s little time to ferret out missing details, yet I often find that I am having to research what solutions a candidate’s current employer is marketing to see if their product suite aligns with the client’s solutions. Some of my clients are open to different or “similar” product experience, but many are not.
Specify What You’ve Sold - Products, Solutions, and Services:
The fintech landscape is innovative and dynamic, with a wide range of technical offerings. Clarity is paramount for candidates. Assumptions about the nature of your sales experience may lead to misinterpretations. To avoid this, explicitly state the products, solutions, or services you have sold in each role. Provide concise yet comprehensive descriptions, allowing recruiters to swiftly understand your sales experience.
Example:
Sales Representative | XYZ Fintech Solutions
- Successfully marketed and sold cutting-edge blockchain-based payment solutions to…
Identify Target Verticals:
Highlighting the verticals you've targeted in each sales role is vital for showcasing the depth of your network and specific vertical knowledge. Fintech recruiters often seek candidates with a nuanced understanding of specific sectors and a vast network in specific verticals. Clearly outline the sales communities you've targeted to highlight the network you bring to the table. This helps differentiate you from other candidates and moves you up on the list.
Example:
Account Executive | ABC FinTech
- Penetrated the buyside including hedge funds and private equity firms, driving sales of AI-driven…
Quantify Achievements:
Numbers speak louder than words in the sales world. Demonstrate your impact by quantifying your achievements in each role. Include specifics such as sales quotas, percentage achievements, and the number of new accounts acquired, etc. Providing tangible evidence of your core competencies adds credibility to your resume. Often if numbers are not given, it is assumed that quota was not achieved or it was not a quota-driven role.
Example:
Sales Manager | XYZ Inc.
- Exceeded $1.5 million annual quota by 20%, securing 5 new enterprise-level accounts within the first 6 months.
Clarify "Hunter" or "Farmer" Role:
Companies often categorize sales professionals into "hunters" who acquire new business/logos and "farmers" who nurture and grow existing accounts. Even in dual-responsibility sales roles, there is usually a priority or majority focus on one responsibility or the other. Clearly state your role in each position, showcasing whether you were focused on new logos or cultivating relationships within established accounts.
Example:
Business Development Specialist | XYZ Corp.
- Spearheaded new client acquisitions, consistently surpassing quarterly targets and expanding our client base by 25%.
Conclusion:
Crafting a compelling sales resume is a strategic process that involves presenting information in a manner that is both comprehensive and easily digestible. By incorporating these four key elements—specific product details, targeted verticals, quantified achievements, and role clarification—you can ensure your resume stands out in the competitive fintech industry, catching the eye of recruiters and positioning yourself as a top candidate for the next sales opportunity.
Elisa Sheftic is the President and Managing Partner of Right Executive Search, LLC. Her expertise is placing mid- to C-level executives in the Financial Technology (fintech) and Financial Services industries. She communicates with Human Resources, Hiring Managers, and candidates daily and offers insights to clients and candidates on recruiting best practices. Elisa received her MBA from New York University and completed her post-graduate studies in HR at Cornell University.