Conversations with Women in Sales

Anna rose from inside sales support to a sales role at Oracle, to startup PlanGrid, then Autodesk (acquired PlanGrid) and now at TigerEye as VP of Sales. How did she do it? 

Anna is very conversational and I really enjoyed hearing her tips in doing well in sales and also what she has to say about AI.

Listen to what she has to say about being a "lone wolf" and why you don't want to be that.

Follow Anna here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-r-a375483/

Follow Women Sales Pros: @womensalespros on Instagram

Sign up for our 2x a month e-news:

subscribe: https://bit.ly/thewspnews Contribute: https://forms.gle/v9rRiPDUtgGqKaXA6 Past News Issues: bit.ly/past_news_issues

Do you know what you want in your career? 

Many of us know we don't like where we are at or our role, but we don't know what we DO want. 

Jaime Diglio's new book, "Moneyball Leadership" is not just for leaders - it is a quick read for anyone wanting to get out of the "war room" as Jaime puts it, and into the "win room". 

Mindset is so important in business - especially sales and sales leadership. 

Jaime explains: 

"Today’s leaders are burning out at higher rates than ever before because they're measuring the wrong things and using outdated methods that work against the results they are trying to achieve — losing them money, time, and energy every day. In Moneyball Leadership, I reveal a better way to win that most are blind to. I offer a unique, proven blueprint you won’t find anywhere else, revealing the secret formula behind my clients' successes."

Jaime will teach how to play (money)ball and Master the New ROI: Return on Interactions,  changing how you see the game you’ve been playing your whole life.

More on Jaime here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaimediglio/

Jaime's TEDx talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viXdeKVLwXo  "From War Room to WIN Room - Change Your Room, Change Your Life" 

Follow Women Sales Pros on LinkedIn and Instagram 

2x month e-newsletter with interviews and resources for more #womeninsales 

My guest today is Sarah Gross,  VP of Global Enablement at RingCentral. Sarah and I go way back, and most recently she became a new mom which has given her new perspectives about women and work. 

Sarah is also a top sales enablement professional who helps design process and support for sales teams like the ones at RingCentral. When Sarah and I first met, she was with Gartner, and has also worked at Procore and Vorsight in addition to others. 

Sarah calls enablement the "octopus" of an organization because it is the only department that touches every other department. 

Follow Sarah on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahfricke/

Follow Women Sales Pros on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/women-sales-pros/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womensalespros/

2x month newsletter on all things women in sales: 

signup: https://bit.ly/thewspnews Contribute: https://forms.gle/v9rRiPDUtgGqKaXA6 Past Issues: bit.ly/past_news_issues

Brilliant business author Tamsen Webster has just released her newest book, Say What They Can't Unhear: The 9 Principles of Lasting Change. 

Tamsen describes the new book: The book is a compact and actionable guide that will get leaders (and others!) thinking differently about where change comes from and how to initiate it. By introducing and exploring nine “persuasion proverbs,” I highlight the behavioral, cognitive, and psychological principles that underpin lasting change, and offer a powerful alternative to the standard tactics of influence and persuasion. The outlined concepts are easy to remember, simple to implement, and will give readers the tools to transform any audience of lukewarm prospects into passionate believers.

We started off talking about "ethical persuasion" - a huge important aspect in professional selling. Join the conversation and check out Tamsen's book. 

https://tamsenwebster.com/ More on Tamsen

https://womensalespros.com/ More on Women Sales Pros

https://womensalespros.com/podcast/ All podcast episodes

Her parents were Somali refugees who ended up in the U.K. As a child, Misky Sharif learned to be careful around the drugs and crime in her low income neighborhood. She rose above it, while learning as she grew up. How many kids would dodge all of the negative and find something positive in that? Listen as Misky explains how.  Misky overcame obstacles and currently is in FinTech as an Account Executive for Revolut, and if you are in sales and don't have an "accomplishment bank" - take a listen to the full episode  - great action item to start one on your own today! 

Misky Sharif can connect via LinkedIn

Womnen Sales Pros can be found on LinkedIn, Instagram, X, and other social posts. 

Now more than ever, we are seeing the importance of how sales fits in pre-sale and after the sale, and how sales needs enablement like the examples Deirdre offers are what helps grow .

Learning, practicing, executing and coaching is the repeatable cadence  

Lori and Deirdre talk about creating "work life harmony" and the value of keeping in touch with those you've enjoyed working with previously. 

We talk about "just in time" coaching and how adults learn. 

Deirdre helps Skillibrium to: 

Assess your team's skills

Remediate with Learning paths

Practice with Stand and Deliver

Implement an Operational Cadence

Execute with Sales Playbooks

Predicably grow revenue

Promote based on objectivity 

and Deliver exceptional experiences.

