management

Conversations with Women in Sales

February 6, 2018 By Barbara Giamanco Leave a Comment

It all started with a list.

On that day, I saw another list announcing top sales gurus and 98% of said gurus were men. Don’t get me wrong. I applaud my male colleagues in sales who do great work. I learn as much from them, as I hope they learn from me.

Still, it is 2018 and women in sales are largely underrepresented in many ways.

We do not see enough women in sales roles represented as speakers on conference stages, being interviewed in video or podcast programs, not enough women show up on leader lists or on lists of people to follow and more.

And, surprisingly women are still in the minority in sales roles. I asked Lori Richardson, who heads up Women Sales Pros her thoughts on this and why she is a passionate supporter of women in sales. Here’s what she told me.

“Today, in 2018, there is still a lack of women in sales and sales leadership roles in industries such as SaaS, tech, fintech, manufacturing, distribution, telecom, and utilities. We know that women make great sales reps and we know that women make great leaders. Studies show that diversity of thought grows revenues – and that comes from a more diverse sales team. Yet the number of women leaders has been a low number – flat for more than 10 years. I’m passionate about this topic because it is a business issue that we can move the needle on. Women currently in sales or who have been in the past are role models to those up and coming in those industries.”

I believe that women don’t often do a good job of tooting their own horn. I decided I wanted to help them do that.

My original LinkedIn list of #WomeninSales to follow has morphed and taken on a life of its own. That list shows recruiters, conference organizers, podcast hosts, magazine publications and more that there is a lot of female talent to be tapped into. It also shows women who may not have considered a career in sales that they’d be in great company if they joined our ranks!

The list was a starting point. I wanted to go bigger! Introducing the Conversations with Women in Sales Podcast!

Today, I’m announcing the launch of my new podcast dedicated to women in sales, at all levels, in companies all around the globe. The Conversations with Women in Sales podcast has launched on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher and Google Play. These interviews also have their own page on my blog making it easy people for people to find and listen to the interviews.

The podcast has 3 goals:

Provide global visibility for women in sales roles.
Encourage more women to enter a career in sales.
Provide education, guidance and support for women as they move up in their careers.

Each guest will share their insights, expertise, and guidance on topics from brand building, leadership, career management, social selling, overcoming adversity, sales and marketing alignment, B2B sales, strategic partnerships, buyer personas, account based selling, content creation and promotion, social media, and more.

The first set of interviews are:

Episode Zero – in this episode, James Carbary of SweetFish Media, our podcast producer interviews me about the purpose of the #WomeninSales project.

Episode 1 – features Christina Stone, Account Director at TechTarget who reminds us that when we do right by our customers, they will do right by us!

Episode 2 – features Rakhi Voria, Chief of Staff and Sr. Business Manager to Microsoft’s Corporate VP of Inside Sales. Our conversation focused on attracting, retaining and developing millennials inside your organization.

Each week, I’ll be releasing a brand-new interview. And, I expect that in the next few months, we will be moving to bi-weekly interviews, with the goal being to release an interview every day Monday through Friday.

SUBSCRIBE on iTunes so you never miss an episode!

Thank you to those who helped me make the launch of this new podcast possible!

Launching a new podcast takes lots of teamwork, so I’d like to thank the following for their support and sponsorship.

SweetFish Media is the producer of our podcast. They made the process of getting this new project going a snap and month to month they will be producing our interviews.

Elite 2018 Partner – Microsoft

We’d like to thank our Elite Sponsor, Microsoft. In particular, we thank Gavriella Schuster, Corporate Vice President and Channel Chief at Microsoft, for her dedication to supporting women in technology, and making this podcast possible. Gavriella and Microsoft are committed to giving “young women better role models and a stronger voice to all women.” You can hear more from Gavriella and other Microsoft leaders, on the Microsoft Partner Network podcast. Visit the Microsoft Partner Network.

