Celebrating Women in Sales
Women’s History Month (March) celebrates major contributions of women in history and society. Some of these include women’s rights, such as the right to vote, equal rights (to men), and the prohibition of discrimination in educational settings. Women’s History Month also aims to educate people about women’s history as well as future opportunities for women.
International Women’s Day (March 8th) is a global celebration of women’s achievements in society, the economy, culture and politics. It is a call to action for forwarding worldwide gender equality, solving inequalities which still exist across the globe. Women fight specifically for, among other things, equal rights, equal pay, and better representation in government and work.
Some departments where women are underrepresented are sales and technology. Although the number of women has grown in recent years in both fields (sales 39% and tech 25%), the increase has been minimal and doesn’t represent the increase of women in the overall workforce. So, it’s important to uplift women any chance that we can!
This article focuses on sales tips and tricks from women in sales — from leaders to account managers to trainers to founders — as well as thoughts and insights on hot sales topics. Women have a voice in sales and we want to boost it even more!
General sales insights
Ashleigh Early | Sales Coach, Consultant, & Podcast Host | Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina
Describe your sales role in 3 words.
- Passion
- Discipline
- Empathy
Wendy Robertson | Director & CEO of The Sales Leader Australia | Melbourne, Australia
What are your recommendations for must-read books for salespeople?
The books that I have read recently that I can recommend to others are:
- Sales Engagement by Manny Medina, Max Altschuler, Mark Kosoglow
- Social Selling Mastery by Jamie Shanks
- Spear Selling by Jamie Shanks
For me, these books have essential learnings for the modern B2B sales person.
Bernadette McClelland | CEO of 3 Red Folders | Melbourne, Australia
What are your recommendations for must-read books for salespeople?
One of my go-to books is: The One Thing by Gary Keller.
Tips for starting in sales
Madeleine Barton | Account Manager at Place Exchange | New York City
What is your advice for women starting in sales?
Truthfully I could go on all day about this. My biggest piece of advice is to stand up for yourself and don’t let people (ahem: men), clients or internal team members, walk all over you and undermine your knowledge. And, if you feel you aren’t being listened to, keep repeating yourself.
Lori Richardson | B2B Sales Growth Strategist at Score More Sales | Boston, Massachusetts
What are your best tips for anyone starting in sales?
Know that you can nearly always negotiate your salary and that in many cases it is expected that you do — it demonstrates how you might work with a customer who offers you less than the value of the products or services you’ll be representing. Most men do this, most women don’t.
Once hired, track your accomplishments weekly in a journal or online tracker of some time. You will be surprised at all that you do — and forget — if you don’t write it down somewhere. Then when time to be considered for a new role or promotion, you have much documented about what you’ve done on a regular basis to add value to your role.
Follow successful women in sales on LinkedIn — there are a lot more women who are talking about their keys to success.
Why women should be in sales
Nancy Nardin | Founder of Smart Selling Tools | Sacramento, California
What are the top 3 reasons why you think more women should get into sales?
- Because they are naturals at selling (even if they don’t know it yet).
- Because they can make a lot of money (while helping customers)
- Because it’s a role for self-motivated, independent people (requires introspection, a thirst for learning, and desire to excel)
Hiring in sales
Rhea Holley | Co-Founder & Director at Seeke | Kent, England
What skills do you look for in a new sales hire?
- Empathy — I think you need to be able to stand underneath someone’s umbrella with them when it’s raining and say ‘I get it’.
- Problem Solving — the sales map has changed vastly and now we need to understand what pain points people actually have. Long gone are the days where you could cold call and talk AT someone for 10 minutes about your service. We need sales people who can see the bigger picture and uncover what’s really going on.
- Collaboration — I think it’s important that the sales team is united with the others in an office/organization so everyone understands what the real goals are and how to get there.
Dionne Mischler | CEO & Founder at Inside Sales by Design | Aliso Viejo, California
What do you think about the growing trend of women in sales?
Overall, I think: Good!
At a more tactical level, the more we accept that sales is truly about helping others, not manipulating, but truly seeking to hear and understand, the better off we’re all going to be. Helping others is about helping them see and recognize what good looks like with a solution, doing things a different way, that is more effective. Selling is all about helping, understanding that while we have a “normal” way of doing things, “optimal” is always better.
I hesitate to make sweeping comments and judgements about anyone in sales based upon outside factors we can see with our eyes. It is best to accept that fact that we make assumptions based on what we see (a biological reaction), however, as self-aware individuals (wisdom seeking people), we must train ourselves to see past our assumptions, pressure test them, to see the inherent qualities of the people we’re interacting with. As we expand our horizons, stretch our minds, and are open to truly seeing the qualities of people, we all benefit and grow together as a community.
The future of sales
Zeenath Kuraisha | Founder at Asia Pacific Sales & Marketing Academy | Singapore
What role do you think AI will play in the sales position?
AI will always play the role of ‘secretary’ or ‘admin’. Will never become the manager. AI is a new way of business and will remain a sales person’s best friend.
Alice Heiman | Founder & Chief Sales Officer at Alice Heiman LLC | Reno, Nevada
What role do you think AI will play in the sales position?
AI is already playing a role in sales. It will continue to and as AI improves it should remove mundane tasks from the salespeople. I believe AI will play a valuable role in research. It will save salespeople time because it will pull all the relevant information needed to have insightful conversations.
Sales tech
Elinor Stutz | Motivational Speaker and Sales Trainer at Smooth Sale | Washington, D.C.
What are your favorite sales tools & why?
My answer may sound highly unusual, producing a laugh, but I’m left-handed and accustomed to the response!
I don’t even know if it can be considered a sales tool, but I do see Twitter as such, and much more. Twitter, for me, is a marketing, branding, and sales tool all in one short tweet that potentially reaches vast audiences.
My handle is @smoothsale — 55,100+ followers.
Results Maximizing Exposure:
- Large following
- Listed at the top of many prestigious lists e.g., sales leader, Top 1% sales influencer, and many more.
- Others with large numbers of followers share my information via Twitter and then other platforms
- Included in groups
Remaining Current is Most Important (as a senior citizen)
Most seniors, familiar to me, barely know how to use their mobile phone, let alone apps or the internet. They are removed from the world as you know it.
Twitter gives me insight (not that I understand everything, but I’m trying) on AI, ML, Robotics, advanced tech, latest business trends, and health news, including diet and exercise.
He who laughs last — my generation is filled with chauvinists — whenever someone begins to talk down to me, I turn the conversation into the latest insight I read on Twitter. Seeing the startled expression on each person’s face produces a great laugh!
Women in sales have voices and it’s important to hear and elevate them. As seen by these quotes, sales has historically not been the easiest industry for women to infiltrate, but once they are in, they thrive. In the sales industry, it can be hard to be seen and heard in a male-dominated industry.
We heard from women all over the world and are proud to be able to share their perspectives on the current state of sales. With the advice and experience of these women, we hope other people in sales can gain some insights into their positions as sales leaders, managers or SDRs. Women’s Month is about uplifting and encouraging people to not only learn more about women in history, but familiarize themselves with prominent women in society today.
Thanks again to all the women that shared their insights with us and to all women in sales around the world, we truly commend you!
