I
know you have somehow convinced yourself that outstanding accomplishments are
only for the top achievers.
Don’t
be fooled - sales executives cannot have all the fun. Using a little creativity
and digging, you can build impressive success stories around big and small
career milestones.
But
how do you define an accomplishment? There are several ways to spell
accomplishment - did you..
- Make money for the company?
- Help the company save money or reduce
costs?
- Implement processes that saved time or
increased work productivity?
- Improve company’s competitive advantage
in the marketplace?
- Enhance corporate image or build
company’s reputation in its industry?
Let take Jennifer - she is a marketing executive and increased the sales volume
in the Northeast region for ABC Company for five consecutive years. Sounds
great, right? However, we would need to know whether sales were already
increasing when she took over or whether her efforts directly impacted sales.
After
some more digging, we found out the real story behind the scenes and it turns
out that...
Jennifer
assumed leadership position in the video products division that had been
experiencing slow sales and negative profitability from initial product launch.
(The challenge)
She
diligently motivated and coached a team of ten sales representatives through
intensive training and innovative sales techniques. In addition, sheintroduced
new marketing initiatives that helped the company form strategic alliances with
regional distributors and vendors. (The actions)
Within
just four months, video product sales increased from $50,000 to 100,000 and
unit sales continually grew by 20% each year for the next five years. (The
results)
Now
we have Jennifer's CAR story that can be translated into a revenue-impacting,
quantifiable accomplishment on an executive resume that reads like this:
- Grew new product sales 100% in 120 days
and sustained 20% annual sales growth for five consecutive years by
reengineering sluggish sales force, implementing innovative sales
techniques,introducing new marketing initiatives, and forging effective
strategic alliances.
Now
that is a WOW accomplishment that would grab attention, can you do the same
thing with your career milestones?
I
highly recommend that you keep a current log of your accomplishments by
creating CAR stories as they occur in your career. For real examples of
executive resume with “WOW” accomplishments visit: http://premierwriting.com/document.html
Abby M. Locke, Executive Director of Premier Writing Solutions (www.premierwriting.com),
is a Nationally Certified Resume-Writer and Personal
Brand Strategist who helps senior-level
professionals and C-level executives achieve personal success with customized,
branded executive resumes
and career marketing documents.