Media Partner 2018 – Women Sales Pros

Headed by Lori Richardson, Women Sales Pros has a vision for more women in B2B sales and sales leadership roles where there are currently male-majority sales teams. We help educate companies on how to do this, and we champion women on what a professional sales career can be. We also showcase the very top women sales experts who are speakers, authors, consultants, trainers, and coaches. People can sign up to get updates HERE and follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @WomenSalesPros

I’ve been a member of the Women Sales Pros network for many years, and because Lori and I share the same passion for getting more women into sales careers and helping them advance in our profession, I’m delighted that Women Sales Pros is a sponsor of our podcast!

Listen to the interviews and let me know what you think. And, of course, tell me who else needs to be included on my Conversations with Women in Sales interview list?

Away we go!

How Working for an Israeli Start-Up Has Made Her a Better Leader with Bridget Gleason, Logz.io

May 31, 2017 By Barbara Giamanco Leave a Comment

In this Women in Sales Leadership segment, I talked with Bridget about her leadership experience working in Israeli start-up Logz.io. During this episode, you’ll first hear how Bridget got her start in sales. Then we talked about her experience working for an Iraeli company.

How her experience working with an Israeli company is different from other start-ups she has worked with.

You’ll gain some perspective on Bridget handles the time difference and what that means for communication among the leadership team.

Bridget shared a few of her biggest surprises.

Finally, Bridget shares her advice would to women in sales roles who want to move into leadership positions.

Enjoy!

This episode is sponsored by Hubspot.

Don’t miss out HubSpot’s annual sales event – Inbound Sales Day – on June 6th! 30 leading sales experts will be sharing their knowledge and expertise. Register now for FREE at hubspot.com/inbound-sales-day

About Bridget:

Bridget Gleason is VP of Sales at Logz.io and manages the company’s worldwide sales organization. She was most recently VP of Corporate Sales as well as Executive Advisor at Sumo Logic. Prior to Sumo Logic, she was VP of Worldwide Sales at Yesware and Senior VP of Worldwide Sales at Engine Yard.

Connect with Bridget on LinkedIn and Twitter

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

I’m Too Busy

January 15, 2014 By Barbara Giamanco Leave a Comment

I’m a life long believer in learning. Success in life and business requires that we continually hone our skills and up our game. In selling, the more informed you are about a variety of topics, the easier it is to relate to people at all levels. Knowledge is power. Buyers are looking for sellers who can educate them on what they don’t know, and I am not talking about the features and benefits of your products or your company history.

I’m too busy are three of the most annoying words ever. Annoying because they are an excuse. An excuse for not following through on something important and using “I’m too busy” as the reason why. No one is blessed with more time in the day, week, month or year than anyone else. In that way, we are absolutely 1000 percent equal. Everyone has 24 hours each day and 8,760 hours available in a normal year. Where you CHOOSE to spend your time is the difference.

I put a priority on learning. All successful people do. Sellers committed to excellence are typically in the top 10% of earners. Learning is something that you make a priority, like eating healthy foods or exercising on a daily basis. When it comes to engaging prospects and increasing your odds of closing sales, the sellers who are the most business savvy and understand what is important to their prospects and customers win! Robotic demo dollies will keep scraping by.

Ongoing learning is important. The more skilled you are at your craft, the more successful you will be. The more you know about your prospects business, their industry, their competitors, their challenges, the more important you become to them. Knowledge becomes a competitive advantage that leads to more opportunities. If you have the right skills, chances are that you’ll close more deals.

On a daily basis I read articles and blog posts from a variety of sources. I attend complimentary webinars or listen to podcast interviews. Book reading never ends for me. What I find interesting is the number of people who say to me, how do you have time? I’m just so busy, I never seem to be able to… read the book, watch the video, improve my sales skills, listen to the webinar, take the training course, learn to use social media, research my prospects in depth…the list goes on.

