Important Software Sales Resume Keywords

If you’re applying for a software sales position by cold submitting your resume to organizations you have to optimize that resume’s chances of the resume being found and read. Most Human Resources departments these days use application tracking software to analyze and rank submitted resumes and candidates.

These systems scour the applications for keywords that employers mark as important. Resumes including relevant keywords rank higher. So it’s crucial to weave them into your resume.

In this article, we’ll give you the software sales resume keywords to include on your tech sales resume depending on the tech sales job you’re applying for since each requires different skill sets and experience.

We’ll cover keywords for the following common SaaS sales job titles:

BDR/SDR
Account Executive (AE)
Customer Success Manager (CSM)
Sales Manager

Before we go through each, there’s a particular strategy you can employ to get your resume ranked well, no matter the software sales job.

How to Use the Right Software Sales Resume Keywords

As a rule of thumb, you should try to use words that the employer has included in the job description of the job posting. These are the skills, traits, and qualifications the employer is looking for. Therefore, many of these phrases are likely keywords that they, and their tracking software, want to see on resumes.

For example, if the job posting says they want someone who is tenacious and persistent, you should probably include those in your resume somewhere — perhaps in your objective section. If they want someone with closing experience, write closing experience in your resume.

Now that we’ve covered the basic rule of reflecting the job posting in your resume, let’s now go over these keywords to help you craft a resume that gets found and wins you an interview.

The words we’ve collected are ones that show up most often on job postings for each specific job, so they’re the ones many employers want to see on resumes.

Software Business/Sales Development Representative

A BDR or SDR is typically tasked with generating new leads for their company using outbound strategies like cold calling, cold emailing, and social selling. They also might qualify inbound leads who submit “contact us” forms or request demos. These are usually newer reps, either in the industry or in sales. It’s a great place to start out learning the trade.

That said, here are some skill-based software sales resume keywords BDRs and SDRs should consider writing on their resumes:

New business development
Lead generation
Qualifying leads
Outbound calling
Cold calling
Relationship management
CRM
Sales experience
Entrepreneurship
Salesforce.com (or whatever CRM the employer uses)
Sales prospecting
Inside sales

Once again, be sure to reference the specific job posting for your desired job and include the words they use in it.

When you do land your first interview, you’re going to want to have some great questions prepared to really show the employer that you’re serious about the position and inquisitive — a crucial attribute for SDRs/BDRs. We wrote an article on the 17 best questions to ask at the end of your interview.

Software Account Executive Resume Keywords

Account Executives (AEs) in the software or SaaS industry are the closers. They typically take leads from the qualification stage to a close, giving them the necessary demos, calls, and presentations along the way, while also engaging in contract and proposal negotiations. Sometimes they’ll also be in charge of filling their own pipelines with new leads through outreach.

Here are some skill-based tech sales resume keywords that software Account Executives might want to put to optimize your resumes:

Closing experience
Salesforce.com (or whatever CRM the employer uses)
Direct sales
Solution selling
Software as a service (SaaS)
Business-to-Business (B2B)
Hunting
Outside sales
CRM
Entrepreneurship
Field sales
Cold calling
Relationship management
Negotiation

Your top priority in your AE resume is to show that you can effectively close software deals. If you’re ready to start pitching yourself, head to the Tech Sales job board, which hosts jobs in the software industry.

Software Customer Success Manager Resume Keywords

A CSM in the software industry focuses on managing a list of current clients. They help them use the software to its full advantage in an effort to limit churn and increase customer lifetime value. They’re also sometimes involved in selling. They might facilitate upsells or cross-sells. Overall, a CSM should be a great relationship manager with excellent communication and problem-solving skills.

Here are some software sales resume keywords you might want to include:

Cross-selling
Customer retention
Negotiation
Account management
Relationship management
Relationship building
Software as a Service (SaaS)
Customer acquisition
Upsells
Consulting experience
Problem-solving

If you’re currently in sales and thinking about getting a CSM position, read our article on how to effectively transition from sales to customer success in the software industry.

Software Sales Manager Resume Keywords

In a sales management position, you’ll be in charge of ensuring your sales team hits certain revenue targets and other metrics set by your company. You’ll have to plan, strategize, train, and coach in order to reach those goals. You might be managing a group of BDRs, AEs, or, if you’re at a smaller company, the entire team.

Here are some important tech sales resume keywords to consider including for the software sales manager position:

Sales management
Sales experience
CRM
Sales strategies
Forecasting
Management experience
Relationship building
Sales growth
Tradeshows
New business development
Team leadership

If you want to become a sales manager you’re going to have to prove that your experience has prepared you to be a leader of a sales team. In your resume, be sure to show that you’ve been able to guide and nurture your team, in whatever industry you recently worked, to reach the company’s goals.

Bottom Line: Tailor Your Resume to Each Job Posting

As a final reminder, be sure to reference the specific job posting and use words from your own resume. This shows not only the software but also the hiring manager that you have reviewed the job description and are a good match for the position.

Consider creating a software sales resume template and filling it with many of the keywords we used above and then switching them to match the words on each new job description. This shouldn’t require too much work or rewording since the words will likely be synonyms of ones in this article and on your resume template. Some ATS systems are able to recognize synonyms or take them into account, but it’s better to err on the side of caution.