Technology Sales: A Woman’s Perspective

Why are women under-represented in Technology Sales organizations? The perception about sales roles as pushy and masculine is becoming less relevant in an ever-changing Technology world. It is all about empathetic relationships, problem solving and co-creation. This article explores how to rightly combine inherent feminine qualities with the right competitive spirit to emerge as top-notch sales talent. 

Context

Women hold just one in five sales leadership positions and only one in four mid-level sales manager roles, according to a recent Gartner report. Women are under-represented in Technology Sales organizations, accounting for a low 12% of sales leadership roles. Why do we need more women in Technology Sales? What are the unique perspectives that female sales leaders bring to the table? What are the typical challenges that prevent women from advancing to the top of sales career gym?

Sales: Stereotype Vs Reality

What comes to your mind when you hear about a Sales role? It is usually stereotyped with aggressive, always-pushy client-entertainment-experts; qualities which are generally associated with males. But are these the most important qualities of a salesperson in the continuously evolving world of Technology? Your Clients are always on the lookout for trusted advisors. They want someone who can connect with them, understand their problems, help them navigate through their organizational complexities and help them take informed decisions. 

Know your unique qualities

Let us forget our professional roles for a moment. I would like to urge my female readers to take a moment and identify strengths from your personal life. What are your unique qualities? I hope my male readers can also relate to these.

1. Empathetic Relationships: When the world feels low, a woman is often the right listener – be it mom, wife, daughter or friend. A recent research study shows that female brains can understand others’ emotional state better, and that helps them be more empathetic.
2. Influence without power: Think about the last time you talked to your neighbor, or your kid’s teacher to get something done in a win-win manner. Female brains can think of creative ways to influence in a collaborative manner. Yes, that means you are politically savvy. You may hate that word, but that is true!
3. Navigating complexities in a consultative manner: When was the last time you listened to your friend’s story and helped her think clearly. When your kid got overwhelmed with a complex homework question, did you work with him/her and help him/her break it down into simpler solvable steps. I am sure that your kid felt that his/her mom has a magic wand to make the world look simpler.
4. Balance ego and Play to win: You face many situations in your personal life, where you control your ego to get the right outcomes. Sometimes, you give in on less important matters, to ensure overall happiness of the family. There are other times when you have to say “No”, but you know how to say that and still be nice.

All the skills that we just talked about easily come to most women, and the truth is that these are very important qualities for a Technology Sales Leader in today’s world. This is exactly why we need to have more women in technology sales roles. In the ever-changing world of technology, it is increasingly important for Organizations to invest in female sales leaders who can build long-lasting relationships and establish credibility as trusted advisors.

What stops females from advancing in their sales careers? What can be done about it?

If women have all the skills required to be a top sales leader, why are we not seeing many women choose that career? There are many perceptions and stereotypes about sales world that may not be appealing for women.

1. Sales is a war, meant more for money-minded people: Generally, women prefer to work in a collaborative manner, and sales is often not perceived like that. This perception is often because sales career has been predominantly designed by men. In the world of technology, collaboration and consultative skills are more important than trade favors. We need more women to redefine the industry perception, and this can happen only if organizations make the sales job descriptions more appealing to female talent.
2. Fear of rejection: Sales is a lot of responsibility on your shoulders. A whole team is waiting for you to sell the deal to get started. The technology sales cycle is sometimes long and unpredictable, and often involves blame games too. Women often take this personally, which adds to the stress. A more open work culture can encourage more women to come forward and bravely accept challenges.
3. Feedback from all sides: Higher responsibility often comes with more visibility and more judgement. Women may choose to stay silent at times, which may be perceived as weakness. Stereotypical judgments and unconscious bias can aggravate this issue which may prevent capable women from getting to the top of sales leadership roles. If you don’t see many role models in leadership positions, not many young talented women will choose that career track. Organizations should sensitize senior leadership to encourage constructive mentorship approach.
4. After hours networking: Sales is often linked to beer-conversations, which is commonly associated with male networking style. As Client C-suite becomes more diverse, these informal networking options also become diverse. Beer conversations may give way for conversations at a volunteering event. As more women start defining Technology Sales leadership roles, many more informal networking channels will open up.

More female power to Technology Sales workforce

We need more women to redefine Technology sales career track and disrupt the stereotypes. Here are few thoughts to bring more female power to Technology Sales workforce.

1. Leadership Focus: Companies should have focused effort to bring more female power to their Technology Sales organization. Consultative sales is all about dreaming big, co-creating solutions with Clients and adapting to new realities in a constantly evolving fashion. Many technology companies are evolving their sales organizations to meet the new reality. They need diverse talent to connect with a diverse pool of Client leaders to deliver business outcomes.
2. Sales is Science + Art, and can be practiced: Technology Sales is human-centered. It requires the right combination of Science and Art, and can be practiced by applying design thinking principles. It starts with the art of discovering the pain points through empathetic listening and emotional intelligence. A skilled consultative salesperson then describes the Client’s objective with a clear definition of path forward. This is typically followed by co-creation of ideas in a scientific manner. The ideas get continuously tested and improvised through subsequent discussions. Which part of this Technology Sales process seem difficult for our female technologists? Hardly any!
3. Enhance your skill-set: Playing to win is a skill that can also help as you advance in your corporate career. Sales roles give you chances to continuously learn and be abreast of all the latest happenings in technology world. It forces you to think bigger and aim higher. All these are very important qualities as you advance in your career, whichever roles you choose to take!

Conclusion

More women need to enter Technology sales workforce to refine and define this function in a more meaningful way. Sales is a combination of science and art, it can be learned and practiced in a structured way. Women can establish themselves in an otherwise male-dominated technology sales field, if they can leverage their unique qualities and confidently take on new challenges. Organizations will have to adapt to capitalize on the power of this diverse sales talent to realize benefits. 

What are your thoughts around getting more female representation in Technology Sales? Looking forward to hearing more ideas and inputs!

A free tip for you, for reading till here :) An amazing must read book - "Break Your Own Rules: How to Change the Patterns of Thinking that Block Women's Paths to Power" by Jill Flynn, Kathryn Heath, Mary Davis Holt (https://flynnheath.com/break-your-own-rules-how-to-change-the-patterns-of-thinking-that-block-womens-paths-to-power/)