A sales cover letter is a chance to sell yourself. It’s an opportunity to personalize your job application and explain why you’re the best person for the sales job you want.
A sales cover letter also gives you a chance to prove that you have the sales skills necessary to succeed in a role. Whether you’re in the market for a business development, customer success or sales representative position, a cover letter can help you land a job interview.
In this article, we’ll explain why sales position cover letters matter, what sales managers look for in an ideal candidate and cover letter tips to make your application stand out. We’ll also share cover letter examples sales representatives can use to help craft their own.
Why do sales cover letters matter?
Your cover letter can give you the edge over competing job seekers and complement your sales resume.
Research shows that 72% of recruiters expect a cover letter even when they’re “optional”. Additionally, 83% of hiring managers and HR professionals say cover letters can boost your chances of getting an interview.
Further, Jobvite’s 2021 recruiter study showed cover letters are becoming increasingly important to recruiters, with 26% considering them very important for candidate evaluation (up from just 8% in 2017).
A professional cover letter showcases your skills and sells you as a candidate, explaining exactly why and how your past sales experience will help you deliver results.
The importance of personalizing your sales cover letter
Personalizing your letter shows you care about landing the sales position and the company you’re applying to. Conduct thorough research and tie your own experiences to the company’s values.
For example, if you’re applying for a job at an email marketing SaaS company and have used their platform before, mention it. Discuss how their software helped you in a previous job or endeavor, and relay your passion for the tools and their features.
Personalization allows you to go beyond being a name on a piece of paper and brings your application to life.
What do sales managers look for in an ideal sales candidate?
There are many types of sales methodologies, each requiring varying degrees of skill.
However, sales superstars share fundamental strengths and qualities that help them go above and beyond.
The skills or qualities employers look for in top salespeople include:
Skill or quality | Why it’s important |
Responsibility | Elite sales reps take ownership and accountability for their performance. They don’t blame anybody else for their shortcomings and set high goals for themselves. |
Coachability | Top sales associates quickly pick up processes and operations to perform at a high standard. They learn about new products, features, tools, trends and techniques and showcase this knowledge on a regular basis. |
Goal orientation | Successful reps constantly set and surpass professional targets. They go beyond what’s expected and are eager to improve their skill set and performance. |
High motivation, willpower or grit | Reps need to be motivated to convert prospects into customers every day. Furthermore, seasoned reps understand that rejection is part of the game, push through rejection and persevere. |
Product knowledge | Superstar reps have a deep understanding of the products they sell. They become experts on the solutions they sell so they can confidently discuss them and have more meaningful conversations with leads and prospects. |
Customer connection | Top salespeople take the time to understand their customers’ pain points and needs to help solve their problems. They go beyond simply trying to sell a product or service and are genuinely interested in improving their prospects’ lives. Soft skills like active listening help them ask pointed questions so prospects can decide for themselves why they need the company’s products. |
Sales process conformity or adaptability | Great salespeople adhere to their company’s sales process. Simultaneously, they creatively adapt their approach based on any changes or setbacks they encounter (both environmental and customer-based). They consistently prospect, follow up and close deals. |
Time management | The best reps are exceptionally talented at managing their time. They categorize prospects and capitalize on high-value opportunities. When they aren’t selling, they’re upskilling and prospecting. |
The more concretely you can demonstrate these skills, the greater your chances of getting an interview.
7 sales cover letter tips
While your cover letter should be tailored to the opportunity you’re applying for, there are elements that are integral to the success of any sales cover letter.
Here are seven cover letter writing tips to keep in mind.
1. Use the hiring manager’s name
Instead of starting your cover letter with “Dear hiring manager”, use the hiring manager’s name. Addressing your cover letter to a specific person adds a personal touch that can pique the recipient’s interest.
Including their name in your sales cover letter is also a simple way to show the hiring manager that you’ve done your research, a useful skill set for any salesperson.
2. Do your research
Before applying, research the company you want to work for. Along with researching the hiring manager’s name, check out the organization’s social media channels, current sales strategies and how they fit in with (or don’t fit in with) market trends.
Use your findings to write a more effective cover letter. Grab the reader’s attention by showing that you know more than just the company name – you also understand their goals.
3. Appeal to the company’s strategic goals
Every company has different goals it wants to hit. Use your research to adapt your cover letter to its strategic objectives. Show how what you’ve achieved in the past demonstrates what you can help the company achieve in the future.
Adapt your cover letter to the company’s unique needs and show how you can use your problem-solving skills to help achieve its goals.
4. Showcase your top sales skills
Hiring managers want to see that you have the skills to achieve sales targets and support (or improve) customer satisfaction. Use your sales cover letter to detail your proven track record and years of experience, including statistics where possible.
For example, say that you alone increased company-wide customer referrals by 30% in a previous role. While this is impressive, rather than listing this as a standalone statistic, tie it into the customer connection quality from the sales superstar list above.
The end product may look like this:
Through excellent listening and conversational skills, I built meaningful customer relationships that stimulated a 30% increase in customer referrals.