More is at https://skillibrium.com/ 

Women Sales Pros tracks top podcasts, books and speakers and has a 2x a month newsletter in addition to this award-winning podcast. @womensalespros 

Xactly is a tech platform for assisting companies with compensation and forecasting with the sales team, and has been around since 2005. They started sharing research about men in sales roles versus women in 2014 or so - quite some time ago, and just released their 2024 research results which includes the following:

● Representation disparities: The gender ratio in sales is alarming. Women are underrepresented in sales roles, constituting only 34% of the sales force and only 29% of sales managers. ● Female salespeople earn less: On average, men earn 3.5% more than women as salespeople, and 3.7%* more as sales managers when it comes to fixed pay. Without adjustment of outside factors, men earn 9% more than women as salespeople, and 13% more as sales managers. ● Pay gaps widen over time: At the start of salespeople’s careers, men earn 2.2% more on average than women. After 2 years, this gap widens by 30%. After 5 years, the gap increases even more significantly, with a 77% increase. ● The gaps differ from industry to industry: The pay gap varies significantly across sectors, with female sales professionals in the Life Sciences and Pharma space reporting a 9% gap in pay and Manufacturing space with an 8% gap. It might be more opportune for women in sales to enter the Financial Services industry, where no pay gap was reported. ● State-by-state disparities: The state sales people live in seems to correlate with the pay disparities. Colorado and New Jersey hold the largest pay gap between men and women at 7%, with Georgia and Washington claiming the lowest pay gap at 1%. ● Performance remains unaffected: Despite the overwhelming disparities in representation and pay, female sales professionals consistently outperformed their male counterparts. Female salespeople outperformed men by 1.5%, and female sales managers outperformed by 3%. ● Loyalty is not a factor: Women tend to show greater loyalty to their Sales teams, staying with the same organization on average four months longer than their male counterparts. ● Unfair impact on quota assignments: Many organizations do not seem to recognize women’s higher performance. On average, male salespeople are assigned 3% higher quotas, and male sales managers are assigned 5% higher quotas, suggesting that sales teams assign men to higher potential sales territories or opportunities.

Follow Women Sales Pros for more research, interviews, and recommendations to add more women into sales and sales leadership roles. 

Sign up for our newsletter for 2x month insights, ideas, and stories - and submit your own!

Sign up: https://bit.ly/thewspnews Contribute: https://forms.gle/v9rRiPDUtgGqKaXA6 Past News Issues: bit.ly/past_news_issues

Gretchen launched Unbound and Unbothered, a career coaching business for women in tech in  2021. She helps high achievers who are stuck, stifled or at a crossroads ditch the stress and overwork to have a life and a job without burning out. 

Since she and I both got into tech in the "early days" (me earlier than her) we had a great conversation - I reference the title because we both worked for at least one company where the bathrooms were both for the guys since we were the first or second female hires.  

Be sure and follow Gretchen here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gretchend/

Follow Women Sales Pros on LinkedIn, Instagram, X, and Facebook. 

Our 2x month newsletter, The News is all about celebrating women in sales with upcoming events, feature articles, and stories about our male allies supporting us. 

Past issues of The News here. 

Please share this podcast episode if you find value in it! We love reviews on iTunes! 

"A billion dollar quota is like a 100K quota - you have to be comfortable talking about money with others" - one of the topics guest Marva Bailer and I bond on in our conversation shared today. I'm thrilled that our sponsor, Skillibrium, brings on advisors like Marva so that we can have real discussions around how to be successful. 

Marva was in sales before she learned how to drive - she and I share that young entrepreneurial spirit as well. Marva got into health, wellness and personal development before it was cool - and these are big topics in a successful sales career today. 

Join us for a fun conversation about coaching, personal growth, and professional development as well - share your thoughts, and please share the podcast with one other woman or male ally if you can. 

@womensalespros on Insta

@marvabailer on Insta

Ashley Philipps is the author of the new book, The Teacher's Guide to Changing Careers. Being a former teacher myself, I am always up for hearing about others who left the admirable profession of teaching due to the lack of pay, and who got into sales roles. 

Ashley's book showcases other careers, but she did go into B2B sales and we talk about that on this episode. 

You will also hear my tip for those in the job market - what is the best way to approach someone who is well connected, instead of saying, "Hey if you know of anyone hiring...." What do you say instead? 

Ashley's book will certainly help teachers who feel like they are underappreciated, underpaid, and who are interested in continuing to be a teacher as a professional seller. 

The good news about the B2B sales profession is that IT is also an admirable profession - a helping profession. Even with new AI tools, complex sales won't happen without empathetic, communicative, collaborative sellers like many former teachers can be. 

Follow Women Sales Pros