For me, it starts with the language.

To prove my point, we copied-and-pasted the resumes of a dozen top-performing software sales professionals into one big file, then did the same to a dozen ‘average’ sales resumes. Then we poured all the words into two ‘wordles’—web-based software that arranges and emphasizes words according to their frequency.

By the way, we ignored the words ‘sales, executive, management, account and software’ as they were dominant in both.

Here’s a visual representation of how the language differs.

Top Performers

Average Performers

The word QUOTA is a word I always look for when I scan a resume, and it appeared more often in great resumes’ than in good ones. Makes sense, doesn’t it?

Another notable difference is the use of the word ‘sell’. Both resume groups mention SELLING, but stars talk more about what they SOLD. The former may have prospected, but failed to close much business, while the stars performed time and again.

Other words that stuck out include CLOSED, ACHIEVED, RELATIONSHIPS and CLUB.

So next time you’re browsing sales resumes, don’t just focus on or search for ‘sales manager’ or ‘account executive’. Try words like quota, club, closed and others that you see above.

The best people, it seems, use the same language.