Here’s an example of how one account executive applicant listed his achievements:
– Awarded Top Sales Consultant in the territory for two straight quarters and numerous other recognitions for helping drive the business, with over $70,000 worth of merchandise sold in the top-performing quarter at Best Buy.
– Exceptional academic qualifications, including a forthcoming Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from The George Washington University School of Business.
– Successfully automated and maintained an innovative metrics reporting process for the team’s monthly capitalization rates, dramatically increasing capitalization opportunities on a per-project basis at Royal Bank of Canada.
– Effectively prepared a variety of business and personal tax returns for clients using Syntax, filing more than 84 tax returns a day, resulting in an additional 34 new clients during the taxation season at MA Consulting.
– Provided expert assistance in auditing and organizing information regarding tax returns.
– Assisted specialists in verifying data and communicating with customers to maintain documentation, running and preparing support documents at Mariner Finance.
He seamlessly intertwines his own achievements with the attributes that make up a top sales performer.
Let’s take a closer look at the first bullet point, which contains his achievements:
Awarded Top Sales Consultant in the territory for two straight quarters and numerous other recognitions for helping drive the business.
Skills showcased:
Driving business growth through high motivation, willpower and grit. To win Top Sales Consultant two quarters in a row takes serious determination and a will to succeed.
Goal-orientedness. To drive sales to such a high level, he must have set exceedingly high goals for himself and made a valiant effort to achieve them.
Keeping what hiring managers are looking for front-of-mind can help you tailor your cover letter in a way that lands you an interview.
5. Demonstrate how you serve customers’ needs
Serving customers’ needs ensures you provide the best possible customer service at every stage. It can help you navigate tricky conversations and customer objections to close a deal. Demonstrating how great you are at them with clear examples will give you the upper hand.
For example, did you seamlessly tap into a customer’s needs to win a deal? Maybe you helped a colleague win over a skeptical prospect? Did you devise the perfect comeback to a customer’s objection to help them see the real outcomes of using a product or service?
Jot down some examples of how you’ve used your interpersonal skills in the past and choose the one(s) you think would be the most relevant for the sales role you’re applying for.
Tip: Ensure your cover letter reflects your LinkedIn profile in case the hiring manager examines your credentials further. LinkedIn’s platform is designed to blend the traditional resume and cover letter via bios and job experience, so it should synchronize with your application.
6. Thank the reader and sign off
End your letter by thanking the reader for their time, then follow that with a call to action that includes your contact details and full name.
Sign off your email in a professional manner. Match your voice and tone with the company’s style, which you can find in the job description and throughout your research.
For example, if the company’s tone is highly professional, use any of the following signatures in your cover letter:
Best regards
Kind regards
Respectfully
Yours sincerely
If the company’s tone is more laid back, you can use:
Best
Thank you
Thank you for your consideration
Avoid using casual phrasing. A letter of interest for a sales position is formal correspondence and an opportunity to make a great first impression. Casual phrasing can come across as overly friendly and unprofessional.
Do NOT use any of the following signatures in your cover letter:
Affectionately
Fondly
Warm regards
Take it easy
Have a great day
Cheers
Thanks
The right sign-off will depend on the company, which is part of why doing your research is vital.
7. Edit before sending
Always edit your sales cover letter before sending. No matter how great you are at writing, there is always the chance that there’s a sentence you can tighten or a typo that slipped through.
Proofreading your sales cover letter shows attention to detail and proves you have relevant skills for corresponding with colleagues or prospects.
If you know someone in the same industry, you could ask them for feedback before sending.
Alternatively, you could run your sales cover letter through AI to find gaps to help you stand out further.
Sales cover letter examples: how to stand out
Now that you know the basics, let’s look at some examples of how to write and format your cover letter.
There are three essential sections to keep in mind when creating a cover letter for a sales position:
Introduction. Explain why you’re the best candidate for the job.
Body. Format your achievements with bullet points to make them pop.
Conclusion. Finish strong with a CTA (your contact details with a few words encouraging the reader to get in touch).
Let’s run through each section in detail.
Cover letter introduction
Start with a targeted message. Explain why you’re the best candidate for this specific position. The more details, the better.
Use the hiring manager’s name in the salutation, if you can find it.
The goal is to capture the hiring manager’s attention and convey that you’re familiar with the company and brand for which you’re applying.
Here’s a cover letter template for the start of your letter:
Dear [NAME],
I’m excited to apply for this job because I’ve followed your company for years. I respect your values, mission and goals around [SPECIFIC DETAILS ABOUT THE COMPANY MISSION/VALUES]. I’m incredibly excited about your company’s work and believe my previous experience gives me the competitive edge you’re looking for in a rep.
As a rep for [PREVIOUS COMPANY], I acquired a dynamic skill set that aligns with your company’s needs. I’m ready to pursue my ultimate dream career and blend my unique skills and accomplishments with something that aligns with my passions.
In this example, the applicant begins with a personalized opener and highlights a specific interest in the company they’re applying to.
Showing a specific interest in the company and role significantly boosts your chances of landing an interview. Personalization helps bridge the gap between anonymous applicants and cultural fit.
Cover letter body
Transition into your specific achievements in previous positions. As discussed above, align your skills with the strengths and qualities that hiring managers want.