I don’t use sports analogies much, but I just watched Miracle for the umpteenth time. I don’t know if it is possible to be more inspired by a movie based on actual events. The 20 men who became the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team that beat the Russian squad, considered invincible at the time, were already stellar players on the ice when the team came together. Herb Brooks, the legendary player turned coach who led the team to victory, knew that no matter how good these players currently were, it wasn’t enough. In order to win, every player had to significantly increase their skill, stamina and ability to play as a single minded unit. Herb specifically chose players he knew were up to the challenge, because without that commitment to improve and excel each day, it is debatable if the team would have won against the Russians and then gone on to win the gold medal.

Whether your company invests in sales and social selling programs or not, you need to be committed to your own growth and development. You should be learning something new every single day. Sales superstars are always willing to invest in themselves. Yes, you need to know your products and services, but you’ve got to get beyond your own dog food. Venture outside the corporate walls and broaden your horizons.

With the advances that have been made in technology, your mobile device is now your personal university. Your own ivy league repository of real-time education that is constantly with you. Even with busy schedules there are countless opportunities when you can be learning. For example…

When you are waiting for your sales meeting to get started.
Driving in your car to your next appointment.
Sitting in the car pool line.
Waiting for your name to be called at the doctor’s office.
Before the airplane doors are slammed shut.
Waiting for your colleagues to join you at lunch.
Standing in line at the DMV.

Predictions are that by 2020, 80% of sales people will no longer be needed. Yes, that includes sellers in B2B complex selling environments too. If you plan to be in the 20% with the other Sales Rockstars out there, I highly recommend you put learning on the front burner. When you commit to learn, you earn!

So what’s it going to be? Gold medal winner or distant could have been?

Telling Isn’t Selling

January 13, 2014 By Barbara Giamanco Leave a Comment

At lunch with a colleague last week, we chatted about how the sales people at his client account operate. Not surprisingly, it is standard practice during a sales meeting to walk prospects through 44-slides of yada, yada, yada that begins with extensive detail about the long, successful history of the company. Mind you, this is a company that is well known. The history lesson is unnecessary! Even when it becomes obvious during a presentation that the decision maker is bored out of their mind, the sales rep will simply keep plugging along. After all, they have been trained to “tell” not sell.

Let me tell you about our history.
Let me tell you about the awards we’ve won.
Let me tell you about the features of our products.
Let me tell you how we can solve your problem.
Let me tell you about our pricing model.
Let me tell you why other customers love us.
Let me tell you how we are better than the competition.

It isn’t that these things are unimportant. Well, maybe the awards and history, but the fact is that this information is no doubt already listed on the corporate website. Prospects don’t need sales people to tell them what they already know.

What kills me is that even in companies that have trained their sales people in a solution selling program, their sales people still show up in buyer’s offices and tell. Sure, they may ask a few questions about the prospects business but then they roll right into the pitch they’ve been taught to deliver. Seems strange, right? Even those sales people trained to sell solutions still talk AT prospects not WITH them. Why?

Because…

More time is invested in training sales people about the features of products.
An investment in training great sales skills is viewed as a one time event and not a process that is continually reinforced.
It is easier than learning about the prospects business, industry and challenges.

Instead of using meeting time to tell, imagine your roles are reversed and YOU are the customer. As the customer, what is important to you? What business initiatives are you expected to execute upon? What will happen if you don’t? Are you struggling to out pace the competition? What is happening in your industry that will impact your business today and tomorrow? The point is that unless you think like your prospect, you’ve done some digging or ask the right questions, it is going to be tough to know what is really important to them.

Here is a story to illustrate what I’m getting at. About 20 years ago, I was in the market for a new car. I’d first visited the local Nissan dealership and the conversation with the sales person was a disaster. Right up front, I detailed exactly what I wanted. In classic form, he didn’t listen. He took me over to a specific model and started “telling” me why this would be a great car for me. As if he knew, right? Immediately, I say that I’m not interested. Undeterred, he keeps pushing all the features he believes to be awesome. Again, I say, I don’t like the car and there is NO WAY that I would drive it. To which he replies, “What’s not to like, my wife drives this same car.” I couldn’t run away fast enough.

