How to craft a great store manager cover letter
Store managers work in a variety of businesses, including department, grocery, hardware, and other stores. As a store manager, you hold many critically important responsibilities that help to support the store’s staff and delight customers. When applying for a role as a store manager, you need a well-written cover letter that highlights your professional capabilities and qualifications.
In this guide, we discuss the 5 key tricks to writing an excellent store manager cover letter. Keep reading to learn all about:
- Giving your store manager cover letter structure with a header & headline
- Tailoring your store manager cover letter for each individual employer
- Crafting an enticing introduction for your store manager cover letter
- Showcasing your best skills and accomplishments as a store manager
- Concluding your store manager cover letter effectively & persuasively
1. Give your store manager cover letter structure with a header & headline
As you begin to write your store manager cover letter, it is crucial to consider how you will give it structure. Without a well-thought-out structure, a cover letter can easily look like one big block of text that is off-putting to employers.
The best way to achieve an appealing structure is through the use of a header and headline.
Starting with a cover letter header, this is a small block of text placed in the upper left corner or top center of the page. In a header, an employer should find:
- Your name and professional title (typically in a slightly larger font)
- Your professional contact information (phone number, email address, etc.)
- The name of the company
- The address of the company
Here is an example of a good-looking header from a store manager cover letter
Julia Woods, Store Manager
(123) 456-7890 | juliawoods@email.com | linkedin.com/in/julia-woods
To: Harris Teeter Grocery Store
1234 Street Address
Wilmington, NC 28401
After you are satisfied with the appearance of your header, your next step is to write a cover letter headline. Although widely considered an optional element on a cover letter, headlines help to both provide extra structure and introduce the main point of the letter to the employer.
When writing a headline, you should always use a keyword related to the position, an eye-catching number or trigger word, a powerful adjective or verb, and a promise statement that lets the employer know you have written this letter specifically for them.
Here is an example of a well-written store manager cover letter headline
The 3 Essential Skills that Help Me Excel as a Store Manager & How I Plan to Apply Them at Your Store
Trigger Word/Number: 3 Essential Skills
Keyword: Store Manager
Adjective/Verb: Essential, Excel, Apply
Promise Statement: Your Store
2. Tailor your store manager cover letter for each individual employer
As an employer reads through a cover letter, the details that will catch their eye the most are those that are highly specific to their exact wants and needs.
This is called tailoring a cover letter, a process in which you research the employer beforehand to discover key information that helps you personalize the letter’s content for that specific employer.
To successfully tailor your store manager cover letter, look for information such as:
- The company’s values and motto
- Press and media about the company that reveals their strengths
- Details on specific staff members responsible for hiring
This last piece of information is used to create a personalized greeting that addresses a specific person by name. Including this type of greeting lets the employer know you have taken the time to research and tailor your cover letter beforehand.
Here are 3 examples of personalized store manager cover letter greetings
- Dear Hiring Manager Paul Good,
- Dear Mr. Paul Good,
- Dear Store Supervisor Mariah Weaver,
3. Craft an enticing introduction for your store manager cover letter
Though a header and headline can go a long way in making a strong first impression with an employer, the true key to an employer’s heart is the cover letter introduction.
Your introduction should be enticing, highlighting your very best credentials and experience level as a store manager. After an employer reads your introduction, they should be left wanting more, convincing them to continue reading on through the rest of your letter.
To accomplish this, make sure to include:
- A concise summary of your professional history and experience as a store manager
- A statement on why you are enthusiastic about applying to this company and what makes you a qualified candidate
- A mutual acquaintance (when possible)
Pro Tip: A mutual acquaintance can serve a dual purpose of a professional reference and a way to build rapport with the employer. If you need help growing your professional network to gain a mutual acquaintance, LinkedIn is a great platform to use for this purpose.
Here is an example of an excellent introduction from a store manager cover letter
Dear Hiring Manager Paul Good,
As a store manager with more than 5 years of specialized experience managing a gourmet grocery store, I know I have the skills needed to join your highly-rated management team. My former manager, Mr. Logan Greene, now works as your store’s Deli Manager and alerted me to this opening, encouraging me to apply given my qualifications for this opportunity.
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4. Showcase your best skills and accomplishments as a store manager
Once you are happy with your introduction and believe it will entice an employer to continue reading, you can dive into a deeper explanation of your top skills and accomplishments as a store manager.
When describing these qualifications, make sure the information your include is:
- Specific: Always avoid vagueness when writing a cover letter. For instance, rather than saying you have strong communication skills, explain your communication style and why it is well-suited for a management position.
- Relevant: Any details you include regarding your skills and accomplishments should be highly relevant to the employer and job opening. Try not to go off on tangents that are not easily relatable to the position at hand.
- Quantifiable: Whenever possible, use numbers or data points to help prove and quantify your qualifications. For example, if you helped raise a store’s Google rating, state the original rating and the new rating you helped achieve.
Here are 6 skills to describe in a store manager cover letter
- Staff supervision
- Onboarding and hiring processes
- Operational procedures
- Inventory management
- Promotional development
- Staff training
Here is an example of how to describe an accomplishment in a cover letter
In my role as a store manager at [Former Employer], I worked diligently to improve staff training processes to create a more individualized experience for customers. As a result of the training program I developed and implemented, the store saw a 25% increase in overall customer satisfaction and earned a 4.9-star rating on Google My Business.
5. Conclude your store manager cover letter effectively & persuasively
The final task on your cover letter to-do list is to write an effective conclusion.
Your concluding statement has one central purpose — to persuade the employer to get in touch with you as soon as possible. Remember that the earlier you can hear back from the employer, the better.
To make your conclusion persuasive, include:
- An enthusiastic sentence saying you are looking forward to hearing from them
- A statement saying when you would like to hear from them and when you intend to follow up
- The best method and time to contact you
- A formal sign-off
Here is an example of an effective conclusion from a store manager cover letter
I am beyond excited to learn more about this opportunity and eagerly await your response to my letter. As I would love to be considered for this position, I plan to reach back out next Tuesday if I have not yet heard from you. Please reach me at your earliest convenience at (123) 456-7890 any weekday during normal business hours.
Kind Regards,
[Applicant Name]
If you have ever wondered how a cover letter differs from a resume, this article will tell you everything about the key differences between the two.