Quantify your achievements and detail specific examples of your accomplishments. Did you hit your sales goals for three consecutive years? Were you awarded the top inside sales rep for two quarters? Now is the time to say it.
Use bullet points to make your achievements pop. Go beyond what’s listed in your resume and add value where applicable.
Here’s a template for the middle of your sales representative cover letter:
– Closed deals at a rate 2x higher than company-set targets by asking pointed questions based on actively listening to prospects’ needs.
– Grew customer base by 15% through driven and motivated networking, outreach and follow-ups.
– Received the Top Sales Representative award for 5 out of the 8 quarters I was employed.
– Designed a first-rate internal communications strategy that directly boosted pipeline growth by 10% in one year.
– Consistently drove aggressive YOY sales by 20% over the last 2 years.
– Created an internal communication skills course for entry-level reps, resulting in an 18% increase in quota attainment.
Bolding your numeric achievements is an effective visual strategy. The hiring manager will most likely scan your cover letter and, if impressed by your achievements, will re-read it in full.
Cover letter conclusion
Finish with a short paragraph that indicates how you’ll offer an advantage if hired.
Now is the time to describe how you’ll use your passion, excitement and achievements to better the company you’re applying to. Again, do your research before applying so that you can align this section with the company’s needs.
The job description is the best place to learn about what the company wants from you. The job posting should set clear expectations about the role, daily activities and required experience. It will also tell you a bit about the company.
Allude to the themes in the job description in your final paragraph to show that you:
Read the job description in full
Conducted follow-up research
Are capable of selling yourself based on the criteria you’ve been given
Here’s a template for the end of your cover letter:
Through working on [TYPES OF PREVIOUS PROJECTS], I developed a keen interest in connecting with the front-line workers who used [PREVIOUS COMPANY’S] products and services. I’m eager to transfer the knowledge from these experiences on a more global level. Your company has grown at an impressive rate, and I greatly respect your business strategy to [SPECIFICS ABOUT BENEFITS OF COMPANY’S BUSINESS STRATEGY OR MISSION].
As part of the Sales Team at [YOUR COMPANY], I look forward to learning more about your product, joining a highly motivated and talented team and contributing to your overall growth.
Use personalization to highlight your company knowledge, work experience and future goals. Clearly state how you’ll contribute to the company’s growth and help it scale meaningfully. Make it obvious that you’re passionate about what the company does and are ready to take the next step in your career.
Here’s a template for a CTA with relevant contact information, which will make it easy for the hiring manager to reach out:
Please feel free to contact me at [phone number] or [email] with any additional questions. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Kind regards,
[Your Name]
Replace “kind regards” with the right sign-off for the type of company you want to apply for. See our tips above for suggestions.
Complete cover letter for a sales associate
Combining all the sections above, this is what a complete cover letter for sales associate positions could look like:
Dear [NAME],
I’m excited to apply for this job because I’ve followed your company for years. I respect your values, mission and goals around [SPECIFIC DETAILS ABOUT THE COMPANY MISSION/VALUES]. I’m incredibly excited about your company’s work and believe my previous experience gives me the competitive edge you’re looking for in a rep.
As a rep for [PREVIOUS COMPANY], I acquired a dynamic skill set that aligns with your company’s needs. I’m ready to pursue my ultimate dream career and blend my unique skills and accomplishments with something that aligns with my passions.
In my previous role, I:
– Closed deals at a rate 2x higher than company-set targets by asking pointed questions based on actively listening to prospects’ needs.
– Grew customer base by 15% through driven and motivated networking, outreach and follow-ups.
– Received the Top Sales Representative award for 5 out of the 8 quarters I was employed.
– Designed a first-rate internal communications strategy that directly boosted pipeline growth by 10% in one year.
– Consistently drove aggressive YOY sales by 20% over the last 2 years.
– Created an internal communication skills course for entry-level reps, resulting in an 18% increase in quota attainment.
Through working on [TYPES OF PREVIOUS PROJECTS], I developed a keen interest in connecting with the front-line workers who used my [PREVIOUS COMPANY’S] products and services. I’m eager to transfer the knowledge I’ve retained from these experiences on a more global level. Your company has grown at an impressive rate, and I greatly respect your business strategy to [SPECIFICS ABOUT BENEFITS OF COMPANY’S BUSINESS STRATEGY OR MISSION]
As part of the Sales Team at [YOUR COMPANY], I look forward to learning more about your product, joining a highly motivated and talented team and contributing to your overall growth.
Please feel free to contact me at [phone number] or [email] with any additional questions. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Kind regards,
[Your Name]
Final thoughts
Regardless of the sales position you’re applying for, cover letters that follow the tips and examples above can help you stand out. Use your cover letter as a sales platform to sell yourself. Format it so that the hiring manager can easily find your accomplishments. Personalize it by researching the company and showcasing why and how you’re the right candidate for the sales job.
Whether or not a job listing specifies the need for a cover letter, always put your best effort into writing one. You never know when the extra touches and insights will be the breakthrough you need to land an interview and eventually get the job.
