Women In Sales

Listen to Ivor Kellock discuss with Roger Dooley Women in Sales & gender differences on 5 August 2013

Are Women Better Than Men At Sales?

It’s a cheap trick I know to make comparisons like this but I can’t help myself   I

enjoy it!

Please listen to my interview with Roger Dooley  (author of Brainfluence ) on Ace Perspectives who shares interesting neuroscience & evolutionary psychology ideas on the subject! It’s a fascinating discussion!

Tom Peters has said that women make better salespeople than men

Twice as many women than men are employed in sales in the UK*

Women Straight To The Boardroom

Sales is recognised as a major contributor to accessing C suite positions**

A perfect example is IBM’s Ginni Rometty – she was IBM’s global sales leader before landing the Chief Executive role, Rometty lived and breathed sales

Not forgetting Marissa Meyer at Yahoo – giving birth for the first time just months into the role & Sheryl Sandberg COO at Facebook.

If I were to focus on the UK side of the pond I’d pick Nicola Horlick – dubbed superwoman for having a high flying fund management career & bringing up 6 kids.

Sales or the Dentist Ladies?

In an article written by Jill Flynn, Kathryn Heath & Mary Davis Holt on the Harvard Business Review blog anecdotally they have found in their coaching of women senior executives –

“Women working in sales jobs are the best-in-class at what they do — & they love it. Yet, women in non-sales roles tell us they would prefer a trip to the dentist over selling!”

Does this ring true for you?

Like public speaking & haggling you girls avoid it like the plague! Why though? When there seems to be a clear correlation between sales & the boardroom?

What is it that’s so scary about sales?

Mata Hari was executed as a spy in 1917 for being seen as a persuader …….you’re clearly good at it girls!

Comparing Women & Men In Sales

I found one blog post from America that shows a comparison between men & women on the differences between value of property put on the books & the numbers of properties put on the books in a real estate firm

http://trends.truliablog.com/vis/gender/

Women are clearly better at getting the higher value properties – men are better at getting more properties – what it doesn’t tell us is who is making the most revenue & profits!

There are plenty of blog posts following Tom Peters line that women are more intuitive, work harder & have better listening skills

None of this though sheds any true light on the subject!

What do you think? There’s some powerful anecdotal evidence to suggest women are better – but it also depends on your terms of reference -please share your comments below

Women In Sales Awards 2013

If you are a woman in sales (#womeninsales on Twitter ) & based in the UK & Europe there is still time to be nominated for the Women in Sales Awards 2013 with the final being held at the Savoy Hotel in London

If you are based in the rest of the world please share this information with your European colleagues – it’s time you were properly recognised & celebrated!

To find out more about the awards please get in touch with Afi Ofori at Zars Media

*Labour Force Survey 2007/09 Office National Statistics

**McKinsey & Company, research of the largest US corporations shows that 62% of women are in staff job positions that provide service and assistance but don’t directly generate revenue. These roles very rarely lead to major jobs in senior management.

In contrast, 65% of men on executive committees hold line jobs associated with revenue creation. This helps explain why the number of women CEOs in Fortune 500 companies appears stuck around 3%

Author Ivor Kellock

Thrilled to have @Sales_Drive supporting #WomenInSalesAwards they r also giving 1yr free coaching to the all winners. pic.twitter.com/1YNkj5pvX8

— Women In Sales Award (@WISAwards) July 24, 2013