Contrast that with the experience I had at the Infinity dealership right next door. The sales person was courteous, professional and asked about me. He asked about my work, what I was most interested in, any features important to me in a car… you get the picture. Learning that I was a sales rep who supported accounts in Tucson, he knew the drive between Phoenix and Tucson was a 2-hour long stretch of highway with practically nothing out there. He also learned that I’m a music lover. Rather than talking about the vanity mirror, he focused on safety and security by highlighting the roadside assistance program that came included with a car purchase. He had me try out the awesome stereo system. I already loved the car – a G20 – because it was sporty, looked upscale and was a dream to drive. And because this sales person had learned about Barb, he tailored his message to focus on what I cared about. Guess what – car sold. Most pleasant car purchase experience ever!!!!

The irony is that Nissan owns Infinity. What gives? Why a horrible experience with the Nissan rep but a stellar one with the Infinity rep? I asked my Infinity rep and he told me that the company invested many hours of training for Infinity reps and constantly stressed (and reinforced) the importance of selling a solution based on the needs of the car buyer. Listening and asking good questions was a huge part of their training programs. Evidently they didn’t invest in similar training for the Nissan side of the house.

Stop telling your prospects (and customers) what YOU think they want to know, ought to know or should know and begin with the end in mind. If your goal is to win business, then begin by getting into the head and heart of your prospect. Buyers want to you care about them and when you don’t… they simply look elsewhere.

Phone Call or Face to Face?

December 19, 2008 By Barbara Giamanco Leave a Comment

Um – that would be neither and both plus…

Many sales professionals believe that nothing succeeds like a face-to-face meeting or, at the very least, contact via the phone. They believe that activities such as writing a blog, commenting on other blogs and in forums, sending out regular e-newsletters, using social networking, such as Linked In and Facebook are a waste of their time.

I couldn’t DISAGREE more!

First, 65% of all sales are lost in the first phone call. You can go back to one of my sales blunders and read all about it. The stark reality is that most people aren’t good on the telephone and they blow it immediately. That translates into “game over man”.

As for the notion that face-to-face is the winner. Well, just like phone calls there are plenty of people who can’t make a decent sales presentation to save their life. What happens if you get in front of someone – before you’ve built up some type of relationship with them – and you blow it? Yup. You lose. No sale!

Here’s the deal…some things just do not change. You must accept that it can take an average of 7 interactions/touches before a sale is closed. That’s because effective selling is all about building relationships and demonstrating to your prospects the results they will receive when they purchase from you. Technology provides a wonderful advantage in that sense, because you can learn to create value and build relationships far in advance of meeting people personally.

The next missed point to consider is how important it is to protect your time. Success comes from focusing on the right activities at the right time! Your ability to to quickly evaluate sales opportunities will either help or harm your sales activities, because opportunities ARE NOT all created equal. You must learn to become very discerning; otherwise, you risk wasting a lot of precious time.

Building a sales pipeline these days requires a “blend” of approaches, and in this day and age if you are not incorporating the use of online tools into your sales toolkit, you will be left behind. Seriously – you WILL become irrelevant. Contributing to blogs, sending out informational newsletters, participating in online forums, using tools like Twitter, webinars or webcasts offer you opportunities stay in front of people who can either buy from you or refer you to someone else who can buy from you.You’ve got to grasp that when people are ready they think of you!

Recently, I picked up two new clients and $10,000 in new revenue all because I send a monthly newsletter. The point is that it’s naive to think that when you call someone on the phone or meet them face to face for the first time that they’ll be ready to buy at that exact moment. That’s why you need to remain in front of people providing them with relevant, meaningful information that delivers real value to them BEFORE they’ve made a purchase.

Disagree? I’d love to hear why!

Conversations with Women in Sales

How Working for an Israeli Start-Up Has Made Her a Better Leader with Bridget Gleason, Logz.io

Phone Call or Face to Face?

Best Sales Blogger

Top Blogger

Innovation

Sales Efficiency