Let's Embrace It

We’re all in sales. Day in and day out, we sell others on our ideas, recommendations, and our work product. The only difference between salespeople and non-salespeople is how they’re compensated. I’ve looked at sales compensation models and sales contributor success, slicing and dicing it every which way. And sometimes I think the “Hunter” archetype is overrated.

As someone who has spent 40 years in “client acquisition,” I look back on the deep relationships I’ve developed, the heroes I’ve made, and the satisfaction of having the financial freedom to fund a lifestyle of my choosing.

And I want that for others.

I’m convinced that women are better than men at both B2B sales and in developing and maintaining client relationships. That’s because we view sales as part of a bigger picture; one that includes listening, collaboration, and teaching, with an overarching focus on service rather than selling. Culturally, our need to be meticulously competent – something I once considered a burden – in the same role where men only need to be “closers” is, in reality, a great benefit to clients and hiring entities alike. 

I always thought it was important to distinguish between those who are in new-client acquisition sales from those who sell aftermarket products or who service existing accounts/clients. Because it costs less to upsell an existing client than to acquire a new one, I would think that organizations would value the more profitable sellers.

Sadly, they do not.

But that’s because organizations, for all their metrics, often miss or ignore simple math. Nevertheless, sales roles are distinguishable by their variable compensation structures: commission only, base salary/draw plus commission, or base salary plus pooled bonus. These are considered leveraged, or performance-based, compensation plans.

Why are so few women in business-to-business sales? Do we fear leveraged compensation? I don’t think so. I think what really happens is that the typical metaphors used in sales organizations, the personality “tests,” and the focus on closing (rather than opening) are outdated and non-inclusive.

Sales is often described as a war, a fight-to-the-death, or with myriad sports metaphors, all with distinct winners and losers. Rarely do organizations send their teams out to achieve “mutually rewarding outcomes.” Yet, those are the best kinds of outcomes. The old-school approach is not sustainable in a world where employers are fighting to hire from a shrinking talent pool that includes diverse and older workers.

A few years ago, Bain & Company released a report identifying six worker archetypes. You can find it here.

Current sales models assume that most salespeople fall within the “Striver” archetype, driven by money, competition, and status. The compensation/recognition models, including money and trophies, club trips, and walks across the stage, are a “one-size-fits-all” for employees. On the flip side, most surveyed women and older workers value flexibility above bragging rights.

I’ve traveled the world on Presidents Club reward trips. And I would trade them all for more time flexibility. I also remember the glee I took destroying a basement full of sales trophies which did nothing beyond collect dust. That’s because I fall into the “Operator” archetype. Yes, I value compensation.  But I don’t value status and competition as much as I value camaraderie and mastery. 

Sales executives in everything from technology to finance insist that you cannot service your way to success. The thing is, I’m living proof that being of service and “doing well by doing good” works just as well—and frequently better—than traditional approaches to sales and selling over time. What’s more, when a woman listens, and uses the information she gains to formulate a plan and educate her audience (client, peer or boss); in other words, when she links sales to service, it creates true value to the recipient. And when she does that, she can and will be consistently successful. It also feels good to have faith in your own ability to come through for others and yourself.

That feeling then instills confidence in other areas of life. 

The flip side of not considering servicing skills (i.e., teaching and nurturing) that make an excellent salesperson is that we’ve so gendered the skill of “closing” that organizations fail to acknowledge the talents of women who do possess closing skills. Not surprisingly, recent research indicates that anthropologists and archaeologists have viewed women’s roles in hunter-gatherer societies through too-gendered a lens for a long time. 

Unfortunately, because compensation drives behavior, until organizations change their compensation/recognition models to reward what women and older workers really value, nothing will change much. Even so, women should be fearless about taking on leveraged sales roles by using the laws of attraction and being of service first. If we do that well, by the time we ask for the order, there will be no objection.

I recently read Lori Richardson’s She Sells, regarding attracting women to B2B Sales. Lori’s take, like my own, is that we have cultural challenges in the hiring process, including onboarding, supporting, and promoting women. Hiring executives can choose to overcome these challenges by filling the ranks with qualified professionals who happen to be women. But the operative word is “choose.”(For more information about Lori, visit https://loririchardson.com/.)

So, there are two forces working together against women in sales and sales leadership roles. And women, especially older women, increasingly know better than to put themselves someplace where the culture isn’t a good match. But the truth remains that salespeople are rewarded for their efforts, and one of the ways to become wealthy is to place ourselves in situations that enable us to earn a lot of money. Nobody will ever hear me declare “desire to earn big bucks” as a moral failure.

My last thought on this is for women who are in their own business and selling themselves: One of the best skills I ever learned was to make a big, but targeted, ask. Whatever you want, ask for more.  And refine the ask, whether it is for a referral or an order, to something specific. I would, very specifically, like to see more women embrace professional sales as a first or second career.

#WeRescueOurselves #NotYoungNotDone #AskForBigThings

© 2024 Madrina Molly

The information contained herein and shared by Madrina Molly™ constitutes education and not investment advice.