Sales Talent shines a spotlight on women in sales
The latest podcast series from UK sales transformation specialist Sales Talent is celebrating women in sales. Sales Talent MD Paul Owen has spoken to successful saleswomen about their experience in the sales industry over the years and why it is such a challenge to attract more women into sales roles.
“Sales is too male and too old-fashioned in the way that sales teams are hired, trained and managed. Exceptions apply, of course, but businesses often lament the lack of women in their sales team while also failing to create an environment that would attract more women.”
Paul Owen, MD, Sales Talent
Sales has long been a male-dominated industry. There is still, too often, a culture of hard knocks in sales teams: you get in early, leave late and work yourself to the bone with little encouragement. It’s all about “sell sell sell”, no matter what the economy is doing or the level of relevant value being sold in the product or service on offer. Then it’s time to head off to the pub and play drinking games.
That culture doesn’t work for many women, as Dr Cindy McGovern, author of Wall Street Journal bestseller Every Job is a Sales Job explains:
“As a woman, I might believe I can do a good sales job, but do I want to join a typical sales environment that’s male-focused? I don’t drink whisky, and I don’t play ball, so I had to find a different way to sell. I railed against the male-dominated culture of sales. Women have to find their own way. You don’t have to follow the route of men in sales.”
According to Sales Talent, creating a culture that welcomes women into the sales team could deliver impressive results, particularly when it comes to creating career opportunities for school leavers. Girls consistently outperform boys when it comes to GCSE and A Level performance. The reasons behind this are complex. The data doesn’t say that girls are cleverer than boys, it just says they’re more successful with their results. For sales teams who hire young women, this is a win either way. Either they are getting the cleverer gender when hiring young women or they are getting those who are better organised, more ambitious and more focused.
